Wild Palms Flatbread and Dolly Parton, Here I Am

Hello and greetings from Tybee Island! This is our last Tybee recipe for now, so I suppose it’s fitting that it involves my favorite food of all time: pizza. Welcome to Pizza and a Movie! I knew I wanted to do a seafood pie for today, and I knew I wanted to do a white pie. So I came up with this combination: white sauce base with bacon, shrimp, corn and green onions. Topped with more green onions, fresh flat leaf parsley and Calabrian Chilis. For your consideration: Wild Palms Flatbread.

Ok, so this was another combination that Alex was not convinced would work. But I pressed on, trusting my gut. And, much to my pleasure, mid-chew, he said, “this is really good.” So I decided to name this flatbread creation after our house, Wild Palms, and I have a feeling I will be making this every time we come to stay.

The Prep

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees and bake five to six bacon slices in the oven, for about 12 -15 minutes. While the bacon is baking, let’s prep. I have wild caught gulf shrimp which I had to peel and wash, then I cubed the shrimp and put it in the fridge, covered, while I prep the rest.

I have corn kernels cut from the cob. For the sliced green onions, I keep the white parts separate from the green parts. This is because I want to put the white parts on pre-cook, and finish with the green slices after it comes out of the oven. I have shredded mozzarella cheese, Calabrian chilis and rough chopped parsley (these last two you can chop while the pizza is cooking).

White Sauce

The white sauce is very simple. I have slightly adapted it from Natasha’s Kitchen and I think it will be my new go-to cream sauce. It’s like a lighter Alfredo sauce. The ratios will make about 1.5 cups and you’ll only need 1/4 to 1/3 cup for one pizza, so plan to have leftover sauce.

It all starts with a roux that we won’t let brown. Over medium-low, melt the butter and whisk in the flour and cook, whisking until the mixture is smooth and bubbling around the edges. Then whisk in the milk and turn the heat up to medium-high and whisk until it’s creamy and thick. Then add the pressed or grated garlic and the cracked black pepper.

Creamy and light, it’s ready for the Parmesan cheese. Add the cheese and remove from heat while you whisk to melt the cheese. I turned off the burner but let the radiant heat melt the cheese, but if you need to give more heat to melt all the cheese, turn it to low, so as not to scorch the sauce. Now, taste it for salt. I used salted butter and that combined with the parmesan meant I only needed to add a scant pinch of salt. By now the bacon should be done, so pull it and turn up the heat on the oven to 425 degrees.

Assembly

When the bacon is cool enough to handle dice it up and place it with the other prepped ingredients. I found this pre-made dough at the grocery store that is more of a flatbread crust than a true pizza dough. And since I haven’t used this one before, I was interested to try it. I like it for the fact that there aren’t hydrogenated oils, or high fructose corn syrup.

It comes with a sheet of parchment to bake it on, so you just unroll on a sheet pan and add your toppings. Start with the white base. This is an 11″ dough, so if your’s is larger, or a square sheet pan like we’ve done recently, you may need more sauce for full, even coverage. Just spread a thin layer on the center of dough, leaving space for the crust all the way around.

Place the sheet pan on the center rack in the oven and set the timer for 14 minutes. Check it a couple times to be sure the shrimp is cooking evenly and the crust isn’t browning too much. I needed to add 3 more minutes, for a total cook time of 17 minutes.

No Soggy Bottoms

This pie should get a light mopping when it comes out of the oven due to the shrimp releasing juices. I was slightly worried that it might make the bottom soggy because of the thinness of the dough, but it was not soggy at all, in fact the bottom is crisp and crunchy. You can cook the shrimp first to alleviate this, but I’d rather have to slightly mop the pie than have over-cooked shrimp. My overall takeaway is that it worked out just fine.

After the gentle mop, top with the remaining green onions, chopped parsley and Calabrian chilis (if using).

Movie Night: Dolly Parton, Here I Am

Now we have our Wild Palms Flatbread ready, let’s get to the movie! I watched this Dolly Parton documentary a few weeks ago and in honor of her birthday this week (January 19), I thought this would be a good one for today’s Pizza and a Movie. It is undeniable there is no one like Dolly Parton. She is a story teller, a songwriter and musician responsible for some of the most iconic songs of the last 50+ years. She’s a business woman, a real country girl, and has had an impact on music and the industry like no one else. The clip below is Dolly’s first appearance on the Porter Wagoner Show in 1967.

I really enjoyed this documentary. I have always loved Dolly, her songs and her movies; and this film includes so many great clips from her performances over the span of her career. It was a lot of fun to see her outfits and wigs, and hear her tell the stories from her humble beginnings through to her stardom. Dolly Parton, Here I Am came out in 2019 and is available to watch on Netflix.

Wild Palms Flatbread

Well everyone, this brings me to the end of our Tybee Time for now. I hope you all have enjoyed the recipes inspired by the Low Country and Coastal Georgia. As for my favorite Tybee recipe…it’s a toss up between yesterday’s Shrimp and Grits and this flatbread. Give them a try and let me know what you think! Reach out here, on facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. I will see you all again this Sunday, for Sunday Supper. Take care and be well, xo Kelly

Print Recipe

Wild Palms Flatbread

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Dinner, Main Course – American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: 17 Minutes for the Pizza and 12-15 Minutes for the Bacon, 5 minutes for the White Sauce – Total Time: 35 Minutes

A crispy, crunchy flatbread pizza with a white sauce base; loaded with mozzarella, bacon, Gulf Shrimp, corn and green onions – Named for the place that it inspired it, Wild Palms on Tybee Island.

Ingredients

• White Sauce
• 2 tbsp. Butter
• 2 tbsp. All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 cup Whole Milk
• 2-4 Cloves Garlic, grated or pressed
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded
• Pizza Toppings
• 1 Prepared Pizza Dough
• 1/4-1/3 cup White Sauce
• ~1 cup Low Moisture Mozzarella Cheese, shredded (plus a little more for sprinkling on top)
• 5-7 Strips of Bacon, baked until lightly crisped and diced
• 1/2 lb. Shrimp, peeled, rinsed, cut into cubes
• 1/4 -1/3 cup Corn Kernels
• 3-4 Green Onions, thinly sliced, green part and white parts kept separate
• 2 tbsp. Flat Leaf Parsley, rough chopped
• 3-4 Calabrian Chilis, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2

Lay bacon slices on a sheet tray and bake until lightly crisp and browned, about 12-15 minutes.

3

When the bacon is done, increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

4

Meanwhile make the white sauce.

White Sauce

5

Over medium-low, melt the butter and whisk in the flour and cook, whisking until the mixture is smooth and bubbling around the edges, 1-2 minutes.

6

Then whisk in the milk and turn the heat up to medium-high and whisk until it's creamy and thick, about 3 minutes.

7

Then whisk in the pressed or grated garlic and the cracked black pepper.

8

Add the Parmesan cheese and remove from heat while you whisk to melt the cheese, about 1 minute.

9

Taste it for salt. Add a scant pinch of salt, to taste.

Assembly

10

Spread white sauce over center of pie in an even layer, leaving the edge of dough free for the crust.

11

Evenly spread Mozzarella, then chopped bacon, shrimp, then corn, then the white parts of the sliced green onions.

12

Top with a little more mozzarella.

13

Bake for 14-18 minutes.

14

Lightly blot top of pie with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

15

Top with the green parts of the green onion slices, parsley and Calabrian chili (if using).