April 19th, 2016
From a cultural standpoint, it’s always interesting to see a vegetable going in and out of style (remember that Portlandia skit?) Kale was a big one and is still kicking, and, to me, it seems like turmeric root might be the veggie of the moment. And of course, there are ramps – the tender, mildly oniony wild leeks that pop up for a short time in the spring. They’ve been in very popular demand for the past couple of years, so much so it turns out, that there are even concerns of over-harvesting.
I grew up with a different kind of culture of demand for wild foods, one based on complete necessity. If one had to search for any positive consequences of the Soviet Union food deficit, a forced benefit was that it enabled people to see the land as a source of nourishment. During my childhood, foraging and growing your own food was completely mainstream. If you wanted to taste a tomato in the winter, you grew and pickled it in the summer, otherwise you would not have any tomatoes until the next season.
Early spring was defined by trips to the woods to forage for ramps and morel mushrooms. I remember the forest floor still being very damp from the recently melted snow. There wasn’t much green sprouting yet, which made it easier to locate the cheerful, bright tops of ramps. We gathered them very young, with their leaves just peaking out through the carpet of last year’s fallen leaves. At home, we tucked the ramps into sterile jars and pickled them to enjoy during the year ahead.
Since ramps are a treat that we only get to taste once or twice a year, I like to make a meal that centers around them and highlights all their vitamin-loaded spring energy. This flatbread pizza is one of those, and a very simple solution to enjoying that bunch of ramps you picked up at the market.
The spelt flatbread dough recipe I provide here is one of my favorites – basic, made up of few ingredients, but easy to roll and a great blank slate for any toppings. When roasted, ramps become soft and tender inside, with a slight crisp to their leaves, and full of that bright flavor we all crave during this time of year. I’ve also included an optional recipe for vegan garlic creme, which you can drizzle across the pizza, but feel welcome to garnish with crème fraîche/any cheese of choice, or enjoy plain.
Ramp Flatbread Pizza with Garlic Cream
makes two 10-12-inch pizzas
for the garlic cream
1 cup cashews – soaked for 2-4 hours
1/2 cup purified water
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tamari
1 tablespoon mustard
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon lemon juice
for the dough
¾ cup water – warm
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soft neutral coconut oil or other vegetable oil
½ teaspoon baking soda
sea salt – to taste
2 cups sprouted or whole spelt flour
for the pizza
1 large bunch ramps
1 tablespoon soft neutral coconut oil or olive oil – divided
sea salt – to taste
freshly ground black pepper – to taste
pinch red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove – minced
baby arugula, microgreens – for serving (optional)
to make the garlic cream
Drain and rinse cashews. Place all of the ingredients into an upright blender and blend until smooth. Keep refrigerated.
to make the dough
1. Place flour into a medium mixing bowl. Add salt, coconut oil and baking soda. Pour apple cider vinegar over baking soda and let it bubble.
2. Pour in warm water gradually, mixing it in with a fork. Knead with your hands to end up with a soft and slightly sticky dough. Divide into 2 equal parts, cover and leave to rest while preparing ramps.
to make the pizza
1. Preheat oven to 395° F (200° C).
2. Cut off and discard the very ends of each ramp, getting rid of any roots and soil. Wash and dry the ramps thoroughly. Separate green leaves from white stems/bulbs with a knife. Place white parts into a bowl, drizzle with 1/2 oil, salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
3. Prepare a parchment paper-covered tray large enough to hold two flatbreads, or two trays. Spread one piece of dough at a time over the parchment paper with oiled hands into a 10-12-inch crust, about 1/8-inch in thickness. Alternatively, use a rolling pin.
4. Divide white stems between in two parts and scatter them evenly over the crusts. Bake for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, drizzle the leaves with the rest of the oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, toss to coat. Equally distribute minced garlic clove over the two crusts. Arrange oiled leaves over the two crusts in layers. Bake for additional 10 minutes, until ramps are just wilted, soft, and a bit crispy at some edges.
6. Let cool slightly. Drizzle with garlic cream (optional), slice and serve garnished with fresh arugula and/or microgreens.
Tags: flatbread, mains, pizza, ramps, spelt, vegan
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February 8th, 2013
This post is also available in: French
Dearest readers,
In the beginning of the week we asked for your help with recipe testing for our upcoming book. So far, we’ve received nearly 400 emails from volunteers offering their time and expertise. We can’t even begin to tell you how immensely grateful we are for all of the support that you’ve offered us in the last couple of days. We’ve read through every single email and very much enjoyed learning about you, our reader. It warmed our hearts to hear that you’ve cooked and enjoyed things from this little space on the internet. We wish we could give every one of you a chance to test a new recipe, if only that was possible. We’re still in the process of selecting volunteers – the hardest job ever. Once again, thank you so much.
Today, we want to share this simple recipe for fennel and apple flat bread pizza. Fennel has been very popular in our household this winter, we just can’t get enough. This gluten-free crust is easy and nutritious, but any one of your favourite pizza crusts will work well here.
Fennel and Apple Flatbread Pizza
makes 2 flat bread pizzas
for the crust
1 1/2 cups purified water
3/4 tablespoon sea salt
2 1/2 tablespoons coconut sugar – divided
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups buckwheat flour – preferably sprouted, plus more if needed and for dusting
1/4 cup quinoa flour – preferably sprouted
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 tablespoons olive oil- divided
for the topping
2 large fennel bulbs – sliced into 1/4-inch (6mm) thick slices, fronds reserved
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste
about 4-5 small to medium sized apples, such as Pink Lady, Honey Crisp or Granny Smith
ground cinnamon – to taste
to make the crust
1. In a medium sized jar with a tight lid, combine the water, salt and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. Shake to dissolve and combine well. Add the vinegar and shake a little more to incorporate.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the flours and mix them well. In another bowl, measure 1 1/2 cups of the flour mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar, baking soda and mix to combine. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 cup of the liquid, then mix with a spoon into a liquid dough.
3. Begin adding in more of the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is no longer too sticky to be kneaded with your hands. Lightly dust your hands and the dough surface with the buckwheat flour. Knead the dough quickly, for about 2 minutes. It is important not to add too much of the flour, as it will be hard to fix. Usually, 3 cups of flour is what’s needed, but you can add a little more if necessary.
4. When the kneading is finished, divide the dough into 2 even portions, form each into a ball, and place them on separate pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten each with the palm of your hand and cover with more plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can make the dough in advance and refrigerate it overnight.
to roast the fennel, assemble and bake the pizza
1. Preheat oven to 415 F (210 C). Brush both sides of the fennel slices with the oil and lay them on a parchment paper covered baking tray. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. Roast for 20-30 minutes, rotating and flipping the slices every 10-15 minutes, until soft. Lower the oven temperature to 395 F (200 C).
2. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, one portion at a time. Lightly dust your rolling pin with brown rice flour. Roll each portion on a separate piece of parchment paper into a 1/4-inch (6 mm) thick crust. Brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake one piece at a time for 10 minutes.
3. Top with fennel slices and then apple slices. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Make sure not to leave too wide of an uncovered border to prevent the crust from drying and hardening. You can add 1-2 oz of goat cheese at this step if you like. Bake for another 12 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing. Top with fennel fronds, microgreens and/or other fresh greens.
Tags: apple, fennel, flatbread, gluten free, pizza, recipe
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