This easy and colorful Vegetable Flatbread with Creme Fraiche makes a really nice light dinner, appetizer, or a great lunch option too. The limitless possibilities for vegetables to use are almost endless. This can be altered for any season of the year and any palate. This fast and fresh recipe is sure to become a go to!
When Will It Be Spring?-
At his preschool, my youngest is learning all about animals that hibernate in the winter. Every day for the past few weeks, he has asked me to read the childrenโs book When Will It Be Spring, about a bear cub impatiently awaiting the end of hibernation, and the emergence of Spring.
My little one asks me when Spring will come, and I tell him it will be here soon. All that talk has me wishing for Spring too. I found some early season asparagus at the local market and decided maybe Spring could come a bit early, even if itโs just in the form of this Vegetable Flatbread with Creme Fraiche. Itโs got all the vegetable goodies on it, with a lovely creme fraiche spread.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
You know this blog is all about fresh, homemade, and doing things from scratch as much as possible while using fresh ingredients in season. This is the perfect dish to experiment with all sorts of seasonal vegetables.
Not only is this recipe versatile, but if you are looking for a new way to eat vegetables or add more of them to your diet, this vegetable flatbread provides an awesome opportunity to do both. The dough recipe can be easily doubled or tripled to make more than one flatbread at a time.
I love this as a light lunch, it is not just an appetizer! It is also a fabulous dish to go with soup or a salad. This dough is also really easy to have young children help make, and they can even pick out their own toppings!
Two Ingredient Dough
Instead of utilizing store bought puff pastry or pre made pizza dough, it is so easy to make a dough for this flatbread yourself!
If you have been on the internet at all the past few years, you have probably seen the pizza dough made with greek yogurt and self rising flour. I finally decided to try my own version of this. Boy, am I a late adopter. I chose to make my own self rising flour because it is not an ingredient I tend to keep in my pantry. Self rising flour is merely all purpose flour and baking powder in the right proportions. I used the ratio on King Arthur Bakingโs website.
This dough was actually pretty good and I will definitely use it again. It was very easy to make. In my opinion it is more of a flatbread dough than a pizza dough but hey, it works in a pinch. It is easy to work with to get it into the shape you want after the dough forms, and it was slightly chewy once cooked. I think it would take well to a wide variety of herbs or spices if you wanted to mix them into the dough.
On its own, the dough does not have much flavor so it needs salt for sure. Adding fresh or dried herbs, granulated or fresh garlic, red chili flakes, chopped jalapeno, curry powder, or many other dried spice blends would work too.
For one flatbread, I would start with a half teaspoon of whatever seasoning or mix in you decide to use. You certainly are not limited to salt only with this dough. For this recipe, I chose to add my herbs to the creme fraiche spread on top rather than in the dough itself.
Make Your Own Self Rising Flour
DIY self rising flour is so easy! Making self rising flour is as simple as using all purpose flour and baking powder in the right proportions. I used the ratio on King Arthur Bakingโs website which is 1 ยฝ tsp of baking powder added to 1 cup of all purpose flour.
If you have a sifter, that is a great way to make sure the flour and baking powder are properly incorporated, but if you don’t you can use a spoon to stir them together. Just be sure you stir well so the baking powder is thoroughly mixed in.
When making the dough, it is going to seem dry at first when you add the yogurt and start stirring. The flour takes a little effort to soak up the yogurt. You will be tempted to add more yogurt to get the flour to blend, but there is no need. Once I got in there with my hands and started kneading, it came together just fine. Be careful not to over knead so the dough doesnโt become tough.
The Creme Fraiche Spread
There are so many things you could add to the creme fraiche here, or just leave it as is. The fresh chives, shallot, and garlic are quite nice, and you can change those up as you see fit.
You can even make your own creme fraiche for this dish very easily! I show you how in my post on How to Make Creme Fraiche. It’s really easy to make yourself. Just two ingredients you likely already keep in your kitchen anyway and a little time are all you need!
I am a big believer in making things yourself as much as possible, and making creme fraiche is so easy youโll never buy it at the store again.
