A few years ago one of my Couchsurfing hosts made us a flatbread with pears and garam masala. It was such an interesting and yummy combination that it stuck in my head for years until I finally recreated it myself here in Berlin. We’ve already mentioned how I’m obsessed with garam masala in my Saucy Garam Masala Noodles post…I know the combination sounds weird, but go with it, it’s delicious! I apologize for the dark photos, the sun does not actually ever shine in Berlin in the winter, so making nice sunny photos a bit difficult at the moment!

Making a flatbread seems complicated, but it’s really not so bad. Just use your favorite pizza crust recipe, here is the one I usually use or buy a store bought one. Pizza dough is generally a bit more soft and sticky than bread dough, so to get around that I knead it and then roll it in oil before I stretch the dough out and flatten it, that way it doesn’t stick all over my hands, the surface, etc.

The second time I made this I was making sourdough bread at the same time, so I threw in some sourdough starter and let it sit in the fridge for awhile, which lead to a nice sourdough taste!

Pear and Garam Masala Flatbread

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 pizza crust recipe of your choice or store-bought
1 clove garlic minced
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 tsp. garam masala to taste
1 pear sliced
1/2 onion- vegan mozzarella-style cheese of choice or make your own
salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I also sprinkle some fine cornmeal or semolina on the parchment paper to further prevent sticking, but that's up to you).
Prepare your pizza crust or take your store bought one out of the fridge. Let it rest for 5 minutes before shaping. You might want to roll it around in a little bit of olive oil first to make it easier to handle.
For a personal pizza, I use a ball about the size of my fist. The rest of the dough I stored in the fridge in plastic wrap for the next day. My trick is to make a circular ball then stretch it over the rim of a medium-sized bowl. Once it's stretched over the bowl you can pull out the sides a bit more, then pick it up off the bowl and transfer it to the parchment paper. You want it to be thin, less than a 1/4 an inch. You might think then it won't hold the toppings, but once it cooks it will rise a bit, get crispy and be fine.
In a small bowl or cup combine the olive oil and garlic, then brush over the crust.
Sprinkle the whole crust with a good amount of garam masala, cover with the pear slices, some onions, a bit of salt and then the vegan cheese.
Bake in the oven on the middle shelf for 15 minute. You might want to move it up to the top shelf the last 5 minutes if your cheese isn't melting.
When the crust has browned and the cheese is melty, you're done!

Here is a bad dark picture of my pizza pre-cheese: