A simple late-summer meal, flatbreads topped with feta, fresh apricots and red chilies. For sharing with a glass of wine when the sun starts setting a bit earlier... Apricot and Feta flatbreads.
Last thing I remember I was waiting for the blueberries and peaches to be ready. Next thing I know the tomatoes are turning red and I'm at theGap.com for back to school clothes. Online shopping has saved the procrastinator in me. I can shop at 11 pm at night or while at work. It's a beautiful thing.
School starts next week. I feel like I missed the break - you know the one that is implied in the term "Summer Break." I don't feel ready for school. I'm not going, but I have peoples to get ready. I'm scrambling to get prepared. We need new backpacks and shoes.
I just can't send my daughter to school in those. There is such juxtaposition between the cute and petite-ness of my little girl and the smell of her shoes.
The boy's backpack and lunch box just didn't make it through last year. Duck tape and safety pins can only do so much. BTS clothes needed to be purchased. Likely all too heavy and warm for first day of school weather, but we rushed and got things folded and put away in drawers nonetheless. New pencils, binders and paper. A protractor. And a bunch of washable markers we probably don't need, but bought "just-in-case." I'm confident they too will disappear before the first poster or title-page needs to be designed and coloured. And my daughter will deny ever having them. I'm sure of it.
Before I get involved in school schedules, meal plans and after school piano lessons, all I wanted was an easy meal to share with my husband. Perhaps something to nibble while we decide how we feel about the end of summer. "School's back in next week!" I can't decide if it is excitement or panic I hear in my voice. And maybe a little "Uggh, I can't believe school starts next week."
So,,, a meal that feels and tastes like summer.
Apricot and feta flat bread. Sweet and spicy. The apricots are fresh off the tree right now. I considered using goat cheese instead of feta here. And I do think goat cheese would be nice, but I really like how the saltiness the feta complements the sweetness of the apricots. The apricots melt and turn kinda jammy. Spicy from the fresh little red chilies.
Could you eat this pizza without the chili peppers?
Yes - you could. But I highly recommend the fresh chilies. The chilies make this thing sing. But if you can't stand the heat, do what you need to do. I used red Thai chilies - fiery hot. You could try something tamer - jalapeño and such.
This would also make an interesting and pretty app if you want to contemplate the end of summer with as many people as you can fit around your backyard dinning table. Misery likes company.
Apricot and Feta Flatbreads
Ingredients
- 2 flat breads I used whole wheat naans
- 2-3 ounces feta cheese crumbled (about 1 - 1-1/2 ounces per flat bread)
- basil leaves - about 10 small torn into largish pieces, leave whole if small
- olive oil for drizzling
- 4-5 apricots pitted and cut into 4-6 pieces each
- coarse sea salt
- 1/2 - 1 whole fresh Thai chili pepper very thinly sliced or minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Lightly brush naan with olive oil.
- Decorate with apricot slices, feta cheese, basil leaves and chili peppers to taste. I used about 1-1/2 ounces of cheese and 2 apricots per flat bread.
- Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Drizzle with a little more olive oil.
- Place in hot oven - 7-10 minutes, watch carefully so that bread crisps but does not burn. I used the lower rack.
- Remove from oven, cut into quarters and serve (preferably with a glass of cold white wine).
Susan says
It sounds like you have an apricot tree - if you do I am insanely jealous, because I used to have one and that was the only way I ever had tasty apricots. We recently had a pizza that combined some seemingly strange bedfellow ingredients that was absolutely heavenly. So I trust your recommendation to make sure we include the chilies. I really want to find a way to include this in our lunch or dinner menus - and find tree-ripened apricots (good luck, living in an area that only gets California produce - they always pick their fruit so green that it is tasteless).
Trish @infinebalance says
Well I don't have my own tree. That would be crazy and awesome! But I do benefit from some very reliable fruit and veggie stands nearby. I'm fortunate to have great local produce.