Here, blueberries & fennel make a wonderful unexpected pairing, and tangy whipped feta accents their sweet, fresh flavors. Perfect for a spring brunch!
If you caught last week’s post about my CSA box tips, you might recognize some of those ingredients here in this recipe. What I love most about my “surprise” Farmhouse box is that it inspires me to come up with flavor combinations that I would not have thought of otherwise. Blueberries and fennel?? Yes, it works!
The saying is true – what grows together goes together. These were the first blueberries of the season, and I knew I wanted to make a simple recipe to really highlight them.
This flatbread is so easy to make and I think it’d be such an unexpected appetizer or side dish for Mother’s Day brunch this weekend.
I used store-bought naan to make things easy on myself. The spread is a tangy mix of ricotta, feta cheese, garlic, and lemon juice (if you’re vegan, use the sunflower spread from this post, minus the dill). The whipped feta can be made at least a day in advance, which makes this such an easy recipe to entertain with.
I baked the flatbread just long enough for the fennel to soften and for the blueberries to become juicy. For color and a little crunch, I topped these with thinly sliced red radishes which were hiding in the bottom of my Farmhouse box. If you don’t love radishes, don’t be scared – the flavor does not overwhelm, and they add a wonderful freshness to the recipe.
For more recipes using these spring ingredients, try this lasagna, this fennel salad, this blueberry baked oatmeal, or these blueberry breakfast cookies!
Blueberry Fennel Flatbread w/ Whipped Feta
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
I love slicing this fresh flatbread and serving it as an appetizer, but it would be a lovely main dish as well. A great choice for a spring brunch!
Author: Jeanine Donofrio
Recipe type: Appetizer, main dish
Serves: 4 to 6 as an appetizer
Ingredients
- 2 naan flatbread* (or 3 depending on the size)
- 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, reserve a few slices for garnish
- ¾ cup blueberries
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, optional
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 2 radishes, thinly sliced
- lemon wedges
- microgreens, optional
whipped feta:
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ garlic clove
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the whipped feta: In a small food processor, blend the ricotta, feta, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic until smooth.
- Place the flatbread on the baking sheet and spread with a thin layer of the whipped feta. Top with the sliced fennel, blueberries, crumbled feta cheese, pine nuts, and red pepper flakes. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the naan is golden brown and the blueberries are soft.
- Place the sliced radishes and extra fennel slices in a small bowl with a few squeezes of lemon and toss. Set aside while the flatbread bakes.
- Top the baked flatbread with the remaining fennel, the radish slices, and microgreens, if using. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit more olive oil, and slice into serving size portions.
Notes
*I like to use the naan from Whole Foods or Stonefire Naan.
This is the best part about CSA boxes- new flavor combos! This one looks yummy, I hope my CSA box has blueberries and fennel 🙂 Cheers!
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OMG,just took the firest one out of the oven few minutes ago and gave it a taste and let me just say, it was as delicious as I anticipated!
However I couldn’t find microgreens so I used a bit of fresh spinach leaves as a substitute .
Added the radishes and that made the texture very pleasant, even my five year old liked it!
😀
Hi Monica – I’m so happy to hear that you all loved it!
Getting ready to make this right now, I can’t wait to try it! 😀
I did a double take, or read, on the title when I read blueberry and fennel! I’m going with it, but am really impressed with the feta “whip” or whipped feta, with ricotta, really inspired! thank you for this!
OMG this looks absolutely delicious, I’m going to make this!
Whipped feta sounds like heaven!! Love blueberries and fennel! Never thought of them with feta. Excited to try:) YUM!
YUM!
Izzy | Pinch of delight
I love that you put in what you recommend for vegan substitution of the whipped feta. It makes this vegan love you even more 🙂
ha, aw, thank you 🙂
Looks delicious!
This looks incredible! Yum!
I love how easy this is to make yet how amazing it looks!