Sicilian Flatbread Pizza

2 large cloves garlic, skin on

1½ tablespoons olive oil (if using non-spicy sardines, use oil from tin instead), divided

½ cup golden raisins

1 cup pomegranate-infused red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon orange blossom honey

1 can (15 ounces) 365 Everyday Value organic garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

5 sardines (from a 3.75-ounce tin) King Oscar Sardines in extra-virgin olive oil with spicy cracked pepper

½ lemon, juiced

1/8 teaspoon lemon zest

¼-½ cup warm water

1 bulb fennel with fronds

20 large fresh or frozen (thawed) raw shrimp (shells removed)

2 tablespoons butter

4 pieces whole grain flatbread

6 ounces feta cheese

1 cup healthy mix micro greens

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place two cloves of garlic with skin on in a small piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with ½ tablespoon or so of olive oil and close foil around the cloves. Roast 15 minutes or until soft.

While garlic is roasting, add raisins to a small saucepan and cover with vinegar. Simmer over medium heat 5 minutes or until raisins are slightly plumped. Using a slotted spoon, remove raisins from saucepan to a small bowl. Continue to simmer vinegar over medium heat until reduced by half; about 10 minutes. Stir in honey and remove from heat (vinegar will continue to thicken while resting).

When garlic cloves are cool to the touch, squeeze roasted garlic into the bowl of a food processor. Add drained garbanzo beans, 5 sardines, lemon juice and zest and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the processor bowl. Process mixture on low slowly streaming in water until the desired consistency is reached. It should be more like a spread than a dip. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you are using Spicy King Oscar Sardines, you probably won’t need any more pepper.

Remove any discolored outer layers from the fennel bulb and thinly slice into rings. Reserve 2 tablespoons fennel fronds. Melt butter over medium heat in a sauté pan; add sliced fennel and saute about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and separating rings as you stir. Once the fennel is softened but not browned, add shrimp to the pan and cook until slightly pink; about 3 minutes per side. Remove pan from heat and chop shrimp into 1-inch pieces.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place flatbreads on a cookie sheet or cooling rack. Spread ¼ of the garbanzo bean mixture onto each of the flatbreads, leaving about a ¼ inch crust showing. Top each bread with fennel rings, shrimp, golden raisins and crumbled feta. Bake in center of oven for 7 minutes. Turn broiler to high and broil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove flatbreads from oven and top each with ¼ cup microgreens and a pinch of fennel fronds. Drizzle each flatbread with vinegar mixture.

Serves four.

Lori Motyka