Welcome to place where I say you can have your cake and eat it too. Well, if cake means pizza. And salad. And hummus.
You get the idea.
I’m getting allll sorts of crazy today with this recipe. That gives you a glimpse into the wild life that I lead, huh? Sad.
Anyway. This flatbread is an incredible mix of ingredients and explodes with flavor. I actually kinda hate myself for creating it. I ate most of this in one sitting. Whomp whomp. I just couldn’t stop! When Dan got home from work, he didn’t help me eat it because he’s not a fan of hummus. SO GUESS WHO ATE THE WHOLE DAMN THING OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW HOURS? Yup.
It starts with pizza dough. Just like all good things, right? I roll it out and crisp it up in the oven with a little olive oil and salt. Nothing more. It serves as the crunchy base for the rest of this situation. Trust me when I say that there is so much flavor, your crust really needs to be simple.
Once it’s golden and crispy and lovely, slather it with as much or as little hummus as you like. I went with my favorite store bought one here, especially since I was making the Caesar dressing from scratch. Take a little help from the store wherever you can, people! You can use any flavor of hummus you prefer, but I must say, plain or roasted garlic would be my two recommendations here. You want something that will jive well with the flavors of Caesar salad, and something like…roasted red pepper, for example, might be a little strange?
Then! I make my favorite at-home Caesar salad, complete with toonnnnnnsss of crunchy romaine lettuce, thinly sliced cucumbers, and tomatoes. I realize that cucumbers are NOT traditional in Caesar salad, but I beg you, give it a try. You might be surprised! I always add them to our Caesar salads at home because I love the extra crunch and clean flavor they add. To keep things interesting (and pretty!), I also add in some sliced radishes and red onion. All optional. All customizable. This is just how I like it.
Lots of parmesan cheese and a few drizzles of my favorite homemade Caesar dressing, and this salad is ready to go on top of our flatbread! Or, if you’re like me, straight into your mouth out of the salad bowl. Because, daaamnnnn, it’s GOOD.
My Caesar dressing is one that I have been working on for YEARS. I’ve been tweaking and adjusting and tasting and tweaking again for a long time now. This version is probably the closest I’ve come to a restaurant Caesar.
It’s creamy, tangy, salty, and yum. I prefer a creamier Caesar dressing, but if you don’t, you can up the vinegar/lemon juice in this recipe to give it more of vinaigrette feel. One request? If you’re going to make this dressing from scratch, please do so in advance! I think this tastes best an entire 24 hours after it’s been mixed together. You can definitely use it sooner than that, but give yourself at least a couple hours to let the flavors really gel. Otherwise, it will taste overly lemony. Or overly oily. It needs its beauty rest.
When all is said and done, though, this flatbread is a thing of beauty.
Crispy carb layer. Creamy, flavorful hummus. Crunchy, cheesy Caesar salad.
What more could you ask for?
Hummus & Caesar Salad Flatbread
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Caesar Dressing:
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
- 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2–3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Flatbread:
- 1 lb pizza dough
- Flour, for rolling out the dough
- Cornmeal, for the dough
- Olive oil, for brushing on the dough
- 1 cup hummus, store-bought or homemade
- 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup thinly sliced English cucumber
- ½ cup chopped scallions or red onion
- ½ cup chopped or thinly sliced radishes
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
For the Dressing:
- Combine the egg yolks, anchovy paste, garlic, Dijon, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and Worcestershire in a food processor. Process until well mixed and smooth.
- With the machine running, stream in the two oils slowly. Run the machine for a few seconds after all the oil is incorporated, to ensure that it fully emulsifies. It’s ready when it’s thick and creamy.
- Fold in the parmesan cheese and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
- Transfer the dressing to an airtight container and keep cold until you are ready to use it. I like to make this as in advance as possible to allow the flavors to meld well.
For the Flatbread:
- Preheat the oven to 475°F and place a pizza stone on the middle rack. If you don’t have a pizza stone, place a lightly oiled baking sheet in the oven to preheat.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough to desired shape and thickness. Sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal and then carefully transfer the dough to the pizza peel. Brush the dough with olive oil.
- Bake the dough for 10-15 minutes, watching carefully, or until it is puffed and golden brown.
- Whole the pizza is baking, prep your salad ingredients.
- Remove the pizza from the oven and spread the hummus over the surface while the dough is still hot.
- In a large bowl, toss together the romaine, cucumber, scallions/onion, radishes, and desired amount of dressing.
- Top the pizza with the salad and garnish with parmesan. Slice and serve.
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