Kale and Sweet Potato Pizza

Somehow, I wound up home from work early. The kitchen beckoned, and without a real plan in place, I grabbed the food processor and my handy How to Cook Everything kitchen Bible. A few minutes later, a recipe of pizza dough (I jazz it up by using 2 cups of spelt flour) was rising on the counter.

The farmer's market trip I'd taken earlier in the week yielded a small bag of organic sweet potatoes (some of them may have been garnet yams). I had kale in the garden, and enough parsley to do something with. Oh, and the broccoli is still producing a little bit at a time.

The idea of pizza with all of these goodies on it became more and more appealing as the hour grew later. The result? A tasty, healthy pizza that wowed even the toughest critic: my husband. His glowing review? "Wow. I did not expect it to be this good."

That's right, the bar is that high.

I loosely based this on a couple of recipes I'd Pinned recently, including this one for sweet potato kale pesto pizza. Here's my spin on it. And really, this is a delightful dinner pizza; I like to use spelt flour to add a slightly sweet, nutty flavor to the crust... And that plays very well with the tangy kale pesto and deep flavors of the roasted vegetables. I'd venture to say this is small-dinner-party worthy, accompanied by a salad topped with a balsamic dressing and a nice wine.

Sweet Potato and Broccoli Pizza with Kale Pesto

If you're making your own crust, be sure to prepare it at least one hour ahead of time. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, then set to making the pesto.

For the pesto:
2 cups kale, tough stems removed
1 cup fresh parsley, stems removed
juice from 1/2 lemon
4 cloves garlic
extra virgin olive oil (to create your desired consistency; less than 1/2 cup)

In a food processor, combine kale, parsley, lemon juice, and garlic. Process for a minute or two. While the machine is running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Start with 1/4 cup; stop the machine and check the consistency of the pesto. Add more olive oil, a tablespoon at a time, until it is spreadable but not too thin. Set pesto aside.

For the pizza:
1 recipe pizza dough or 1 store-bought crust
1 large or 3 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into very thin slices
2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh sage
2 tablespoons olive oil
shredded Parmesan cheese

On a baking sheet, toss the vegetables and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs. Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables have caramelized slightly. Remove from the oven and set aside. If you're looking to use fewer dishes, set the veggies on a plate and clean the baking sheet for the pizza.

Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees. Sprinkle cornmeal on the baking sheet, and stretch the dough out until it's about 1/4 inch thick (or thinner, depending on how you like your pizza crust!). Prick it all over with a fork. Spread the pesto on the dough, and top with the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan over the top (liberally or not), and bake 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

On the Grill: Pizzas Part 2

Prosciutto and asparagus on the left, butternut squash and rosemary on the right. 

The key to grilled pizzas and flatbreads is to keep the toppings to a minimum so they cook through in just a few minutes. Less can be more when you choose high-quality, fresh, gourmet ingredients.

Butternut Squash Pizza with Rosemary and Parmesan

Toppings: 

1 small butternut squash, peeled and sliced paper-thin on a mandoline 

1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

sea salt and freshly ground pepper 

Lay the thin slices of butternut squash in a single layer over the crust. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary, sea salt, pepper, and parmesan. Cook until the edges of the squash begin to curl up slightly and the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

Cheese pizza on the left, and heirloom Caprese on the right.

Cheese Pizza with Marinara Sauce

Marinara (makes enough for 2 pizzas; freeze half of the recipe if you won't use it immediately):

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

splash of red wine (about 2 teaspoons); optional

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:

5 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces 

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Mix the marinara ingredients together in a bowl. Using a spatula, spread half of the marinara sauce over the par-cooked crust. Drop the mozzarella over the pizza and sprinkle with parmesan. Cook until the cheese is melted and the edges of the crust are crisp, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat.

