by Jaden | Appetizers/Bites, Asian, Bread, Mushrooms, Recipes | 32 comments
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The intentions of making my own pesto sauce from scratch was certainly there, but something silly like I-killed-my-basil-plant got in the way of my plans. There’s nothing more sad than walking out to my mini-garden and seeing a sad, shriveled and shrunken herb.
Oh poor little thing! You had such potential!
I have a feeling that the mint got a bit jealous and decided the only way to win would be to overgrow and squeeze the poor little basil out. Bad mint! If it wasn’t for Sparkling Ginger Lime and Mint Cooler, I would surely punish by pruning.
So, off to the grocery store I went to buy enough fresh basil to make a batch of pesto.
That is, until I saw the price of fresh herbs at the market.
$3.99 for a small pathetic pinch of basil stems? That’s such a rip-off! Because I can grow herbs pretty much year round here in Florida (during the hot hot summers, the herbs grow on my covered lanai) I can’t remember the last time I bought fresh basil.
Too cheap to spend the money on enough basil to make pesto, I opted for plucking the 4 remaining leaves from my sad plant and bought a jar of prepared basil (same aisle as pasta sauce). Not quite the same as homemade, but cheap, satisfying and I ended up creating a 15 minute appetizer with a pre-baked naan flatbread, a package of Japanese Brown Beech Mushrooms (from client Hokto) and a half an onion in the refrigerator.
It’s the quickest gourmet-y appetizer ever and I love using naan flatbreads as the base. It’s pre-baked, which is a fantastic shortcut for when I don’t have time to roll out my own pizza dough. Naan is Indian-style flatbread, normally baked in a clay oven (though I doubt these commercials ones are) and I’m just in love with the irregular teardrop shapes. You can substitute with pita bread, double-stacked flour tortillas) if you can’t find naan.
The mushrooms are flexible too. I’m using brown beech mushrooms, but sub with any type of fresh mushroom you’d like.
And hey, if you’ve got better luck with basil than I have (just remember to keep the jealous mint plant away from the basil), feel free to make your home made pesto.
Japanese Mushroom Flatbread Recipe
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Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cups Japanese Brown Beech Mushrooms (or other Asian mushrooms like fresh shiitake)
- 1/2 small onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 large piece naan flatbread, about 8x14 inches
- 2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto sauce
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- 3 to 4 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat, when hot, add the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and the onions, and saute until slightly soft, about 2 minutes.
On the flatbread, spread the basil pesto, avoiding the outer one inch edge. Top the flat bread with the mozzarella cheese. Add the mushroom and onion mixture; and top with the parmesan cheese.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the flatbread is toasted. Sprinkle with the fresh basil.
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Adrian (andy) Lynch on 9/9/20 at 11:53 am
hi Jaden , great recipe for bread here , i made this on an open campfire and it was wonderful , wondering if you would have any fav recipes you have for bread that i can cook on a camp fire , thanks .
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betty on 5/24/10 at 1:43 am
WOW this looks great!!! puts my lunch to shame.. hehe
thanks for sharing x
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Kirsten on 5/5/10 at 1:13 pm
I think this looks amazing! I am always wanting to expand my knowledge of Japanese cooking. I saw something similar to this and it was labeled Japanese pizza, is is the same thing?
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Doreen on 5/1/10 at 12:52 pm
I tried this recipe with the Asian Pesto (from your cookbook) and it was delicious! Will definitely make this again.
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Kristin Conroy on 4/28/10 at 5:18 pm
This is such a great recipe because it’s easy peasy and very pleasy–sorry, got a little carried away;) I’ve made some pizzas using naan bread and whatever fresh ingredients I had on hand (inspired by your pizza post) and it’s so much better than frozen or delivery pizza! I’m sure this recipe is a winner as well and can’t wait to try it out!
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Feast on the Cheap on 4/18/10 at 11:31 am
These look absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to try them, a nice alternative to pizza…
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Carrie on 4/13/10 at 6:13 pm
Yeah, mint is super invasive. I keep mine in its own pot on a concrete patio. I’ve ignored it through droughts and winters full of ice and snow, and it always comes right back. It’s unkillable.
Definitely get a new basil plant! Give the basil lots of sun and water, and prune it aggressively. I never manage to prune mine enough, and it bolts. I think I just need to start putting basil leaves in every salad I make, in order to prune it enough.
And the flatbread looks incredible. Incredible. I want to reach right into the photo and eat it!
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claire on 4/12/10 at 8:45 pm
hi, i live in Singapore and Giant mart is just a few steps away from my block and they sell all sorts of mushrooms, and i just bought 3pkts for 99 cents and a pkt of chappati with for 5pieces is worth $1.50 while a piece of naan bread is $1.80 for one. i bought the chappati of course and followed your recipe and it’s a KEEPER!!! thanks!!! yumyum…
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Tampa Cheryl on 4/12/10 at 8:03 pm
Jaden, this looks great. Where in the Tampa area can you find those ‘sroooms? I wish you lived closer. My basil is doing well in my shaded lanai. I have been to Lowes 3 times in 2 weeks looking for mint…
Gotta have mint for chimichurri sauce which I am currently hooked on. Last week was a pesto week. Just getting the herb garden going a bit later than I would have liked after the frost killed things this winter.
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Stephen T. Jones on 4/12/10 at 7:09 pm
Everytime I think I’ve heard and seen not all as far as food this. On JAplate and then eat it.
