Sourdough Fig Walnut Flatbread with Caramelized Onions

This Sourdough Fig Walnut Flatbread is made with a soft and slightly sticky, naturally leavened dough. The flatbread dough, which is flavored with chopped fresh rosemary, and enriched with rosemary-infused olive oil, and potato water, is very tasty in its own right.  When you add the toppings – wine-soaked dried figs, caramelized onions flavored with orange zest, and toasted walnuts – it’s over the top with deliciousness.

There is so much going on with this flatbread in a good way. You get a burst of flavor with every bite.  I loaded it with toppings and enjoyed a taste of fig, caramelized onion and walnut with every bite.

You really must make this flatbread

This is one of the best breads I’ve eaten in a while.

I was so excited when Pat, of Feeding My Enthusiasms, chose this bread for the BBBs this month.  I didn’t have any fresh figs left (because my fig harvest was done by early September), but I was able to use figs that I had dried a few weeks ago.

It’s always fun when you can make bread using ingredients you grow yourself.

This Fig Walnut Flatbread is a great way to use up extra figs

Making this bread is a great way to use up an abundance of figs.

If you end up with a bountiful harvest of figs like I did this year, you can dry some of them in the oven or dehydrator to use in this bread.  However, if you don’t have access to a fig tree, dried figs from the market will work just fine.

If you have fresh figs, you can use some in addition to the dried figs.  My harvest of fresh figs was gone by the time I was ready to make this flatbread so I went with the dried figs.

What type of figs should you use?

I used brown turkey figs from the fig tree in my yard.  I planted the tree in 2020 and it produced like gangbusters this year.  The figs were so ripe and juicy.

I was overwhelmed with figs for several weeks.  All in all, I picked about twelve pounds of figs from my dwarf fig tree.  The birds got some of them or I probably would’ve had more.

I froze a lot of the figs for later, made fig jam and fig preserves, and dried a bunch of figs to use in bread.

Plan ahead when you make this flatbread

Making this bread requires a bit of planning because each step builds on the next, but you can do parts in advance to save on prep time on the day you plan to bake it.  I took three evenings to make this bread so I could savor the experience and not get overwhelmed.

Even though there are a lot of moving parts, it is worth all of the effort.  What you end up with is a flatbread meal you can enjoy by itself or with a salad.

Don’t skimp on any of the steps; just read through the instructions and plan your timeline accordingly.  If you make the sourdough version, like I did, you can make the dough the day before and finish the next day.

This bread is easy to make with sourdough.  Just replace the yeast/bread flour/potato water initial poolish with 1/2 cup, active and fed 100% hydration sourdough starter.

Notes on prepping and baking the flatbread

Steep the rosemary oil, cook the potato, and reserve the potato water the day or evening before you plan to bake.  After the rosemary oil and potato water have cooled, prepare the dough. Give the dough an overnight rest in the fridge.

You can soak the figs in the wine and place them in the refrigerator overnight or do it the next day while the dough is warming up to room temp.  I let the figs soak in the wine overnight in the fridge.

The onions can be cooked the evening before you plan to bake, or you can wait until the dough is warming up the next day.

If you decide to soak the figs and cook the onions on bake day, be sure to take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to warm up to room temp a couple of hours while you prep the figs and cook the onions.

After baking, the focaccia seemed a little bit wet.  I think par baking it before adding the toppings would help just like you do for pizza.

Also, be sure to prick the dough with a fork to keep it from ballooning in the oven.  I forgot to do this and ended up with a couple of big holes.  The holes looked kind of cool, but that wasn’t the look I was aiming for.

Suggested timeline for making this sourdough flatbread

Day 1: Feed your starter the day before you plan to make the dough.  It should be active and ready and at room temperature when it’s time to mix the dough.

Day 2: Afternoon or Evening – Steep the rosemary and cook a potato for the potato water. Reserve the water for use in this flatbread and enjoy the potato for dinner or save it for use in another bread. Prepare the dough. Proof for 2 hours. Then place in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 3: Late Afternoon – Take the dough out of the fridge to warm up to room temp for 1-2 hours

Soak the figs (this could be done the evening before if desired); Cook the onions, let cool; Roll out the dough, par-bake it if desired; Add the toppings, finish baking, and enjoy.

This sourdough fig and walnut flatbread is adapted from Joanne Weir’s More Cooking in the Wine Country cookbook.

After the recipe, be sure to visit the Bread Baking Babes’ versions of this bread to see everyone’s unique take on this flatbread.

Sourdough Fig Walnut Flatbread with Caramelized Onions

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• Author: Bread Experience
• Yield: 1 flatbread 1x

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Description

This Sourdough Fig Walnut Flatbread is made with a soft and slightly sticky, naturally leavened dough. The flatbread dough, which is flavored with chopped fresh rosemary, and enriched with rosemary-infused olive oil, and potato water, is very tasty in its own right. However, when you add the toppings – wine-soaked dried figs, caramelized onions flavored with orange zest, and toasted walnuts – it’s over the top with deliciousness.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Dough

• 55 grams / 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3–4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 100 grams / 1/2 cup sourdough starter, 100% hydration, fed and active
• 240 grams / 2 cups unbleached KAF all-purpose flour
• 2 sprigs (1-2 teaspoons) coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 120 grams / 1/2 cup potato water (110 degrees F)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt + 10–20 grams water for sprinkling

Topping

• 6 to 8 dried figs, sliced (I used 12 dried Brown Turkey figs)
• 2/3 cup Marsala wine (I used cooking wine)
• 2–3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick vertical slices
• 12 grams / 1 tablespoon sugar
• Zest of one small or medium orange
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 75 grams / 3/4 cup walnut halves

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Instructions

Day 1 – Feed your sourdough starter

Day 2 – Steep the rosemary, cook the potato and prepare the dough

1. In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil and rosemary. Remove from the heat and let cool for I hour. Discard the rosemary sprigs. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the room temperature sourdough starter and warm potato water. Then add the flour, rosemary olive oil, and chopped rosemary. Hold the salt. Mix thoroughly until there are no dry bits of flour.
3. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Add the salt and 10-20 grams of water as needed, and using your fingers, work the salt into the dough.
4. Cover and allow the dough to rest for 2 hours, at warm room temperature. Stretch and fold the dough two times, every 30 minutes the first hour, then let the dough rest the 2nd hour.
5. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and let it cold ferment overnight in the refrigerator.

Day 3 – Prepare the toppings, bake the flatbread

1. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to warm up to room temperature, about 2 hours.
2. In the meantime, prepare the toppings.
3. Place the figs and Marsala in a small saucepan, and heat over medium heat until the Marsala bubbles around the edges, 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let stand for 1 hour.
4. Heat the 2-3 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft, 15-20 minutes. Add the orange zest, season with salt and pepper, stir thoroughly, and set aside to cool.
5. Place a pizza stone on the bottom shelf of the oven, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F for 30 minutes.
6. Form the dough into a round ball. Let it rest for 5 minutes. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to form a 9×12-inch oval, 1/2-inch thick. Place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet, or a well-floured pizza peel.
7. Drain the figs and distribute the figs, onions, and walnuts evenly over the dough. Lightly press them into the dough. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes, or more, if needed.
8. Then transfer the flatbread to the pizza stone and bake until golden brown and crispy, 12-15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes

After baking, the focaccia seemed a little bit moist due to the toppings. Par baking it for 2-3 minutes before adding the toppings, like you do with pizza, might help.

Adapted from Joanne Weir’s More Cooking in the Wine Country cookbook

• Category: Flatbread