When I went to one of my favourite little delis, and bought up nearly the entire place, I needed to get some sort of flat bread to accompany my vast range of newly purchased dips and other Middle Eastern delights, and I came across Afghan Bread. Not only was it perfect for my dipping needs, but next time I used it, I realised it was perfect for a whole other type of meal, a sneaky, easy pizza. It is large and flat, but still has a dense, somewhat chewy texture. It also has little dimple type things pushed into one side of it, so it is great for holding onto whichever sauces or dips are used on it.
I have always gotten the rather long style Afghan bread, but there are different varieties, some smaller, some rounder and the type I used was 50% wholemeal, so they are one of the healthier bread options for this purpose. Unlike a pita bread or other flat breads sometimes used for making pizza at home, the Afghan bread is firmer and can handle the toppings.
Afghan Bread
I made one of my Afghan bread pizzas with Middle Eastern style toppings and the other with a more traditional set of toppings. Of course, you can use your imagination and pop on whatever things you like, but if you'd like a helping hand to get you on your way, these are the ingredients I used.
Middle Eastern Inspired Style
• Hummus dip base
• Dried figs
• Char grilled eggplant
• Feta cheese
• Baby spinach leaves
Italian Inspired Style
• Passata base (tomato puree)
• Crushed garlic if you like
• Char grilled eggplant
• Olives (I used kalamata, but any would be fine)
• Baby spinach
• Provolone cheese
My Afghan Bread Pizzas
I popped a bit of pumpkin on both as well, and I made them vegetarian, but if you want to cook up some lamb mince and add that to the first style pizza that would be yummy, and some prosciutto would go very nicely with the second style pizza. You can also bake the Afghan bread in the oven without any toppings first for about 5 or so minutes, so that it crisps up a bit more if you're worried about it becoming floppy after it is cooked with the toppings on it.
So get creative, be imaginative with your toppings and most importantly have a good time getting stuck into making your own pizza at home.
