Beetroot pizza with goat’s-cheese salad
Makes 2 pizzas Preparation time 30 minutes plus rising time Cooking time 30 minutes
How about salad on a pink pizza base served as a starter? And if pink isn’t your colour, replace the beetroot with any other roast vegetable – carrots also work well.
You need
• 6-8 small beetroot • 4 baby marrows • olive oil • 2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) balsamic salad
dressing (see below) • 1 packet (40g) rocket leaves • 1 packet (40g) watercress • 100g goat’s-milk cheese (chevin)
FOR THE BALSAMIC SALAD DRESSING • 1 cup (250ml) good-quality
balsamic vinegar • ¼ cup (60ml) fynbos honey • 4 sprigs fresh lemon thyme • 2 grindings of freshly ground
black pepper
FOR THE PIZZA • ¾ cup (180ml) cooked beetroot pulp
(see method below) • 2 teaspoons (10ml) instant yeast • 500g cake flour • 1 teaspoon (5ml) salt • 2 teaspoons (10ml) honey • 1 cup (250ml) lukewarm water
This is how
Preheat the oven to 210˚C. Cook the beetroot in the skin and then rub off the skin. Make the salad dressing Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan, heat to boiling point and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture is as thick as honey. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Place 4-5 of the cooked beetroot in an oven dish with a glug of olive oil and a spoon or two of the balsamic salad dressing. Roast until soft and set aside. Make the pizza Juice the remaining 3-4 cooked beetroot until you have ¾ cup (180ml) pulp. Use an electric mixer to mix the pulp with the remaining ingredients and to then knead it until the dough is soft and elastic. Cover with clingfilm and set aside to rise until doubled in volume (or overnight in the fridge). Knock down the dough and shape it into two balls. Set the dough balls aside for 30 minutes to rise. Roll out each one into a pizza base and bake in the oven until done.
While the pizza is baking, quarter the remaining beetroot, slice the baby marrows into julienne strips and fry in a griddle pan. Remove the pizza bases from the oven when they’re cooked, drizzle the olive oil and balsamic salad dressing over, and arrange the cheese, roast vegetables and salad leaves on top. Serve immediately.