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Founded in 2010
Hanley Wood, LLC
Washington, DC
Chairman Stephen T. JonesReply
Lyndsey on 4/12/10 at 4:37 pm
Yum, it looks so good! Now a flat bread similar to naan I can make, any other kind of baking I can’t.
I can’t seem to keep my basil growing, I do get a lot of nice seeds, and a lot of new sprouted plants come from those seeds. Not much else. (gotta love the jar pesto). My rosemary and oregano always looks good, and just started my mint, good so far I’ll keep you posted and try your mint recipe!
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Angela@spinachtiger on 4/12/10 at 2:55 pm
Mint is so darn hardy. Our mint made it through the winter. I can’t wait for my basil to start up again. We use basil in EVERYTHING!
I like the idea of using naan bread for a quick flat bread.Reply
Sarah on 4/12/10 at 2:53 pm
That looks amaaaaazing!
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Mommy D on 4/12/10 at 2:51 pm
Ohhhhh….. I’m drooling on my desk here at work… That sounds AMAZING! I’m a total mushroom freak and that just sounds so earthy and yummy!
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Alta on 4/12/10 at 1:28 pm
Oh no, sorry your basil plant kicked the bucket. I planted some a few weeks ago, and so I just now am seeing little baby sprouts coming up. I can’t wait until I have WAY too much basil. This flatbread sounds delicious.
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Lisa @ The Cooking Bride on 4/12/10 at 1:16 pm
Last year was my first successful attempt at growing mint and I had problems with it taking over my garden. This year I am going to transplant it into its own pot!
I agree with you whole heartedly about the packaged basil at the store. It’s outrageously priced and usually wilted and brown. It looks disgusting! I’m planning on doing some work in my herb garden weekend after next and I can’t wait to get that fresh basil planted!
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eula on 4/12/10 at 1:11 pm
Looks delicious! I wish people would give me exotic ingredients like Japanese mushrooms. =) Grow the mint in a separate pot because mint is invasive and will take over everything if not contained. You can bury the potted mint in the garden if that’s where you keep all your plants. Basil needs a lot of sun and water. My basil always grows huge and ends up flowering because I don’t use it up fast enough! Good luck!
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yasmine on 4/12/10 at 12:43 pm
Waouh, so original, I loved it, I used the faltbread of our company here in Damascus Bakery, and it was very tasty!
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Starting to Cook - Matt on 4/12/10 at 11:57 am
Love these – we use pocketless pitas for our base a lot and let the kids add the toppings they choose. PitaPizza night is big here (and healthy! We dice some mushrooms, peppers, and other goodies).
Using naan as the base is awesome – and this version looks so tasty!
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the lacquer spoon on 4/12/10 at 11:38 am
Japanese mushrooms with basil on naan… how international! Love to try!!
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Soma on 4/12/10 at 11:10 am
Lovely simple and flavorful recipe. What a perfect way to get creative combining cuisines from one end of the world to another:-)
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Caran Crawford on 4/12/10 at 11:01 am
I live in Iowa, where my garden is buried under 3-5 feet of snow for 4-6 months, so I know what it is like to go without the fresh basil. So, I developed a trick to get the taste of a fresh basil pesto without that extreme payout. I have a nice basil flavored olive oil and I put that in the chopper with fresh spinach and whatever nut I am using. The basil olive oil gets infused into the spinach, and the result is often a more vibrant (and very tasty) pesto.
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Lynn on 4/12/10 at 10:53 am
I came home with my herb plant 12 pack and put them on the back deck so they wouldn’t die from lack of water (a common problem in my house) and they got HAIL. Goodbye, basil.
The appetizer looks fabulous – quick and delicious!
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The Teacher Cooks on 4/12/10 at 10:10 am
I am with you on the price of the packaged basil. It is outrageous! I will have to try this flat bread. I looks very good and this is so easy!
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rita on 4/12/10 at 9:47 am
since we lived here in germany, i never had luck with basil or any kind of herb in our apt. i might try growing basil, again. that is, if there’s enough sun to shine through.
since i’ve been bitten by the “dough-making bug,” i’ll try to make my own naan and try this recipe. of course, i’ll sub the shrooms for hubby, since he hates it.
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HoneyB on 4/12/10 at 8:45 am
P.S. I LOVE Naan bread too! YUMMY!
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HoneyB on 4/12/10 at 8:44 am
This looks yummy! I would be surprised if I found anything but white button or portabello mushrooms around here – I live in a pretty remote area where we don’t even have a grocery at the moment in nearby towns- a total devastation for me! I tried to check the link for the mushrooms to see what they are but I couldn’t get to 🙁
I pay about 1.99 for a package of fresh herbs – I really need to just break down and start growing what I use the most right at home myself!
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Karen on 4/12/10 at 8:43 am
Looks delicious, I’ve been looking for recipes using the Beech and other mushrooms the new H Mart carries.
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bunkycooks on 4/12/10 at 8:39 am
The flatbread looks very tasty (with or without lots of fresh basil!). Some herbs truly are very tough to grow…I think basil is one of them.
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Kitchen Monki Dan on 4/12/10 at 8:36 am
Mmmm, looks fabuloso! I made something similar to this using enokitake mushrooms… sprinkled a little sriracha at the end for some kick.
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kat on 4/12/10 at 8:03 am
looks yummy!
I’ve heard that you should keep mint in a pot and away from all other plants.
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Julie @ Willow Bird Baking on 4/12/10 at 7:40 am
I feel your pain. I just killed my thyme plant. No mint to blame here, though . . . just my black thumb.
This looks delicious!
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