Our cookbook of the week is Smitten Kitchen Every Day, by award-winning author and perennially popular first-wave food blogger Deb Perelman. Over the next four days, we’ll feature recipes from the book and an interview with its author.
To try another recipe from the book, check out: Grandma-style chicken noodle soup; and herb and garlic baked Camembert.
“Squash and richer vegetable dishes are something I intensely crave right through the holidays,” Deb Perelman says.
The flavours of her winter squash flatbread are Middle Eastern, with its hummus-yogurt sauce and sprinkling of za’atar (a traditional spice blend). But for its structure, Perelman looked to Italy.
Taking inspiration from Roman pizza di patate (potato pizza), she soaks thin slices of butternut squash in salted water until flexible, drains and blots dry before assembling.
Perelman recommends serving the flatbread for dinner or as a snack when entertaining; it holds up well and can easily be eaten with your hands.
Prepare the squash: Combine the water and salt in a large bowl and add the sliced squash. Soak for 25 to 30 minutes, after which the squash slices will be soft and bendy. Drain them in a colander, and press out as much water as you can; then spread the squash out on paper towels to blot it further.
Assemble flatbread: Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Brush either one 13-by-18-inch (33-by-46-cm) rimmed half sheet pan or two 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33-cm) quarter sheet pans with olive oil. (Divide the dough in half, if using two pans.) With oiled fingertips, press, nudge, and stretch dough to fit the shape of the pan(s). Thin, imperfect dough is just fine here. If holes form, patch them together.
In a large bowl, combine 4 tablespoons (60 mL) olive oil, cumin, coriander, Aleppo pepper, and several grinds of black pepper. Add the squash and toss to evenly coat. Spread the mixture over the dough(s), going all the way to the edges so that there are no uncovered spots. The edges brown more quickly, so you can make the squash slices a little thicker there.
Bake the flatbread(s): Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the squash is golden at the edges but tender and baked through. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
Meanwhile, to serve: Stir together the yogurt and hummus, and add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. When the flatbread has cooled a bit, dollop the yogurt-hummus mixture all over, and sprinkle with za’atar, pine nuts, and herbs. Cut into desired shape.
Excerpted from Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites. Text and photographs copyright © 2017 Deb Perelman. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.