Grilled Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Chevre Pizza

Toppings:

1 bunch asparagus

5-6 slices prosciutto

2 ounces chevre, cut into small pieces 

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Rinse the asparagus and trim off the tough end. Slice each spear in halve length-wise, then into 3-inch pieces. Toss with half of the olive oil and grill over medium-high heat in a vegetable grilling basket until tender and charred in places. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Drizzle par-cooked crust with remaining olive oil. Evenly disperse the grilled asparagus, prosciutto, and chevre over the crust. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the cheese is slightly melted, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

It's blurry, but don't the colors look delicious?

Caprese Pizza

1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes (or 2-3 large tomatoes), sliced thin

5 ounces fresh mozzarella medallions

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

1/4 cup basil leaves, cut into thin strips

1 tablespoon olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Spread the sliced tomatoes evenly across the crust. Place mozzarella medallions on top, spacing them out evenly (keep in mind they will melt and spread out a bit). Sprinkle on the basil, shredded Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Cook until cheese is melted and tomatoes are still juicy but have shriveled slightly, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

On the Grill: Pizzas, Part 1

Funny shaped (but tasty!) homemade crusts on the grill.

Recently, Ryan and I have happily inherited—for a limited time, that is—a fantastically enormous fancy propane grill. Formerly, our backyard was home to only a charcoal grill, which has not been used since sometime last fall on account of the ridiculous amount of time it takes to get started and the fact that neither of us wants to stand outside and deal with it for any amount of time at all. (Sorry, Charcoal.)

But with this propane grill, it's just a turn of the knob here, a flip of the igniter switch there, and voila! Flames!

We invited family over for dinner last weekend. With four adults and one child partaking in the meal, I planned out four large pizzas in hopes we'd have plenty for leftovers the next day... or I'd have one to mess up. Happily, all were met with the family meal seal of approval. This post will happen in two parts: crust and toppings. It's a lot of info, but now that I learned the gist of grilling pizzas, I think I can do it faster next time.

Grilled pizzas are perfect for a dinner party, but take a few tips from me.

• Keep the menu simple (prep and organize all the toppings ahead of time).

• Have at least one "normal" pizza that less adventurous eaters will recognize.

• Grill the crusts ahead of time, but don't cook them all the way because they'll be on the grill again with the toppings. A couple of ours got pretty charred on the bottom (rookie mistake!).

• Once you grill the crusts, take them back inside to put on all the toppings... and take 'em back out to grill. This cuts down on the work you'll be doing outside. 

• Don't load up the crusts with too many toppings; they will only be cooking on the grill for a few minutes, so you want to be sure they all cook through.
• To cut down on prep time, you can make a few recipes of dough and store it in the freezer. When you're ready to cook, bring the dough to room temp about an hour before cooking. The actual process of grilling the pizzas goes very quickly; it's the prep that takes some time.

Four funny crusts, all in a row.

The Crust
Adapted from Mark Bittman's pizza dough recipe.
Makes dough for two large pizzas.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 1 1/4 cups water

In a food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil. Slowly pour in the water with the machine still running. Watch the dough and determine how it looks after about one cup of water; it should be forming a ball and collecting together nicely. If it still looks dry, add more water (no more than 1 1/4 cups total). If it gets too sticky, add a little more flour—one tablespoon at a time.

Roll the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times. Coat a large mixing bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil, and put the dough in the bowl. Turn it to coat in oil, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in size. If you'll be letting it rise for more than a few hours, but it in the fridge. About an hour before you wish to cook it, set it on the counter and bring it to room temp.

Split the dough into two pieces. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch (very thin). Prick the dough all over with a fork, and let it rest for 20–30 minutes before cooking it.

Preheat the grill. You want it to be between 400 and 500 degrees inside. Brush one side the uncooked crust with olive oil. Using your hands, flip the oiled side onto the grill over high heat. Brush the other side with olive oil. Cook it until the first side is browned and the crust begins to bubble. Using tongs, carefully flip the crust over to cook partially on the other side (do not let it get charred; this will be the bottom of your pizza and will be fully cooked once you add toppings).

Take the partially cooked crusts inside to add toppings, and then put back on a medium-high grill to cook for about 5 minutes, or until toppings are heated through and cheese is melted.

Check in tomorrow for four pizza topping suggestions!