Thursday, June 3, 2010

Beet Greens and Garlic Scape Pizza

The first thing I did when we got home from the farmers market on Sunday was cut the greens off of the beets as that helps the beets last longer. Matt wanted to know what my plans were for the greens. I had figured we'd just end up throwing them in a stir-fry or sautéing them for a side dish but he had plans for this pizza.
Beet Green & Garlic Scape Pizza
The beet greens have such a nice fresh flavor, not bitter at all like some greens can be. The stems have a very mild beet taste. We blanched the leaves & stems in the microwave for a minute to soften them up before putting them on the pizza. (I also do this if I want to freeze them to use later in thinks like soups & stew.) We had planned on pairing it with a little chopped garlic but then noticed that some of the garlic scapes in our garden were ready to harvest so we used one of them instead. Scapes are so perfect in a application like this giving a garlic flavor that isn't sharp or overpowering like raw garlic. Other than that this pizza just has some fresh mozzarella & freshly ground pepper, very simple but really full of flavor.
Garlic Scape
The scape is the flower stem of a garlic plant. They get cut off to help increase the energy put into growing the bulb & they are mighty tasty! You should start seeing them at farmers markets in our area the next couple of weeks.

For the crust of this pizza I added a little wheat bran. It give a nice flavor, texture & color to the crust as well as some healthiness.

Beet Greens & Garlic Scape Pizza

Wheat Bran Pizza Crust

1 T olive oil plus extra for the bowl
1/2 c warm water
1/2 t dry yeast
1 t kosher salt
1/4 c wheat bran
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more if needed

Mix the 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the warm water. Stir in the yeast then the salt & wheat bran. Stir in the flour until you can't stir anymore with a spoon. Knead the dough until it is smooth & elastic, about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky add more flour a little at a time.

Put a little olive oil in the bottom of the bowl. Put the dough in & turn it to coat with the oil. Cover & let sit until double in size, about 2 hours.

Making the Pizza

10 - 12 baby beet green leaves with stems, chopped (you can use chard here instead since they are basically the same thing)
olive oil
8 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed
1 garlic scape, sliced into small pieces (use a clove of garlic if you can't get scapes)
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Put the beet greens & stems into a plastic bag. Microwave on high for 1 minute to blanch. Set aside

Lightly oil a baking sheet. Spread the dough out into a rectangle about 12" x 18" on the prepared sheet. Scatter the cheese cubes around the dough. Sprinkle the garlic scapes & blanched beet greens over the cheese. Season with pepper. Bake for 13 -15 minutes until the cheese is melted & bubbly & the golden brown.

Makes 1 pizza

We are really enjoying putting all sorts of different seasonal ingredients on our pizzas lately, ramps, garlic scapes, beet greens...what is your favorite, perhaps a little unusual, pizza topping?

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

13 comments:

Lo said...

Beet greens are some of my favorite veg! I've never tried them on pizza, but this looks absolutely fantastic. Love the bran in the crust as well.

Believe it or not, sauteed celery makes a great addition for pizza. We love putting together cajun jambalaya pizza with shrimp, celery, onions, garlic, cajun seasoning, and chopped fresh tomatoes. SO good.

Elle said...

Love beet greens! They have such a wonderful flavor. Pizza? Beet greens and garlic scape? Awesome idea!

Deborah said...

I've never had beet greens, but now I want to start looking for them.

Carter @ The Kitchenette said...

I LOVE this idea, Kat. I've had stir-fried beet greens before (dressed them in a little balsamic reduction if I remember correctly) but I found them to a be somewhat bitter. I wonder if that had something to do with the beets now, as you said yours weren't bitter at all. I would imagine the sweetness of the mozzarella and the scapes would be a lovely accompaniment to the beet greens, even if they were a bit bitter (as in the greens I got).

Great post!

Lori said...

If we ever move to your neck of the woods I think I need to eat at your house at least once a month.Of course I would say once a week because I woudn't want to impose or anything.:) Always something good.

kat said...

Carter - I wonder if the difference was we used the greens from baby beets, so they were baby beet greens not time enough to get bitter

Kate n Daniel Vickery said...

I love it! Will be making this pizza as soon as my garlic's are ready to give me those scapes! We're in Saint Paul and apparently our garlics are about a week behind yours.

That pizza really sounds so good! Kudos to you!

grace said...

great pizza, kat! i must say that i'm so glad that ya'll make use of all your produce. pea tendrils, beet greens--you don't waste a single thing!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Garlic scape pesto, garlic scape soup and now garlic scape pizza with greens. I hope the garlic scapes are ready when I head to the market.

Lori said...

Okay, so now I really have to try the greens. I think I'd probably like them better than the actual beets. Great crust!

Giff said...

I haven't made the leap to making pizza dough but really should try one of these days. I love beet greens and this pizza sounds killer.

Anonymous said...

I have some red and golden beet greens that need trimming and Friday I am making pizza. Great idea.

Kate said...

I see garlic scapes a lot at the Shoreview market and have always hesitated to purchase them despite the $2 price tag for a huge bunch. I should try some on pizza. I think we'd enjoy that.

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