A while back, I wrote about the Pizza Barn in Accord, where Michael Kefer and his wife, Tanya Miszko Kefer, were making fresh, organic pies free of bleach, bromates, dyes, and the other unpleasant ingredients that you find in regular pizza. Michael had long been making the traditional kind, like his parents before him, until Tanya — a personal trainer, acupuncturist, and general health enthusiast — persuaded him to go organic. The result was that true rarity: fast food that’s delicious and good for you, too.
Last spring, the Kefers realized they could reach a much larger market if they switched from running an organic pizza joint in an Ulster County hamlet to an operation supplying frozen flatbread pies to grocery stores around the region. The plan worked so well that nowadays, Hudson Valley Flatbread Co.’s pies in all sorts of interesting flavors can be found in local shops — and the radius has spread to New York City, Long Island, and even northern New Jersey. The Kefers still work in their barn-like building in Accord, and they still get ingredients for toppings from local farmers, as well as flour from regional millers for the crusts. The pies are frozen as soon as they’re made, so once they’re defrosted (which takes about an hour at room temperature), they really couldn’t be fresher. Pop one or two in a 450-degree oven for six or seven minutes and voila! Lunch! Or dinner. Or even breakfast, if you’d like.
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Roasted Goat (left) and Moozarella: workman-approved, all-natural flatbread pizzas
I decided to test Hudson Valley Flatbread Co. on the younger set, specifically the two early-20-something guys I’ve had putting up a fence at my house. I got them two 12-inch pies: a Roasted Goat (83% organic, tagline “Kick Start Your Heart!); and a Moozarella (100% organic and “Udderly Awesome!”). Ten and eight bucks, respectively, and a total of six servings according to the package. Both pies were voted “very good,” with the Roasted Goat (mozzarella, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, goat cheese and herbs) edging out the more traditional cheese-and-tomato-sauce Moozarella. I ate a sliver of each, and can report that the Moozarella was fragrant and fresh-tasting, and the Roasted Goat is just as good as when the Kefers were dishing it up at the barn. I love the thin, crispy crust, too.
There’s a video at the company’s Facebook page that demonstrates “kid approval” for the Veganism flatbread, so evidently the pies please everyone from toddlers to those well into their prime. Michael recently introduced some new flavors, too. Check the Web site for a store near you: www.hudsonvalleyflatbread.com
