Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson bakes pizza with a beetroot crust

Earthy flavours abound in this delightful autumn pizza that uses beetroot both as a topping and in the crust

Ingredients For the pizza crust

4 cooked and peeled medium beetroots 2tspn active dry yeast 180ml warm water 500g plain flour

For the topping 300g fresh pesto 2 balls of mozzarella 30 baby plum or cherry tomatoes 2 cooked and peeled medium beetroots, cut into wedges Half a cauliflower 4tbspn freshly chopped oregano

A couple of generous handfuls of rocket and watercress Chilli oil (optional)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200˚C/400˚f/gas mark 6. Process the beetroot for the crust into a purée, then, in a jug, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. In a large bowl, mix the flour with two large pinches of salt and pour the yeast onto it. Add the puréed beetroot and mix well. Use your hands to bring to a dough—it should be slightly tacky—then knead until smooth and elastic.

Put the dough, with a splash of olive oil, into a large freezer bag and seal it, leaving for about an hour or until doubled in size. Knock the dough back and halve it, then roll into two ovals. It will bounce back, but keep rolling until it’s as stretched as you can get it. Transfer to lightly greased baking trays.

Cover the surfaces of the pizzas with pesto, then top with pieces of mozzarella, plus the tomatoes, beetroot wedges, cauliflower florets, oregano and seasoning. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 12–16 minutes.

Serve scattered with watercress and rocket plus a drizzle of chilli oil if you like it a little spicy.