Fall is coming– we can all feel it in the occasional slight crispness in the air and the turning of colors on the edges of the leaves. It is, by far, my favorite season. I love pulling out my worn jeans and comfy sweaters and snuggling in with a good book and a mug of hot tea. My family and friends have always chuckled at my bizarre palate of favorite foods. As I think about my favorite fall foods, bitter greens are at the tippy top. (I always say that my two favorites are chocolate and kale!) For many people, these health super boosters are often hard to tolerate. But with the right combinations, the bitterness can definitely be tempered.
Check out this delicious Broccoli Rabe Pesto Pizza. The crust is the perfect blend of crispy edge and soft middle. The broccoli rabe is vibrantly green and when mixed with the basil and a bit of honey, not outrageously bitter!
As often as I create my own recipes, when I find a good one outside of my own kitchen that can’t be improved upon, I feel lucky! The broccoli rabe pesto recipe is my own, but the pizza crust recipe listed below I found in the Paleo Magazine in the August/September 2018 issue. If you haven’t read this magazine yet, I highly recommend it– it’s fantastic!
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- 1+1/2 cup cassava flour
- 1 cup arrowroot powder
- 1+1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1+1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bunch broccoli rabe tough stems removed
- 2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- juice of whole lemon
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped OPTIONAL
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients:
Pesto Ingredients:
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- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place baking sheet in oven while preheating.
- Make crust: In mixing bowl, add cassava flour, arrowroot, sea salt, Italian seasoning, and onion powder and mix well. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, water, and olive oil. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and mix well. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Pour dough onto parchment paper and spread out in even thin layer. You can use oiled fingers to help smooth out rough parts or cover dough with saran wrap and use rolling pin gently to spread out dough evenly.
- Remove hot baking sheet from oven carefully and place parchment with dough on baking sheet and return to oven for 14 minutes.
- While crust bakes, prepare pesto. Add broccoli rabe to boiling water for 2-3 minutes and then remove and add to large bowl of ice water to shock/blanch broccoli rabe.
- To food processor, add broccoli rabe, basil leaves, lemon juice, honey, nutritional yeast, sea salt, and ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes (optional) and pulse until coarsely chopped and mixed.
- Slowly pour extra virgin olive oil into pouring spout of food processor while food processor is on and leave on to mix well. Open food processor and scrape down sides and then run again for another minute or so until fully incorporated. Taste test pesto to see if it needs more olive oil.
- When crust is cooked and removed from oven, you can spread pesto evenly on crust and then return to oven for 5-10 minutes to heat throughout.
Notes & Variations:
- I am a huge fan of bitter greens, for flavor and health benefits (great for the liver and detoxification!!!), but for some people, bitter greens like broccoli rabe are just too bitter. If that is the case, you can remove the broccoli rabe from the pesto recipe and increase the basil to 4 cups plus add 1/3 cup raw pine nuts. You may find that without the bitter broccoli rabe, you don’t need the honey either.
- Another way to help temper the broccoli rabe pesto flavor to be a little less bitter is by adding chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the food processor.