Garlic and Cheese Flatbread with Herbs

garlic and cheese flatbread with herbs

How often do you eat pizza? I love pizza. At my full-time job (I work for an awesome ad agency called Genuine Interactive) we get free catered lunch everyday. Fridays is pizza day, so I can eat free pizza every week if I want to.

After a few weeks though, I start to get a little tired of pizza. Even if we get pizza from different places each time, pizza on the regular just didn’t have as much magic as the pizza I’ve always loved. You know what I mean: homemade pizza, fancy pizza, the greasy pizza with extra cheese that I order with my friends for movie night, the one I eat post-run, or that paper-plated slice I scarf down after getting home late from a party.

But last weekend, as I was walking home drenched in sweat after a yoga class, I started craving pizza real bad. It didn’t matter that we were going to have Pizza Friday at work, I wanted pizza, and I wanted it now. Or now-ish. At least after I showered.

garlic and cheese flatbread

I was going to pass by the grocery store to get pizza dough and marinara sauce (yes, yes, I know I should make my own, but I like convenience/I am lazy) but I remembered that I still have a sheet of frozen puff pastry at home. I figured I could use that instead and make flatbread, which is still pretty close to pizza, just no sauce. And usually rectangular in shape.

My go-to pizza delivery order is either a veggie with extra cheese, or cheese with garlic and anchovies. But when I decided to make flatbread instead, I wanted to top it with a couple of my favorite herbs: chives and parsley.

I really like using chives and parsley to add a small burst of flavor to dishes, and the bright green color makes finished dishes look more appealing. I like adding chives to savory tarts, eggs, pasta, and other appetizers, but I also use parsley in pasta and other finger food. Some people say that parsley hardly has any flavor, but if you use enough, you’ll notice that it has a clean, almost lettuce-like taste.

garlic and cheese pizza with herbs

I usually get flat parsley (also known as Italian parsley) but when I went to the grocery store, like my hair on a humid day, there was no choice but to go curly.

Curly leaf parsley has a sharper flavor than flat parsley, herbaceous and almost bitter, and it went really well with the chives and garlic. I also added a sprinkle of red pepper flakes because what’s pizza flatbread without chili pepper flakes? (The answer is: still flatbread.)

To begin, I chopped up garlic and mixed it with melted butter, then brushed that glorious mixture on the puff pastry. I topped it with shredded mozzarella, a classic cheese for melting on top of bread, as well as some shredded parmesan for some funk. After baking for just 20 minutes, my apartment was filled with the mouth-watering smell of garlic, butter, and cheese. I then generously topped the flatbread with snipped up parsley and chives. I wish I had some basil to add to the mix – I will do that next time.

garlic cheese herb pizza

The puff pastry becomes a thin buttery crust, perfect for melted cheesy goodness. This flatbread, I dare say, is actually as good as any other pizza I’ve craved.

Yield: makes 8-12 slices

Garlic and Cheese Flatbread with Herbs

Ingredients

1 sheet frozen puff pastry
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz shredded mozzarella
4 oz shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
  2. In a small microwave safe bowl, combine butter and garlic. Heat on high for 1 minute, until butter is melted. Mix well.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your puff pastry. You can further stretch and flatten it using a rolling pin, so that it fits your baking sheet more evenly. Line a 9x12 baking sheet with parchment paper before putting dough in. Poke a few holes with a fork so that your crust won't get too puffy.
  4. Using a pastry brush, brush garlic butter mixture on top of puff pastry. Try to distribute the chopped garlic evenly.
  5. Top with mozzarella, then parmesan cheese.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese on top is brown and the pastry edges are golden.
  7. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes if using, then parsley and chives. Cut into rectangles before serving.

garlic cheese herb flatbread

What’s your go to pizza order? Any favorite flatbread recipes?