Beetroot and Rosemary Pizza with Almond Feta

I love beetroot but I’m not normally a fan of it on pizza. But then Nourish Magazine asked me to do a series of beetroot recipes for one of their publications and among the many recipes I experimented with, I played with a popular beetroot pizza recipe to make it dairy free, vegan and healthier. And whilst doing the recipe development I made so much of this pizza that I came to love it!

YOU NEED

For the almond cheese

1/2 cup of blanched almonds

1/8 cup of fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of olive oil

¾ teaspoon of salt

¼ cup of water

Other

2 large whole meal Lebanese pita breads

4 tablespoons of tomato passata

4-6 cooked baby beetroots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary leaves

1cup of fresh rocket, washed well and drained

1 lemon

YOU DO

Make the almond feta the day before.  Simply blend all the almond ingredients together in a high powered food blender or food processor, for a few minutes until they are smooth. This takes about 5 minutes.

Line a colander with a clean chux and scrape the almond mixture onto the middle of the chux. Bring the sides of the chux up around the mixture and tie it firmly with an elastic band. Place the colander onto a bowl and place it into the fridge to drain over night.

Once your feta has drained and you are ready to make your pizzas, preheat your oven to 180c.  Lay your Lebanese breads onto oven trays. Top the bread with the passata. Evenly lay the beetroot slices on the passata and place the pizzas in the oven until the bread becomes crisp.

Sprinkle the feta, rosemary and rocket on top. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice onto the pizzas also, just before you serve them.

Yields: 8 generous slices of pizza.

Time: Once the feta is ready this is such a quick recipe with 10 minutes of preparation and only 10-15 minutes of cooking time.

Notes: I use cooked baby beetroots that have been packaged in just their own juices. You find them in supermarkets near the uncooked beetroot. They make this a much quicker recipe and are not packaged in salt and sugar like canned beetroot.

Don’t be afraid of making curries. Once you have the ingredients they are some of the freshest, easiest and fastest recipes to make.

Ingredients

For the paste

3 large cloves of garlic, peeled

2 red bullet chillies

2 French shallots

1 teaspoon of galangal, peeled and finely chopped

6 candlenuts

1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

Rice bran oil for cooking

Other

2 x 565 gram cans of green jackfruit in brine

5 cloves

7 lime leaf pieces

2 stalks of lemongrass, bruised with the back of a knife

2 sticks of cinnamon

2 ½ cups of coconut milk

2 teaspoons of ground turmeric

3 tablespoons of organic tamari

1 ½ tablespoons of Massel beef stock powder

1 tablespoon of Sriracha hot chilli sauce

Method

Blend the paste ingredients in a mortar and pestle or food processor, until they are well combined and become a paste. Put a small amount of oil into medium pot. Scrape the paste into the pot. Cook it for a few minutes, on a low heat till fragrant.

Drain the jackfruit and discard the brine. Cut each of the jackfruit pieces lengthwise into 3 – 4 wedges. Add the jackfruit and the remaining ingredients to the pot with the paste. Bring it to the boil. Reduce it to a low simmer, Place a lid on the pot and cook *gently*for 45 minutes.

Discard the cinnamon and lemongrass once the rendang is cooked and serve.

Serving suggestion

Serve with steamed rice and Asian greens. Garnish with loads of fresh coriander.

Yields: 4 small serves

Time: 15 minutes of preparation. 45 – 50 minutes cooking time.

Notes: Candlenuts are highly toxic when raw. It is essential that they are cooked before being eaten. They are used in Asian cuisine to thicken sauces. You can purchase candlenuts from Asian and specialty grocers. Alternatively you can substitute with macadamia nuts

You can also purchase jackfruit from Asian or specialty grocers. It is sold in cans. Ensure that it is unripe jackfruit and in brine (NOT syrup). Potatoes, tofu, beans and other vegetables work well as a substitute for jackfruit in this recipe though too.

Jars of lime leaf pieces can be found in most supermarkets.

Make sure you shake the cans of coconut milk before you measure out your 2 ½ cups!

Sriracha hot chilli sauce is found in most Asian grocers and some supermarkets.

Monday nights are hectic in our household. Everyone has been at work and childcare all day. We are often home late and we want something easy and fast. So I started making my “Cheesy Lemon and Pea Baked Risotto. While the onions were cooking tonight though, I was rummaging around in the fridge and notice a large red capsicum, some coriander and some tandoori paste. This was the result and it’s become one of our favourites.

YOU NEED

1 large brown onion, peeled, halved and finely diced

¼ of a cup of water

1 x 250 gram block of firm tofu, cut into slices

2 tablespoons of tandoori paste

1 cup Aborio rice

#optional ¼ cup of nutritional yeast

3 ½ cups of vegetable stock

1 large red capsicum, washed, quartered, cored and cut into long thin strips

1 ½ cups of frozen peas

1 cup of fresh coriander, washed, drained and roughly chopped

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 200c.

Place the onion and water in an oven tray.  Place the tray onto your stove top and cook gently on a medium heat, until the onion starts to soften.  Then turn off the heat.

Add the rice, nutritional yeast and stock and bring to the boil. Cover tightly (and carefully) with foil and place the tray in the oven for 15 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, combine the tofu with the tandoori. Heat a small amount of oil in a medium pan and gently cook the tofu until it has browned and starts to crispen and set aside

After the rice has been cooking for 15 minutes, remove the tray from the oven. Carefully remove the foil and stir through the capsicum, pea,  tofu and coriander. Cover the pan with foil again and place it back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

Once the rice is cooked, I like to garnish it with a little extra coriander or mint and a dollop of coconut yoghurt. I also serve it with loads of fresh salad.

Yields: 2 large serves.

Time: 45 minutes.

Notes: I have tried a few brands of tofu to date and the one I find I keep going back to is the Blue Lotus brand as it has a much less earthy flavour than other brands.

The Nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavour to the risotto. It is also a source of B12.