Today is a special day in my family, for several reasons.  It is Pi Day, or when it comes to my mom’s side of the family, Pi(e) Day.  (My family is very fond of food celebrations, although International Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day may be the most popular).  For the mathematicians of the family, it is the glorious celebration of the number that represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is approximately 3.14159—thus the celebration on March 14th, or 3.14!  For those of us who are a less math-inclined, it is an excuse opportunity to celebrate a day by eating items that sound like pi and are conveniently round.

I have been craving pizza, so I whipped up a quick flatbread base and topped it with a soft chèvre (goat cheese), sprinkled it with fresh thyme, and then layered fresh sliced strawberries over it and popped it into the oven.  Now strawberries might sound like a strange choice, but one thing I learned on our family strawberry outing last year, is that strawberries can be used in place of tomatoes in any situation.  So when I saw strawberries on sale for a fabulous price at our local Costco, I couldn’t resist.

I cut myself a slice as soon as my fingers could stand the heat.  The crust is soft and moist and tastes so darn good paired with the creamy, tangy chèvre, fragrant thyme, and juicy strawberries.  After Mr. Fuji took his first bite, he commented in surprise that he thought it was going to be sweeter, like a dessert.  Those strawberries are so versatile!  A pizza pie, quite the perfect way to celebrate Pi(e) Day, I must say.

March 14th also happens to be my grandmother’s birthday.  She passed away a little more than 4 1/2 years ago.  She was an amazing, albeit complicated woman.  In her later years my uncle set up a family e-mail system so that we could all better keep in touch.  She loved reading her email every day.  The email system has kept alive and well since she died, and is one of the ways my family celebrates holidays together, despite being scattered across the globe.  Whether it be Pi(e) Day, or some other holiday, you can count on emails going out sharing pictures and stories.  My grandma’s family was the most important thing to her, and knowing that we have stayed connected would make her so incredibly happy.  I opened up my email this morning to find a calendar alert, announcing my grandma’s birthday, and a few emails sharing thoughts and memories.  It’s surprising how grief can catch you by surprise, and it did so this morning, my breath catching in my throat as the ache of missing her gripped me.  I’m grateful for the sense of loss.  When it comes, it helps me pause and I can remember her.  Albert Einstein, who’s birthday is also on March 14th, once said, “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation.  For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.”  So today I pause, and I miss my grandma, and am grateful for the gift of family she gave me.  She would smile if she could read her email today.

 Print This Recipe

Savory Strawberry Chèvre Flatbread Pizza

Makes one 12-inch pizza

For the flatbread: (adapted from Go Gluten Free Magazine March/April 2014 issue, Gluten-Free Pizza Crust)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper

For the toppings:
4 ounces soft chèvre (goat cheese), crumbled
2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh thume (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 ounces fresh strawberries, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (about 13 strawberries, or enough to cover the pizza)
1/2 teaspoon French gray salt (sel gris)

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1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Make the flatbread: Beat the coconut milk, eggs, and olive oil together in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. Mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl. Then slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the coconut milk mixture and stir until a smooth wet dough forms.

4. Spread the dough onto a greased pizza pan (or baking sheet) with a flat spoon into a 12-inch circle, flattening the middle out a bit more, to form the crust. Bake the flatbread in the oven for 15 minutes.

5. Make the pizza: Remove the flatbread from the oven and dot it with chèvre, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Then sprinkle it with the thyme and black pepper. Starting from the outer edge of chèvre, arrange the strawberry slices on top, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with the sel gris, then return the pizza to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

*Recipe notes: If you don’t want to make your own flatbread crust, you can use any flatbread as the base.  Grab your flatbread, preheat your oven, and then start at step 5.  If you don’t have French gray salt, you can substitute fine grain sea salt instead.  Don’t have fresh thyme?  Fresh oregano or basil would also be delicious.

Tagged as: California strawberries, chevre, flatbread, gluten-free, Grandma Kenison, Pi(e) Day, pie, pizza, strawberries, strawberry, strawberry recipes, thyme