Appetizer Recipe: Flatbreads with Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions, and Basil

Basil isn't exactly in season here in the Northeast; we splurged on some from Florida. If you can't get your hands on some or are waiting to grow your own, you can substitute parsley, although we really love the touch of sweetness the basil adds.

The best flatbreads we found were Indian naan, and we got ours at Whole Foods (under their 365 brand) in Tennessee and Garden of Eden in New York. If you use store-bought flatbreads and make your caramelized onions ahead of time (you can even freeze them), these things come together in 10 minutes.

Flatbreads with Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions, and Basil
makes 4 (using flatbreads that are about 10 inches long and 4 inches wide)

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing on the bread
2 yellow onions
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
4 flatbreads or pieces of Indian naan
4 ounces goat cheese
large handful of fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons

Heat the olive oil in a medium fry pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions, salt, and pepper, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The heat should be low enough that the onions sizzle quietly but don't brown too quickly. Add the sugar and continue to cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are dark golden and a darker brown crust begins to form on the bottom of the skillet. Pick up the dark brown bits and stir them into the onions, then turn off the heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Brush a bit of olive oil on each flatbread and sprinkle on some kosher salt. Scatter the onions evenly over each flatbread and crumble one ounce of goat cheese on each. Bake for about 8 minutes, until the cheese is beginning to melt and the flatbread gets slightly crisp.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle the basil on top, and cut into pieces.

Related: Making Naan Bread at Home

(Images: Elizabeth Passarella)

Oh, I did this the other night with some homemade naan. It makes such a good 'pizza' crust. Mine had tomato sauce, spinach, red onions and swiss on it though.
The caramelized onions and basil sound good, but I'd have to replace the goat cheese with something else because I just do not like that stuff.

posted by Kakugori on April 21st 2009 at 4:08pm
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A friend of mine did this just recently but with blue cheese instead of goat cheese. It was amazing.

posted by Tiamat_the_Red on April 21st 2009 at 4:28pm
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I've been dreaming about those pizzas from last week. Is the Indian naan in the refrigerated section?

posted by audreyb on April 21st 2009 at 4:46pm
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I bought some naan awhile ago and only used one piece in a recipe, then last week during the cleaning out of the fridge I thought about using it up but couldn't come up with how so I stuck it in the freezer for later research. Now I can make this! How exciting!

posted by tinka777 on April 21st 2009 at 6:04pm
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Yum! I love this kind of appetizer. In fact, I always keep some caramelized onions in the freezer so that I can pull something like this together whenever the urge (or need) strikes!

Here's my 'twin' post!

http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/an-easy-appetizer-for-the-weekend

Great minds really do think alike!

posted by Dana McCauley on April 21st 2009 at 6:25pm
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this reminds me of something i sampled at Cosi. this looks a lot better though.. less cheese. Cosi's version was so strong i could only see someone eating it in small amounts as a starter.

posted by deeboyayay on April 22nd 2009 at 9:48am
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Trader Joes has great pre-made pizza dough in three varieties: plain, herb, whole wheat. And it is only $0.99. I made a great pizza with it the other day: basil pesto , portobello mushrooms (marinated in olive oil rosemary and rep pepper flakes) topped with roma tomatoes, fresh local mozerella and fresh green onions.

Luke
New Urban Sharecropper
http://www.newurbansharecroppers.blogspot.com
http://www.producejigsaw.blogspot.com

posted by Luke on April 22nd 2009 at 11:18am
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i love the sweet/savory combo on pizza. i had one at a restaurant in cobble hill the other night that had thin slices of potato, red grape halves, and truffle cheese.

posted by duckumu on April 23rd 2009 at 8:41am
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I love this recipe! Deserves a digg and a stumble..:) I work with Chavrie goat cheese and i love seeing great recipes. The sweetness of the onions go really well with the tang, creamy cheese. Thanks!

posted by Corrinne on April 23rd 2009 at 10:06am
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Made this for dinner with the Joy of Cooking pizza crust (part whole wheat flour) and small pieces of pork rib sauteed with spices and source cream. Super good.

posted by HannahS on April 26th 2009 at 8:10pm
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