Not for the faint of heart or large groups of tourists, you meander your way through the unmarked gates on Köpenickerstraße, past the caravans where some of the people from Köpi live, past some really impressive bike creations from their Bike Wars. It’s a decidedly punk atmosphere and they have lots of bands over, a bar and various political events, shows, etc. Worth checking out, but remember to be respectful, as people actually live here and you are coming into their living space. You’ll want to at least try to use your German here.
Anyway, they generally have 5 or so types of vegan pizza and I’ve decided my favorite is the potato rosemary. Pretty simple, it’s a combination I just haven’t ever considered, but the rosemary combined with the vegan cheese and potatoes makes a pretty amazing flavor explosion. I added some onions and garlic and baked it. The one in the picture had some mushrooms I needed to use up as well. I am now obsessed. Köpi uses a cheese that melts better than what I used, but mine still tasted awesome, so whatever.
Rosemary Potato Flatbread
Ingredients
- 1 pizza crust recipe of your choice or store-bought
- 2 medium potatoes boiled until cooked (not super mushy, but you should be able to easily stick a fork through them)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. dried or fresh rosemary
- 1/2 onion chopped however you want
- sliced mushrooms optional
- 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, rosemary and garlic, then brush over the whole crust. Slice the potatoes about 1/4 inch (1cm) thick lengthwise and spread out over the pizza, top with the onions and optional mushrooms, a bit of salt and then the vegan cheese.
- Bake about 10-15 minutes until the crust is cooked and the cheese is melty.
Here is a picture of my flatbread pre-cheese:
Here is my flatbread loaded up with vegan cheese (you could also make a cheese sauce) before cooking.
And the final slice….nom!
I was trying out a new vegan cheese and it didn’t melt super amazingly, but it was tasty nonetheless, don’t let the picture fool you. Next time I think I’ll just make my own vegan mozzarella or cheese sauce and throw some rosemary in there and give that a whirl.
