These Kefir Water Spelt Red Pepper Coques are based on a Catalon-style crunchy flatbread. They are topped with a flavorful blend of roasted red peppers and onions which are sauteed in olive oil, then infused with sherry vinegar. A sprinkling of pine nuts adds the finishing touch to these crispy flatbreads.
The next time you’re in the mood for some tapas, try these red pepper coques. They are a great way to enjoy a tapas-inspired experience without having to leave the house.
They are so easy and convenient to make! Just prepare the dough and the toppings (if you like) a day or two ahead of time. Then, all you’ll need to do for an easy weeknight dinner is to bake them in the oven or fire up the grill (if it’s too hot in the kitchen) and pair it with a salad or other side dish. The flavor is exceptional!
To create my own coques’ experience, I thought about converting the original formula to sourdough, however, after further consideration, I decided to ferment the dough with kefir water and reduce the amount of yeast used. I also utilized a mix of white/whole grain all-purpose flour and a portion of spelt flour.
Kefir water is somewhat sweet due to the kefir grains being fed with sugar so when you ferment your dough with it, the result is a slightly sweet dough, which lends itself well to the roasted red peppers/onion/sherry topping. It also gives the crumb a nice structure. You can see some of the holes in the photo below, but I enjoyed some bigger holes after I took the photos.
I used jarred roasted red peppers this time which made preparations quick, but you can also roast your peppers. Just halve fresh red peppers, brush them with olive oil, and broil them in the oven. Wrap them in foil and cool in the refrigerator before slicing.
I’ve planted some different colored peppers in my garden this year so once they are ready for harvest, I know what I’ll be doing with them.
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Kefir Water Spelt Red Pepper Coques
- Yield: 4 flat breads Serves 6-8 1x
Description
These Kefir Water Spelt Red Pepper Coques are based on a Catalon-style crunchy flat bread. They are topped with a flavorful blend of roasted red peppers and onions which are sauteed in olive oil, then infused with sherry vinegar. A sprinkling of pine nuts adds the finishing touch to these crispy flat breads.
Ingredients
Dough
- 400 grams (16 1/2 ounces/3 cups) 50/50 mix whole grain/white all-purpose flour
- 68 grams whole grain spelt flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 10 2/3 ounces (1 1/3 cups) ice kefir water + extra if using whole grain flour
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons table or fine sea salt
Red Pepper Topping
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large onions, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
- 2 cups jarred roasted sliced red peppers
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, and yeast. Pour in the ice water and mix thoroughly using a Danish dough whisk or wooden spoon. Add more water if necessary to make a fully-hydrated dough. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Add the oil and the salt to the dough and mix until the dough forms a ball. Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes, then form it into a ball. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, and up to 3 days.
Topping
- Heat three tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12 inch non stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions, red peppers, sugar, garlic, salt, pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes over medium low.
- Remove the lid and continue to cook, stirring regularly, for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat and discard the bay leaves. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and stir in the vinegar. Cool completely before using. You can make the mixture in advance and refrigerate overnight.
To Make the Coques:
- Deflate the dough and divide it into four equal sized pieces. Shape each piece into a tight ball and place, seam side down on your work surface, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rest for an hour.
- Place oven racks in the upper and lower third positions and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Brush two half sheet pans with 2 tablespoons of olive oil each.
- Place one dough ball on your work surface, and roll it out to a 15 inch by 5 inch oval. Place it on the baking sheet, lengthwise. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls, two per baking sheet. If the dough springs back, let it rest for another 10 to 20 minutes, and spread it out with your fingers.
- Dock each piece about 15 times with a fork. Brush each oblong piece of dough with the rest of the olive oil.
- Bake the dough for 8 minutes, switching the pans at the four minute mark.
- Remove the pans from the oven, and spread them with the red pepper and onion mixture. Sprinkle with the pine nuts. Place the baking sheets back into the oven, and bake for 16 minutes, switching and rotating the pans at the 8 minute mark. Continue to bake until the flatbreads are golden and crispy.
- Remove the pans from the oven and let cool on the pans for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley, and transfer to a cutting board to slice and serve.
Notes
Adapted from Bread Illustrated from America’s Test Kitchen
- Category: Flat breads
- Cuisine: Bread
We would love for you to bake along with us! Just bake your version of this bread by May 30th.
- The Kitchen of the Month is Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories, Look for details on her post.
- Post your “baking the bread” experience on your blog mentioning Bread Baking Babes with a link to the Kitchen of the Month.
- The Kitchen of the Month will put up a list of our Bread Baking Buddies at her site and send you a neat BBB award for this bread that you can then add to your post on your blog.
Oh I love the little airy crumb from the kefir water!
Thanks Kelly! They were delicious!
I love the colors and the crumb shot! Thanks for baking along!
Thank you Karen! This was a great choice!
Using kefir water is a terrific idea. And I really like the two colours of pepper too. They make the bread so festive.
What a gorgeous crumb shot.
Thanks Elizabeth! I only used red peppers, but the onions are really yellow in the photo. However, that gives me a great idea if/when my pepper plants start producing. Whose to say you can’t make these with different colored peppers! Yum!
All those peppers and onions – love it. And rather pretty as well 😉
Thank you Katie! The peppers and onions were very tasty!
Stunning, onions and peppers, just stunning. Yes, I love that what little work this involves can be done ahead of time and then on the spur of the moment you can bring these out of the oven and WOW, makes you look so magic!
Elizabeth certainly had good luck with her sourdough but your Kefer sounds like heaven in this.
Thank you Tanna! Agreed! These were very simple, but so delicious! I really enjoyed the kefir water in these, but imagine that sourdough would be fab as well.