Copycatting Papa John.

Time to copycat another food item, this time from Papa John's.  Papadias are inspired by the ‘piadina,’ an Italian folded flatbread sandwich from Northern Italy, but Papa John's uses their original pizza dough instead of flatbread.  Sort of like making a calzone, but not sealing the ends.

There are four varieties, each hand-stretched, oven-baked and hand-folded to order. 

1 - Italian: Italian flatbread-style sandwich made with Alfredo sauce, spicy Italian sausage, salami, real cheese made from mozzarella and banana peppers; served with a pizza sauce dipping cup.

2 - Philly Cheesesteak: Italian flatbread-style sandwich made with sliced Philly steak, fresh-cut onions and green peppers, real cheese made from mozzarella and "Philly" sauce; served with a garlic sauce dipping cup.

3 - Grilled BBQ Chicken & Bacon: Italian flatbread-style sandwich made with grilled chicken, bacon, fresh-cut onions and real cheese made from mozzarella, drizzled with sweet and smoky BBQ sauce; served with a BBQ sauce dipping cup.

4 - Meatball Pepperoni: Italian flatbread-style sandwich made with spicy meatballs, pepperoni, pizza sauce, real cheese made from mozzarella and classic Italian seasoning; served with a pizza sauce dipping cup.

With the name ending with "dia", you can't help but think, "quesadilla"?  Normally made with tortillas, a quesadilla has a filling (yes, you can use what's listened up above), placed on a grill; the tortilla is browned, folded, cut into sections, and ready to eat with a favorite dipping sauce, salsa, and/or guacamole.

When in the mood for pizza, but no fresh dough available, having a package of tortillas comes in handy for a quick, crispy pizza on the fly.  We keep Naan bread in stock as well, and it makes a pretty tasty, spontaneously in the mood for, pizza.

So, why not make one of these "Papadias", but using the original bread type, a flatbread, and that is what Naan is.  By the way, I named my version, MamaMiadias.

To keep ingredients from falling onto my oven bottom, I preheated (tempered) a 16 inch pizza pan, in the oven, at 425F.  Just in case any oils happen to leak through (holes in the bottom of the pan for air circulation), I also have a sheet of heavy duty foil on the oven's bottom.

American (left), Italian (right)

While preheating was going on, I prepped the Naan bread.  One was an American cheeseburger style, with seasoned, and cooked, ground beef (salt and cracked black pepper only), slices of bell peppers, onions and shredded Cheddar cheese.  

The second was an Italian style, with the cooked ground beef containing an Italian herb blend, the bell peppers and onions, diced tomatoes, but shredded mozzarella and provolone cheeses.

Once the oven hit 425F, I placed the prepped breads onto the pizza pan, popped it back into the oven (on the center rack), and let it bake for 15 minutes.  Once out of the oven, I quickly folded the breads and cut them in half.  

Holy Dias Batman!  They were so full of flavor and texture; no need to dip into a sauce, or add anything else.  We did try a couple of sauces, but they actually took away from the initial flavor instead of  enhancing.  This was a truly satisfying sandwich!

...and so, the MamaMiadia was born in the Cokenour kitchen.  Of course, Papa John's gets credit for introducing the idea, to us, via television commercials.

Mary Cokenour

Pizza on Flatbread; Yeah, About That.

I've been experimenting with different types of "bread" bases for pizza making as options for real pizza dough. When I did the Tortilla experiment, it came out pretty well...not excellent, but pretty well. While watching television, a commercial for Subway came on and suggested that flatbread can be your bread, instead of one of their rolls. Flatbread is unleavened bread made from water, flour and salt; no yeast, nothing to feed the yeast such as oil or honey; or a sourdough culture. A few typical examples are pita, tortilla, fry bread, pane, and roti; there are many more depending on what region of the world you're living in, or visiting.

Since I was going grocery shopping in Cortez the next day, flatbread was added to the list, along with any other ingredients I might need.  Once again I was going to keep it simple and basic; following the list of ingredients from the tortilla experiment:

Ingredients:

1 (10 – 12 inch) flatbread
½ tsp olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided in half
½ cup pizza sauce

I followed the exact same preparation instructions, but changed two of the actual cooking steps.   Flatbread is much thicker than a tortilla, so there was no need to preheat a pizza pan and place the flatbread on it; it went directly onto the oven rack which had preheated in the oven anyway.  The second item changed was the cooking time; 7 minutes and the bottom was still not browned; 10 minutes was just right.

The bottom was nicely browned with darker lines from the rack; the crust edges were airy and crispy.  However, the rest of the flatbread was, well I kind of associate it with "lightly toasted bread", very bready on the inside and basically soft.  You see, while the bottom had browned, it had not crisped up like the edges had, so each piece of the pizza was floppy.  The overall taste was good though, but that was due more to the oil, sauce and cheese than the flatbread itself.



I have to say that I would definitely try a flatbread pizza if I saw it offered at a restaurant; how else am I to compare?  If it is better than my experiment was, I certainly would pick brains to find out how it was done; what was the restaurant's secrets.  Now I just have to get a hold of my friend Anita, and get some of her homemade Navajo Fry Bread; can you guess what I'll be making?

Mary Cokenour

Flatbread - New York vs. The Keebler Elves

Flatbread is simply unleavened bread and almost every culture has some type.  Examples of soft flatbread are Pita (Greece, Arabia) and Tortilla (Mexico); crispy would be the Hebrew Matzo; however, it is not unusual to see the soft types baked or fried to compliment a recipe.  Is Flatbread healthier?  While it is less fattening, it contains very little in nutrition value; unless it has been made from a whole grain such as wheat. 

While Flatbreads are often used for sandwich making, baking or frying pieces into "chips" or crackers makes for a tasty and quick snack.  Herbs, spices and cheeses can be incorporated into the dough giving extra flavor for eating alone, or along with a topping (softened cheese, salsa, dips).

New York Flatbreads
Website:http://www.sbamerica.com/NYFlats/NYFlats_Product_line.htm

New York Flatbreads come in many flavors: Sesame Seed, Garlic, Pumpernickel, Everything, Honey Cinnamon and Roasted Vegetable to name a few. They're an all natural ingredient, extra thin and crispy flatbread made from wheat flour. Each flatbread is cholesterol free, 1.5 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbs and 50 calories; the size is equal to about 3-4 average boxed crackers.

Eaten alone, these flatbreads are full of flavor. They tend to crack easily if using a spread that is thick such as regular cream cheese, cold butter or cheese spread. Either allow the spread to come to room temperature before using, or use an already cremier version such as dips, whipped cream cheese, whipped butter or one of the softer versions of cheese spreads available in the market.

Town House Flatbread Crips

Website: http://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/home.html

This product is part of the Kelloggs family and made by those little elves that live in a tree, the Keebler Elves. The label on the box is a bit redundant, "Flatbread Crisps Crackers"; yes, flatbread becomes crisp when oven baked and has the consistency of crackers; just like Matzo. These however are denser and harder, so expect your mouth to be doing some exercise when eating them.

Six crackers are cholesterol free, 2 grams of fat,12 grams of carbs and 70 calories; they contain wheat and rice flours, and soy products. There are two flavors available: Italian Herb and Sea Salt-Olive Oil. I tried the Italian Herb - using regular cream cheese, the cracker held together while spreading the cheese; the herb flavor came through strongly and balanced out well with the cream cheese.

Overall I enjoyed both products; determining which to use depends on if I'm looking for thin and crispy, or dense and crunchy; also if I'm using any spreads or dips. Try both and see what fits your taste buds.

Mary Cokenour