Peas on the Plate

Here’s something brave to say: I love flatbreads. I know, I know. Super courageous, you’re welcome. I really like that they’re straightforward and as easy (or, in my case, as much of a pain in the ass) as you want them to be. I also like that I can layer a bunch of food I like that sometimes makes no sense, put it in the oven, and love my life about 10 minutes later.

A fun quirk about my new place is that there’s no light over the countertop range – the range hood is a lie. The fan is mounted directly into the wall above the range, which was super fun when Queens was enveloped in Canadian wildfire smoke, but that’s neither here nor there. So my solution was to stick one of these guys on the blank sheet of metal above the range. I was concerned that the light casing would melt, but guess what did instead? THE ADHESIVE. Resulting in the light crashing down onto the range a few days ago, plunging the area into darkness. Seriously, the angle of the lighting in the kitchen is such that when you use the stovetop, you’re cooking in your own shadow.

This is incredibly inconvenient when caramelizing onions, which is a process that is hardly an exact science and relies heavily on visual cues to figure out what to do- turn the heat up, add sugar, turn the heat down, add balsamic vinegar, call your mom in a panic, etc. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say the onions were accidentally frizzled, but I’m confident that anyone with a less shitty kitchen than mine will be able to handle the caramelizing process with much more grace – all 45 minutes of it (regardless of what every cooking blogger says). More importantly, they tasted great and not-burnt!

What came out of all this madness was one of the best things I’ve ever made and a kitchen that was about 600 degrees, cementing my long-term (read: summer-long) commitment to my Instant Pot that won’t make me bake alive while just trying to make dinner.

With that, I present these absolutely excellent flatbreads, which reheat well and are the product of accidentally blurring two recipes in my mind and buying a few ingredients for each.

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Caramelized Onion & Prosciutto Flatbread

Yield: 2-4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 2 flatbreads (I used these)
• 8 oz (1 C) mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 1/2 C ricotta cheese
• 3 oz sliced prosciutto
• 2 yellow onions
• 1 tsp sugar (for caramelizing)
• Balsamic vinegar (for caramelizing)
• Balsamic glaze, to taste

Instructions

1. Slice the onions very thin and caramelize them using these instructions, which are more helpful than literally anything I could tell you. I follow them every single time I need to caramelize onions because I never learn and always need external validation.
2. While the onions are caramelizing, preheat your oven according to the package instructions on the flatbread.
3. While the onions are caramelizing, whisk the ricotta for about 30 seconds to a minute. Add in a crack of black pepper if you like things that taste very good.
4. Once the onions are caramelized, spread the ricotta on the flatbreads.
5. Layer on the mozzarella slices. I used 8 ounces and put the slices about an inch apart, but if you want to absolutely smother your flatbread in cheese (honestly, who doesn’t?) feel free to use more.
6. Distribute the caramelized onions evenly on each flatbread.
7. Layer on the prosciutto. I spaced them apart so if you took a quarter of the flatbread, you’d get about two slices.
8. Bake according to package instructions of the flatbread you’re using. If you want the cheese a little more melty, or to crisp up the prosciutto a little, leave it in a little longer.
9. Drizzle the balsamic glaze on, to taste.
10. Cut each into four pieces and serve.
11. Enjoy!

Notes

I whipped the ricotta because I saw it in a recipe and wanted to try it. It definitely made the cheese a little easier to spread and work with, plus it just made it nice and fluffy, so give it a try!