White Bean Flatbread

Cook Time:  Approximately 30 minutes                  Makes: 4 Servings

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 170. Cut your squash into half-moon slices. 
2. Lay the half-moons out on the parchment lined baking sheet.  Put a small amount of salt and pepper on them.  Once, the oven is heated, bake them for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  As ovens vary, you’ll need to check them at 45 minutes and every 15 minutes thereafter.  You want a dry, almost leather like, consistency.
3. Meanwhile, slice your onion lengthwise into thin strips, cut your mushrooms into slices ( no need to remove the stems), and mince your garlic.  A note here, for easier eating, you can chop everything into chunks if you prefer.
4. Drain the beans but do not rinse.
5. Heat the frying pan over medium-high.  Add a splash of water and the onions along with some salt and pepper.
6. Sauté onions until they become translucent, using a small amount of water at a time to deglaze. The idea is to brown the onions rather than steam them. Then add the garlic.  Sauté the onions and garlic, stirring constantly, until they are very tender and lightly browned.  This will take about 20 minutes.
7. Remove the onion mixture to a holding container.  In the same pan, add the mushrooms with a small amount of salt.  Sauté until the mushrooms, stirring constantly, have released their liquid and become tender.  Again, use small amounts of water to deglaze the pan only.  This will take about 10 minutes.
8. **A quick note here.  You can use the same receptacle for the onions, mushrooms, and beans; however, you will want to keep them separated.
9. Remove the mushrooms to the holding container.  Add the bean into the pan, swirl a small amount of water into the bottom of the can, and add that into the pan as well.  Add the spices, salt, pepper, and some water to the pan.  Cook approximately 3 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken.
10. Remove from the heat and mash into a smooth spread. You can do this by hand or use a food processor/blender to do it.  Remove to a storage container.
11. Once the squash is done, you will want to store it in a separate container from the other ingredients.
12. Preheat the oven to 400.
13. If using the olive oil, very lightly brush the Naan with it. This is completely optional. It just helps it to brown a bit better.
14. Bake the Naan until it just starts to brown a little and gets a little crust on it.
15. Remove the Naan and then layer: bean paste, then mushrooms, then onions, then squash.
16. Bake them approximately 10 minutes or until completely heated through and Naan is golden and crisp.
17. Top with spinach, tomatoes, cut, and serve.

*Notes: 

There are a lot of steps to this, but it is really easy to make.  It keeps well and lends itself to weekend prep. When prepped ahead, this makes a fantastic choice for a quick meal during the week!

You may need to add water to the beans to make them more spreadable if they are stored or sit for any length of time.

This can be made even easier with refried beans.  Just season them, heat them, and apply them! You can change this up with different veggies and greens if you like.  It is super versatile.  Have fun!

How About You?

How would you serve this? What vegetable variations would you use? What is your favorite flatbread?