Grilled Veggie Flatbread with Pesto Whipped Cream

Name: Grilled Veggie Flatbread with Pesto Whipped Cream
Yield: 4 Main Meals or 10-12 Appetizer portions
Ingredients: Pesto Whipped Cream; 2 cups 35% Cream; Salt and cracked black pepper; 1 cup loose fresh basil; 1 cup loose fresh spinach; Zest & juice from 1/2 lemon; 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil; 2 cloves garlic; 3 tbsp pine nuts; toasted (save 1 tbsp to put on top of the pizza before serving); Ricotta Base; 2 cups Canadian Ricotta; 2 cloves garlic; Zest & juice from 1/2 lemon; 1 tsp crushed dried chili flakes; Salt & pepper; Grilled Veggies; 1 red pepper; cored and quartered; 6 - 8 stalks asparagus; 3 Portobello mushrooms; 1 zucchini; quartered lengthwise; 1 cup loose fresh spinach (this won’t actually go on the grill!); 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (best for grilling; but if you were to roast you could use butter); Salt and pepper; Flatbread; Store bought pizza dough; divided into 4 (or home-made if you have a favorite recipe)

Recipe from Gillian Anderson
Winner of the Great Cream Challenge
June 2014

This girl’s grilling goal: to make Real Cream the star of the show! Watch as the cool pesto whipped cream melts into layers of warm grilled veggies sitting on a lemon, garlic & chili ricotta base, spread over toasty grilled flatbread! Definitely a show-stopping main dish or sizzling summer appetizer!

Prep: 30 min
Cooking: 25 min

Yields 4 Main Meals or 10-12 Appetizer portions

grilled veggie flatbread with pesto whipped cream

Ingredients

Pesto Whipped Cream
2 cups 35% Cream
Salt and cracked black pepper
1 cup loose fresh basil
1 cup loose fresh spinach
Zest & juice from 1/2 lemon
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp pine nuts, toasted (save 1 tbsp to put on top of the pizza before serving)
Ricotta Base
2 cups Canadian Ricotta
2 cloves garlic
Zest & juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp crushed dried chili flakes
Salt & pepper
Grilled Veggies
1 red pepper, cored and quartered
6 - 8 stalks asparagus
3 Portobello mushrooms
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1 cup loose fresh spinach (this won’t actually go on the grill!)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (best for grilling, but if you were to roast you could use butter)
Salt and pepper
Flatbread
Store bought pizza dough, divided into 4 (or home-made if you have a favorite recipe)
Flour for dusting

READY FOR REWARDS?

Preparation

Make the Whipped Cream:

Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the cream with 1 tsp. of cracked black pepper until it’s light and fluffy with stiff peaks. In a food processor combine basil, spinach, zest & lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and 2 tbsp. toasted pine nuts - pulse it until smooth. TIP: To toast your own pine nuts - use a dry pan over medium high heat – make sure to move/shake the nuts every 30 seconds or so and watch these closely as they can heat up & burn rather quick! Fold in the fresh pesto mixture carefully into the whipped cream – then set and chill until you’re ready to use! Make the Ricotta Spread: In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine Ricotta cheese, garlic, lemon (zest & juice), chili flakes, salt & pepper. Set aside to take to the grill with you. Grilled Veggies: Cut veggies into medium- large slices perfect to put right on the grill. Toss in a large mixing bowl with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. Pizza Dough: Divide the dough into 4 equal sections and roll out thin in desired shape. Use the flour to dust your working space and prevent the dough from sticking. TIP: I chose oval which I think is great for appetizers, but the shape of the dough is ultimately up to you! Hit the Grill! It’s time to get grillin’! Take the veggies, rolled pizza dough and the Ricotta spread out to the grill. Using direct heat on a medium-high BBQ put all your veggies on. Flip once or twice through cooking, making sure to get some nice char marks! The key to success here is to pull off the veggies as soon as they are just getting soft, but still have a good texture to them – which should only take about 10 minutes. Once the veggies are off the grill, chop & dice them into smaller pieces to make them easy to spread over the flatbread. Now it’s time to get the flatbreads on the grill! They should take about 3-5 minutes per side and you’re only goal is to get those beautiful black lines in a diagonal criss-cross pattern. Once the bread has been flipped, spread some of your Ricotta mixture on the bottom, add a few fresh leaves of spinach and then top with a variety of the grilled veggies! Take your flatbreads off the grill and head back inside to top & serve. Topping: This next step might be even more fun than the grilling (dare I say!): putting your Pesto Whipped Cream on your flatbread! You can dollop on the cream as desired, or if you really want to impress, take a small plastic sandwich bag (or icing bag if you’ve got it) and spoon the whipped mixture into the bag. Snip the end and decorate as desired. Serve Up on a beautiful platter & enjoy!