Easy, spicy, quick yeast bread, perfect for summer parties. Make the rounds puffy and thick or cracker thin–do some both ways and see how you like it best.

Place yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add warm water (not too hot, you want to wake up the yeast without frying it, so the water should feel very warm to the touch, but not so hot you jerk your hand out). Mix with a spoon to blend–the yeast won't all dissolve, don't worry about that. Let stand for 5 minutes. This is called proofing the yeast. Since the bread won't work if the yeast isn't active, it pays to take a look. Active yeast mixed with sugar and water will be a rich, foamy brown. Add 3 TB. olive oil and 2 tsp. salt, mix well. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, blending in with a spoon. Stop once you have added 21/2 Cups of flour, and use the rest of the flour on the table while you are kneading if you need it. The dough will be a bit sticky; dust the dough and your hands with flour and work it into the dough. The dough will go from wet and sticky to smooth and elastic as you knead it–don't add too much flour, as then the dough will be dry and hard once baked. Adding just the right amount of flour is the trickiest bit. Even though this is a very easy recipe that will give good results the first time, it usually takes until the third try to truly understand how the dough acts, and to really feel just when the dough turns elastic and exactly how much flour is needed to reach that point. Once the kneading is over, divide the dough into eight pieces, knead each one briefly into a nice round shape, then place on an olive oil greased baking sheet. Roll the dough balls over until covered with oil, then let stand for 20 minutes. The dough will start to get puffy as it rests.
While the dough is resting, prepare the topping. Place the ITALIAN HERB MIX, GARLIC, and CRUSHED RED PEPPERS in a small bowl, add olive oil. Stir to blend, let stand. After 20 minutes, it's time to pat the dough into shape. If you'd like to put the spice mix into the bread, place about a tablespoon of the mix on each piece of dough, knead the dough briefly to mix in the spices, then start patting the dough into a circle. It does take a bit of practice to make a perfect circle, but that really isn't too important. Just start patting with your palms from the center out, until you have circular shapes roughly 6-8" across. The dough should be about 1/4" thick. If you'd like the spice mix on top, just spread it out over each bread round once you are happy with the shape of the circles. Let the bread rest another 20 minutes while the oven is preheating to 400?. Sprinkle the bread with coarse salt, and add the toppings as desired - making sure to not pile up too much cheese, or the dough won't get crispy. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the bread is golden brown. Remove and cool briefly. Using a large knife, cut in wedges or squares.

Yield: 8 flatbreads–appetizers for 8-12
Prep. time: about 1 hour
Baking time: 15 minutes

Toppings: shredded mozzarella cheese (1/4 Cup per flatbread)
shredded Parmesan cheese (1-2 TB. per flatbread)
bacon–dice and fry crisp 1-2 slices per flatbread
sausage–place small hunks of Italian or Pizza sausage on each flatbread before baking (use 1 lb. ground turkey or pork with 1-2 TB. PIZZA SEASONING for tasty homemade sausage)
black olives
sliced and drained sweet onions, thinly sliced