Burrata – Dr Pippa

I made this for my friend who is an avid supporter of my sourdough pizzas, simply to give her something different to try. She may have protested slightly at the thought of having a “salad pizza”, but at the end of a week’s stay with me in my lockdown food bubble, this turned out to be one of her favourite foods we ate. And we ate a lot of foods!

This is easily adaptable to be vegetarian by omitting the Parma ham, and was in part inspired by a famous pizza chain’s vegan pizza dish I saw an old colleague have some 15 years ago. I must admit that back then, before I had started my path down nutrition, the thought of a cheeseless salad pizza did not appeal in the way it would do now.

If you are vegan, the base pizza dough recipe is completely vegan. You can still top it with the salad and grilled peaches, and it would be delicious as is, but I suspect the vegan dairy-free alternative cheese would make a wonderful addition to it.

Makes 1 pizza, serves 2

Ingredients

1/3 portion of pizza dough
Semolina for dusting
100g passata
2 large ripe peaches or nectarines, cut into wedges
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
80g rocket, watercress, baby leaf spinach or pea shoots
3 slices of Parma ham
1 ball burrata
Drizzle of balsamic glaze

Method

Preheat the oven to maximum temperature (mine is 275°C fan) and place a heavy bottom tray/pizza stone in the middle of the oven. Allow the oven to reach temperature and wait a further 10 minutes to ensure the tray is fully heated.
Dust the work surface with semolina, take a ball of dough and place it on the semolina and finely dust with flour.
Using your fingers, press around the edge 1 cm in to form a crust.
Using the palm of your hand, press inside this line to flatten the dough in the centre.
When you can press it no more, pick the dough up and using your knuckles, gently ease the dough out so it becomes thin and slightly transparent. Take care not to rip the dough. Ensure the base has an even covering of semolina.
Transfer the pizza base onto a pizza peel.
Add 100g passata over the base, up to but not on the crust part of the dough.
Transfer the pizza onto the tray in the oven using a strong and decisive forward and back motion to slide the pizza off the peel.
Cook the pizza for 6-7 minutes depending on the temperature of your oven. The pizza should have very dark golden blistered crusts, and the passata will have evaporated some of the liquid.
Meanwhile, heat a heavy-based griddle pan over a high heat.
Coat the peach wedges in the oil before grilling for 1-2 minutes per side.
Remove the pizza and allow to rest for 1 minute.
Scatter the pizza with the salad leaves and grilled peaches. Tear the Parma ham and evenly distribute over the pizza. Place the burrata ball in the centre and drizzle with the balsamic glaze.
Best eaten straight away.

Per serving: 756kcal/ 23.0g fat/ 11.4g saturated fat/ 88.7g carbohydrates/ 8.3g fibre/ 27.9g protein

I’m trying to find some inventive ways to use up the leftover beetroot leaves as I process them to try to preserve the taste of summer. Beetroot leaves are so similar to perpetual spinach or Swiss chard. For every homegrown beetroot given out, I also say to my willing receiver “did you know you can eat the leaves too?” There is absolutely no reason to waste them so apart from giving them to the chickens as a little treat, I’m also trying to utilise them myself. If you can get hold of whole beetroots with the leaves still attached, or are growing them yourself (or being gifted as I am doing with so many beetroots!) then you absolutely must try them!

The standard purple beetroots still contain some of the bright purple-red colouring found in the bulb, so I would only assume there are some of the same health benefits from eating the leaves as there are from the actual beetroot itself, although it a smaller quantity which is reflected in the light staining you get from the leaves themselves. There hasn’t been any research into this as far as I can see, but at the end of the day it is green and leafy, and as it’s not toxic to humans, I can only assume there must be some good to eating them whole vegetable from root to leaf.

For me, eating beetroot leaves is a true taste of summer, and something I am currently relishing. I hope that you can get your hands on some beetroot leaves, but if you can’t, or decide you need a little reminder of Summer when it’s dark and gloomy in Winter, use baby leaf spinach, kale or even cabbage.

While I think that standard “white” spaghetti would look more aesthetically pleasing, I am always drawn to using wholemeal pasta wherever possible due to the extra fibre (from 7g fibre per portion up to almost 12g). I also think it helps enhance the slight earthiness of the beetroot leaves.

Serves 3

Ingredients

1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 springs of rosemary, leaves removed from 1 sprig and roughly chopped
Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
250g cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
200g wholemeal pasta
150g beetroot leaves, roughly chopped
1 ball of fresh burrata

Method

Mix the chickpeas, 1 tbsp oil, lemon zest, and 2 spring of rosemary in a baking tray. Bake at 180°C fan/ 200°C convection/gas mark 6 for 15 minutes till crispy and fragrant.
Meanwhile, add the tomatoes, garlic and remaining oil to a saucepan, and cook for 5 minutes, before adding the balsamic vinegar and chopped rosemary. If needed add a little water to stop it from sticking.
Boil the wholemeal pasta for 2 minutes less than the instructions, reserving a little pasta water.
Add the beetroot leaves into the tomato sauce before mixing in the cooked pasta. Return to the heat for 1 minute, adding some of the reserved pasta water if required to loosen the sauce.
Serve with the crispy chickpeas, crispy rosemary, and the burrata ball over the top.

Per serving: 501kcal/ 14.2g fat/ 7.0g saturated fat/ 70.0g carbohydrates/ 11.8g fibre/ 18.6g protein

Tag: Burrata

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