Slice up this asparagus, kale, and ricotta flatbread and you have small bites that are perfect for packing into a container to bring along for a picnic dinner at the park, beach, or your own back yard.

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This month’s Recipe Redux theme was “small bites,” foods that can easily be eaten in a few bites–perfect for warm-weather picnic dinners and tapas dining al fresco. Wow! There are so many fabulous ways you could go here, but one of my favorite foods to have small portions of is flatbread.

Don’t get me wrong, good flatbread and pizza are hard to resist, and I could easily eat a lot more. However, I like the idea of serving these foods tapas style, because then you get just a taste, and can mix it with other delicious foods, and not worry about overdoing it on the bread and cheese part of this delicious combination.

While I love to make my own pizza or flatbread dough, let’s face it, life gets busy, and sometimes it’s nice to know you can pick up an almost as good and healthy version at the grocery store, which is worth it if it cuts down on your cooking time, clean up time, and overall stress level!

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While I sometimes pick up dough at our local pizza place, I usually go for the healthier multi-grain or whole wheat pizza dough available at our local Whole Foods. Fortunately, the kids love both.

To pick out the toppings for this flatbread I knew I wanted to keep it simple, seasonal, and on the healthier side. Since we had just gotten the first batch of fresh asparagus in our local farm share, that part was a given, asparagus it was. To go along with it I chose kale because more leafy greens is a good thing and it too is growing well here this time of year.

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The toughest part was deciding on the cheese.  I love the tang of goat cheese and feta–but the rest of my family, not so much. So I went with a more mild, but equally delicious option, ricotta. To make it all come together I also added fresh garlic, sea salt, and extra-virgin olive oil. Simple, fresh, and delicious!

If your family is not as tempted by a green pizza as I am, try adding some thin slices of bacon or pancetta for extra flavor. (I know just the word “bacon” will make my own kids perk up!)

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Serve this flatbread with a salad and maybe some grilled shrimp skewers, or how about some additional tapas–check out all the other great ideas from fellow Recipe Redux members below. This flatbread tastes delicious both hot and cold. Enjoy!

Asparagus, Kale and Ricotta Flatbread

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: Maria Adams

Recipe type: appetizer, lunch, <g class="gr_ gr_72 gr-alert gr_spell gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="72" data-gr-id="72">vegeterian</g>

Serves: 4 appetizers

Ingredients

• ½ ball whole wheat or multigrain pizza dough
• ½ pound asparagus, cut into ½-inch pieces and halved lengthwise if thick
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• ½ cup destemmed, finely chopped, packed kale
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons + 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup part-skim ricotta

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, toss together asparagus, salt, pepper, kale, garlic, and 2 teaspoons oil.
3. Roll out pizza dough and transfer to lined baking sheet. Spread ricotta onto the dough and then top with asparagus mixture. Brush the crust with remaining oil.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes until crust is golden.

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