I recently wrote an article for Examiner.com on the cost of canned vs. dried beans.  Before writing the article, I, of course, cooked a huge pot of chickpeas.  I eat a lot of them, but I wanted to come up with a few fresh new recipes that feature chickpeas.  This is one of the recipes I came up with, and I’ve made it for lunch two days in a row.

The Chickpea Pizza Wrap has all of my favorite elements of a pizza: the tortilla is like a thin crust pizza crust, there is mozzarella cheese melted on top, and the sauce is mixed in with the chickpeas.  You’ll see in the recipe that I’ve suggested adding a pinch of oregano and crushed red pepper flakes.  This is because they are my favorite things to shake on my pizza.  Feel free to add whatever you like to top your pizza with, for example parmesan cheese and garlic powder will be great additions to your wrap.

And before you write this recipe off because wraps are like, so over, this one is different.  The warm, simple flavors of the filling aren’t your typical cafeteria wrap.  It’s more like a burrito than one of those bland, passé wraps you ate in college. I hope you give this a try.  I bet you’ll like it.

Chickpea Pizza Wrap

• 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (if using canned, rise and drain)
• 1/4 cup pizza or marinara sauce
• 1 large handful baby spinach
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded or very thinly sliced (you can use vegan cheese instead)
• 1 whole wheat tortilla
• oregano,  suggested
• crushed red pepper flakes, suggested

Combine the chickpeas, sauce, and a sprinkle of oregano and crushed red pepper flakes, if using, in a microwave safe bowl.  Cover loosely and microwave for 60 to 90 seconds, (until heated through) stirring halfway through the cooking time. Remove from the microwave and lightly mash the chickpeas with a fork, leaving some chickpeas whole.

It's certainly not photogentic at this point, but this is the texture you're looking for.

Meanwhile, place the tortilla on a microwave safe plate and arrange the mozzarella cheese on top in an even layer.  Microwave for 30 seconds, or until the cheese melts and the tortilla is warm.

Tear the spinach into pieces and place on top of the tortilla.  Add the chickpeas.  Carefully tuck 2 opposite sides in, and roll the tortilla into a wrap.  Slice it in half and serve hot.

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This is also great as a buffalo chickpea wrap (and I think the name is cute), replacing the mozzarella cheese with blue cheese, and substituting the pizza sauce with buffalo wing sauce.  When I made it that way, I cut back on the wing sauce a bit since it’s really spicy.  I added a dollop of plain yogurt for some coolness before I wrapped it all up.

I received loads of feedback on my Project Food Blog entry and wanted to say thank you very much to all of you that voted.  Unfortunately, I didn’t advance, but it was a fun experience and it looks like a bunch of people found my blog through it, so it worked out!  I also found several new-to-me blogs to read.

One of the most popular recipes on my blog seems to be my flatbread pizzas.  It’s not surprising to me, they are quick, cheap, healthy, and delicious.  What’s not to love?

I wanted to share a couple of tips to those of you who might want to try them yourselves.

• To get a nicely crunchy crust

The key is to bake them on the toaster oven rack.  Not in a regular oven (although that’s fine if you don’t have a toaster oven).  Not on a baking sheet or on foil.  But straight on the oven rack. I usually set the toaster oven to around 425-450 and it takes somewhere around 10 minutes to achieve my ideal crunch level.

To prevent your toaster oven from catching on fire, make sure your cheese is fully on the top of the crust and not hanging off the edge.

Not that I would know about the fire thing from experience.

No, really.

• The base of the pizza can really be anything carby

Classic flatbreads are great, naan works well, pitas are great, as are bagels, english muffins, and crusty sourdough bread.

• The toppings can be anything

From classic pizza flavors to sandwich (tempeh reuben, buffalo chick’n) or salad flavors (think caesar, greek, etc.), try your hand at any combination that strikes your fancy.  I bet it turns out great.  Report back to me with any especially yummy combinations you come up with!

This flatbread pizza was made on a pita.  I picked up a package of these at Trader Joe’s and love their flavor and texture.  I topped it with black olive hummus (again, Trader Joe’s brand), baby spinach, a New York State apple (I miss home!), and some sliced cheddar cheese.  I later covered the whole thing with crushed red pepper flakes because I’m a wild woman.

I’m sorry about this recipe.  I really am.  It’s freaking delicious and takes about 3 minutes to pull together.  It’s going to be a problem around my apartment.

So here’s the thing: it’s not even remotely fancy or healthy food.  It’s hardly even a recipe.  It’s cream cheese, red sauce, and shredded cheese microwaved and served with pita wedges.  But oh god.  It’s finals, I’m graduating from law school in 2 weeks, starting bar review the day after commencement, moving, and sometimes I just want to eat my anxiety, okay?  And this stuff does the trick.  It’s hot and melty and tomatoey- my definition of comfort.

Clearly more excited to eat it than to take a decent photo- or even wipe off the splatter.

Individual Hot Pizza Dip

• 1 tablespoon cream cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons marinara sauce
• dried oregano
• fennel seeds*
• crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 tablespoon shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, etc.)