Vegetable Flatbread Variations
- You donโt have to stick with the arugula and asparagus combination used in this recipe. Any fresh vegetable that stands up to a few minutes in a high heat oven would work here. Butternut squash, spinach, kale, red onion, or shaved brussels sprouts would all be great!
- If you want to add crumbled bacon, smoked salmon, or prosciutto I am certainly not going to stop you.
- The Fontina can be substituted for any other melty cheese you like. Mozzarella, Provolone, Swiss, Gouda, Monterey Jack, or any other cheese that comes to mind. You can even leave it off if you like.
Serving Suggestions
This would be the perfect accompaniment to my Cream of Asparagus Soup to make a terrific vegetarian meal.
This keeps in the fridge wrapped in foil for two or three days, and you can simply pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up (without the foil of course).
A little squeeze of lemon on top gives the vegetables a little brightness.
This is a fabulous recipe to serve any time of year. It’s as simple as using fresh veggies in season. You are not limited to the arugula and asparagus used here by any means.
If you tried this recipe, Iโd love to hear how it turned out! Just leave a rating or comment below, or take a picture and tag me @thecoppertable on Instagram, pin to a board on Pinterest or share with your friends on social media! If you have not signed up for my weekly newsletter, you can do that below. I have all sorts of exclusive content just for newsletter subscribers, and Iโd love for you to join. Happy Cooking!
Vegetable Flatbread with Creme Fraiche
These versatile and easy flatbread uses a two ingredient dough, and the possibilities for toppings are endless.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 5.3 ounce container of Plain Greek Yogurt (I used full fat)
For the Creme Fraiche Spread
- 1/4 cup Creme Fraiche
- 2 Tbsp Fresh Chives
- 1 tsp Shallot, chopped
- 1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
- Pinch of Salt
For the Toppings
- 1/2 cup Arugula
- 8-10 Asparagus Spears, tough ends trimmed
- 1/3 cup shredded Fontina Cheese
- 1/8 tsp cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, add the all purpose flour, salt, and baking powder and stir well.
- Add the yogurt and stir to combine. Once some of the flour is absorbed start kneading with your hands to fully combine the ingredients.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead a few more times, and shape into an oval or round that is about a quarter inch to a half inch thick.
- Sprinkle a rimmed baking sheet with course ground cornmeal and place the dough round on top.
- Next, chop the garlic, shallot, and chives and stir into the creme fraiche. Add the salt to the mixture and spread evenly over the dough, leaving about a half inch border all the way around.
- Top the dough with the asparagus, then add add the arugula and Fontina. Sprinkle the black pepper evenly over the top.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the edges of the dough are light golden. Cut into slices and serve.
Notes
Self rising flour can be used instead of making your own, just substitute the same amount of self rising flour for the all purpose and leave out the baking powder, as it is already in the self rising flour.
Any other melty cheese can be used in place of Fontina, such as Mozzarella.
You will not need any more yogurt than the recipe requires, though at first when the dough is being mixed it will seem as though the flour will not all absorb into the yogurt without adding more. With some kneading the dough will all come together.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 163Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 323mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 7g
All information presented and written within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline. Statements within this site have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is provided for recipes contained on this site. This information comes from online calculators. Although The Copper Table attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
This looks like Spring to me! I love the tip about the yogurt slowly excepting the flour. I always get myself in trouble by prematurely adding more liquid/fat. Canโt wait to try!
Hello Melinda! I hope you enjoy this recipe. The first time I made this dough, I really wanted to add more yogurt too, but I stuck with it and it came together beautifully!
this recipe was fantastic! such a simple and bright dinner, full of flavor. I did make a couple of tweaks that may not be necessary, but i wanted to share. My asparagus spears were fairly thick so i halved them, and trimmed off a few inches from the end. I also tossed the arugula in a bit of olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon, and added it to the flatbread after it was baked. This added a fresh punch of flavor. Will definitely be making this again!
I am so happy that you loved this recipe, and the addition of a little lemon juice and olive oil with the arugula sounds great! I’m glad you will be making this again!