It’s Monday and I’ve got a treat for you.
It’s one of my favorites.
It combines creamy mascarpone cheese, sweet fig jam, salty prosciutto, and peppery arugula that satisfies any possible craving you could have all in one bite.
Usually I would make this as a crostini on sliced and toasted baguette. Unfortunately, it can become very tedious when you have to spread and layer ingredients onto a bajillion little pieces of bread. So when I was planning Christmas Brunch, it occurred to me that I could save a lot of time if I just made one giant crostini… I briefly thought about slicing a baguette in half, toasting the halves and going from there, similar to my cheesy artichoke bread recipe.
Then, as I was scanning the fridge to find something for dinner, my eyes stopped on a package of pizza dough from Trader Joe’s. It came to me all at once, it was so simple I couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured it out before: flatbread!
Flatbread was the solution to my problem. (How many people can say that?)
I could make one large flatbread and just cut it into a bunch of bite-size appetizers for people to snack on. Just grill your pizza dough until it’s cooked through, add your toppings, slice and serve. The result was the perfect super fast, super easy way to make my favorite appetizer.
Prosciutto Flatbread
[ Printable Recipe ]
- 1 pound pizza dough
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 cup fig jam
- 8 ounces prosciutto
- 4 cups arugula
Divide your dough into two equal portions and roll into a ball, set on a lightly-floured surface and cover with a towel. Bring to room temperature for about 1 hour prior to cooking.
Heat griddle or grill to high heat (or heat the oven to 500 degrees and put the rack on the lowest rung). If you’re using the oven here, you’ll want to start pre-heating it at least 30 minutes early.
Shape your dough, I just stretched mine out into an oblong shape. You can try for a circle or rectangle if it suits you, but don’t drive yourself crazy over it. Sometimes I prick it with a fork to make it slightly less bubbly, but I’m not convinced that it makes a huge difference.
Grill your bread until poofed and browned on one side, then flip and cook the other side. If you’re using the oven, it’s pretty much the same concept, you can leave it in there un-flipped just keep cooking until both sides are browned and the dough is cooked through. You’ll have to do this twice, because there are two pieces of dough. If you’re using the grill it only takes a few minutes per side, super easy!
Let it cool slightly, then when you can handle it comfortably, spread a layer of mascarpone on the flatbread (I find this is easier for some reason to do with the back of a spoon, maybe because the flatbread isn’t totally flat). Then spread a layer of fig jam over the layer of mascarpone. They’re going to mix together, it’ll be okay. You’re halfway there.
Now you have two options, prosciutto and then arugula, or arugula and then prosciutto. I prefer the latter, I find that putting the prosciutto on top helps to hold the arugula onto the flatbread. If I put the arugula on top I end up chasing it around as it falls off of every bite I take.
Then, that’s it! You’re done! Slice it up and eat it.
