May Recipe – Spring Veg Spelt Pizza

Serves 2 – 4

For the dough:

250g. wholemeal or white spelt flour
1 tsp. dried active yeast (I used easy blend)
1 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. honey
1 tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for greasing the bowl

For the beetroot chutney:

1 x 250g. pack cooked beetroot in natural juices, drained
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 small red apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped (I actually didn’t peel mine)
75mls. red wine vinegar
100g. light brown soft sugar
1 tbsp. thyme leaves

For the topping:

125g. ricotta (I would actually use more of the 250g. tub)
1 garlic clove, crushed
5 tbsps. finely grated Parmesan
6 tbsps. olive oil
6 stalks broccoli (cut in half if large)
50g. frozen peas
a handful of rocket, plus extra to serve
2 tbsps. toasted pine nuts

For the dough, mix the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl.  Dissolve the honey in 125mls. warm water and add to the bowl with the olive oil.  Mix to make a rough dough, tip on to a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth.  Transfer to a clean, oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm.  Leave to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.  I use my airing cupboard for dough rising.

For the chutney, reserve a small beat for the topping, chop the rest into 5mm. dice and put in a saucepan with the remaining ingredients.  Simmer uncovered for 35 minutes, stirring often, until the beets break down a little and the chutney is sticky.  Transfer to a bowl or sterilised jar.  The leftovers will keep in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.

Preheat the oven to 240, fan 220, gas mark 9.  Mix the ricotta, garlic, 3 tbsps. of the Parmesan, 1 tbsp. olive oil and some crushed black pepper.  Finely slice the reserved beetroot.  Knock the dough back, turn out on to a lightly floured surface, cut in half and roll each piece to make a thin base about 18cm. x 30cm.  Transfer to separate floured baking sheets and spread half the ricotta mixture over each base, leaving a 1cm. border.

Boil the broccoli for 2 – 3 minutes and pat dry on kitchen paper.  Top each pizza with the broccoli and sliced beetroot, then add dollops of beetroot chutney and scatter over the rest of the Parmesan, drizzle with 1/2 tbsps. olive oil and cook for 15 minutes until the base is crisp.

Meanwhile, add the peas to a pan of boiling water and cook for 2 – 3 minute until tender.  Put the rocket, peas, pine nuts and 4 tbsps. olive oil in a blender and blend until finely chopped.  Drizzle over the pizzas and scatter with a handful of rocket.

TIPS

1. I made this last night and it was very nice but quite a lot of work.  You could easily use ready made beetroot chutney, or some other form of chutney (e.g. caramelised onion) instead of making your own.   
2. The pea mixture which is added at the end is just like pesto so, again, instead of making your own, you could use a jar of ready made pesto and thus save time and trouble.
3. You could obviously use frozen broccoli if you don’t have any fresh to hand.  This would stretch to feed 4 if you accompanied it with garlic bread and a salad.  If you are not a vegetarian you can, of course, use some meat on the topping.  I leave that up to you.
4. It was a nice dough to handle, kneaded well but I did add slightly more water than the recipe said, not too much!  Spelt flour is considered to be easier to digest and I use it a lot.