In a microwavable bowl (cereal size) spread the cream cheese in an even layer.  Layer on the marinara sauce, a sprinkle of the oregano and fennel seeds and crushed red pepper flakes, if using.  Top with shredded cheese.  Cover with a paper towel and microwave on high for 1 minute, or until the cheese is melted. Serve with toasted pita wedges.

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• Okay, so this probably tastes better if you bake it in the oven instead of microwaving it.  But really people, I’m talking 3 minutes until you have hot delicious pizza dip.  Get over crunchy cheese and nuke this.  If you have more time or want to feed a bigger crowd you can make this in a large pan and bake it for a while and I’m sure it will be delicious.

*The fennel seeds make this taste a little like sausage- this is my dad’s trick and I use it all the time on pizza or in pasta dishes.  Crush the seeds lightly in the palm of your hand before you add them to a dish.  I buy mine in the Indian section of the grocery store.  They come in a bag and are much cheaper than the ones in the tiny bottle in the spice aisle.

**In the photo I sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top.  See, it’s healthy now!

I made pizza dough (I highly recommend this recipe) a few weeks ago and only used about 1/4 of it to make a calzone and 2 mini bread sticks.  So, I wrapped it up tight in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for another time since pizza dough freezes really well.  Last night I took another 1/4 of the dough out and let it thaw in the refrigerator over night.

So for dinner tonight I knew I was going to have pizza, but the question was what kind?

I didn’t have any cheese on hand save for a bit of parmesan, so I decided to go for something a bit less ordinary than the pizzas I usually make.  I decided to caramelize some onions and add them to a white pizza.  This came out really well, if I do say so myself.
Take your time caramelizing the onions- the longer you let them cook at a low temperature the better.  Don’t fuss over them, the cooking time is long but they really only need to be stirred a few times.  You can put a lid on them and walk away for a while if they are over low heat.

This pizzetta is definitely for garlic lovers!  If you’re less keen on garlic, try using roasted garlic and spreading the mashed cloves over the dough before you bake it.

Pizzetta Bianca with Caramelized Onions

• 1/4 of this pizza dough recipe (or enough dough to fill an 8×8 square baking pan)
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• dried oregano
• dried basil
• crushed red pepper flakes
• parmesan cheese (optional)
• fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with olive oil.  Stretch the dough to fit in the pan.  Spray with a bit more oil.  Set aside.

In a large skillet over low heat, spray a generous amount of olive oil then add the onions.  Cook very slowly until they turn caramel colored- not crispy!  It should take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Add the sliced garlic to the pizza dough, followed by a bit of each of the herbs and a shake or two of crushed red pepper flakes.  Then add the onions and the optional parmesan cheese.

Looking a bit... *beige* before baking

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Sprinkle the parsley over, if using.

I had half of this for dinner tonight with a salad.  If you want to make this to serve 4, just use half of the pizza dough recipe and use a bit more of each ingredient to cover the pizza.

I love most things bread.  Bagels, english muffins, tortillas, whole wheat, italian… you name it, I dig it.  The most versatile bread, in my opinion is flatbread.  Puffy pitas, naan, roti, tortillas, and fancy dancy ‘wraps’ are are great to have on hand to easy homemade meals.  Most of them freeze really well too (except maybe tortillas), so you don’t have to worry about having them go moldy on you.  The reason I like them so much is that you can make them into sandwiches, eat them plain dipped into soup or a dip, made into garlic bread, as a crust for mini pizzas, the list goes on.

Probably my favorite way to use them for dinner purposes is as a shell for some type of baked flatbread.  My own personal definition of pizza is that it must contain red sauce on the bottom.  White pizza makes no sense to me, but when you call it a “garlic and cheese flatbread” I’m all about it (but will still probably attempt to dip it in marinara).  Weird, I know, but love me anyway.    What were we talking about again?

Oh, this stuff:

Pizza topped with zucchini, red bell peppers, kalamata olives, and red onions

This guy is made on a “pizza parlor” flatbread that I pick up at Wegmans near the pita breads.  They are tasty and can stand up to the millions of toppings I like on my pizzas.  Pizzas can also be made on tortillas, but you have to be a little less generous with the toppings or it won’t get crispy.

This is NOT a pizza, but a baked flatbread.  And it’s damn tasty!  Naan style flatbread, topped with homemade cilantro-almond pesto, kalamata olives, quartered grape tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  This guy was tasty as heck.  I highly recommend this combo.  I used this recipe for the pesto and froze most of it in an ice cube tray and then put it in a plastic bag to store.  I actually broke out a cube today to use as a sauce for my gnocchi and it still tasted fresh and delicious.

This one was pretty similar but the base is a laughing cow cheese wedge mixed with some Gorgonzola and cilantro pesto, then topped with tomatoes, olives, and fresh basil.  This one wasn’t as good as the one above, but still pretty dern good.

Did I mention that I make these in my toaster oven so they don’t even require heating up your regular oven?

Go eat some crispy topped bread!