On Monday’s, I place a grocery order through one of our local farms, and every Saturday we drive out to the farm to pick it up. I always include a produce box with my order, and what’s in that box is different each week depending on what’s available or in season. I never know what I’m getting until I pick it up. This week our black box of produce from the farm contained a variety of pears and they were the inspiration for this pear & prosciutto flatbread.
I must admit, not knowing what’s in the produce box each week takes me back to my culinary school days when we had what were referred to as ‘Black Box’ days. Those were the day you arrived in class and unveiled a covered bowl of (until then unknown) mystery ingredients and had to cook up a dish on the spot using those ingredients.
Seeing the pears in that box, I immediately thought back to a flavourful pear flatbread I’d enjoyed once in a restaurant a number of years ago. My husband and I had bought tickets to see the stage production of Phantom of the Opera as a Christmas present for our girls. Not knowing the city well, we drove down early and wandered the streets around the theatre looking for a restaurant to try before the show (sadly I can’t recall the name of the one we found). We chose one with an extensive menu, and while the gluten-free options were limited, one of them was a pear & chorizo flatbread that they were able to modify to be gluten-free. I ordered it, savoured it, drooled over it, and have remembered the glorious goodness ever since.
With all those pears in the box, I knew I wanted to use some of them to attempt to make my own version of what I’d had that day.
This pear flatbread comes together quickly and is loaded with flavour: sweet pears and caramelized onions, prosciutto and goat cheese topped with a mango chutney glaze make a fabulous and flavourful combination. And just to add one more element, I piled it all on top of a sweet Bourbon BBQ sauce. If it sounds complicated, it’s not. In these times of social distancing and being able to shop only once per week, I had to use what I had on-hand.
I used O’Dough’s gluten-free flatbreads, and I added a little honey and bourbon to my favourite barbeque sauce, warmed up in a saucepan over low heat, while I caramelized a few onions from my pantry.
It was all fabulous and I savoured each and every bite. Try the recipe as it is, or open your fridge and pantry and imagine your own black box flatbread using the ingredients you have on hand.
This flatbread is great as a meal, or slice it up and serve it as an appetizer to family or guests (when the day comes that we can all safely have guests in our homes again).
Gluten-Free Pear & Prosciutto Flatbread
Ingredients
- 1 gluten-free flatbread I used O'Doughs brand
- 2 onions thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
- 1 cup your favourite gluten-free barbecue sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1-2 tbsp bourbon to taste
- 1-2 fresh pears sliced
- prosciutto sliced
- goat cheese
- 1/4 cup mango chutney if desired to drizzle over finished flatbread
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted and sizzling.
- Add onion slices to skillet with a pinch of salt. Stir often and cook until tender and golden in colour, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small saucepan, warm BBQ sauce, honey, and bourbon over low heat.
- Place flatbread on a baking sheet and brush with the BBQ sauce mixture. Top with prosciutto, caramelized onions, and crumbled goat cheese.
- Bake approximately 15 minutes, or until toppings are beginning to brown and flatbread is crispy.
- If desired, warm the mango chutney in a microwave safe container or small saucepan and drizzle over finished flatbread before serving.
- Cut into slices and enjoy.