Fennel and Apple Flatbread Pizza and a Thank You

This post is also available in: French

Dearest readers,
In the beginning of the week we asked for your help with recipe testing for our upcoming book. So far, we’ve received nearly 400 emails from volunteers offering their time and expertise. We can’t even begin to tell you how immensely grateful we are for all of the support that you’ve offered us in the last couple of days. We’ve read through every single email and very much enjoyed learning about you, our reader. It warmed our hearts to hear that you’ve cooked and enjoyed things from this little space on the internet. We wish we could give every one of you a chance to test a new recipe, if only that was possible. We’re still in the process of selecting volunteers – the hardest job ever. Once again, thank you so much.
Today, we want to share this simple recipe for fennel and apple flat bread pizza. Fennel has been very popular in our household this winter, we just can’t get enough. This gluten-free crust is easy and nutritious, but any one of your favourite pizza crusts will work well here.

Fennel and Apple Flatbread Pizza
makes 2 flat bread pizzas

for the crust
1 1/2 cups purified water
3/4 tablespoon sea salt
2 1/2 tablespoons coconut sugar – divided
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups buckwheat flour – preferably sprouted, plus more if needed and for dusting
1/4 cup quinoa flour – preferably sprouted
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 tablespoons olive oil- divided

for the topping 
2 large fennel bulbs – sliced into 1/4-inch (6mm) thick slices, fronds reserved
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste
about 4-5 small to medium sized apples, such as Pink Lady, Honey Crisp or Granny Smith
ground cinnamon – to taste

to make the crust
1. In a medium sized jar with a tight lid, combine the water, salt and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. Shake to dissolve and combine well. Add the vinegar and shake a little more to incorporate.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the flours and mix them well. In another bowl, measure 1 1/2 cups of the flour mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar, baking soda and mix to combine. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 cup of the liquid, then mix with a spoon into a liquid dough.
3. Begin adding in more of the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is no longer too sticky to be kneaded with your hands. Lightly dust your hands and the dough surface with the buckwheat flour. Knead the dough quickly, for about 2 minutes. It is important not to add too much of the flour, as it will be hard to fix. Usually, 3 cups of flour is what’s needed, but you can add a little more if necessary.
4. When the kneading is finished, divide the dough into 2 even portions, form each into a ball, and place them on separate pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten each with the palm of your hand and cover with more plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can make the dough in advance and refrigerate it overnight.

to roast the fennel, assemble and bake the pizza
1. Preheat oven to 415 F (210 C). Brush both sides of the fennel slices with the oil and lay them on a parchment paper covered baking tray. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. Roast for 20-30 minutes, rotating and flipping the slices every 10-15 minutes, until soft. Lower the oven temperature to 395 F (200 C).
2. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, one portion at a time. Lightly dust your rolling pin with brown rice flour. Roll each portion on a separate piece of parchment paper into a 1/4-inch (6 mm) thick crust. Brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake one piece at a time for 10 minutes.
3. Top with fennel slices and then apple slices. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Make sure not to leave too wide of an uncovered border to prevent the crust from drying and hardening. You can add 1-2 oz of goat cheese at this step if you like. Bake for another 12 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing. Top with fennel fronds, microgreens and/or other fresh greens.