Saturday 7 May 2011

Speckled spelt 'pizza' with Roquefort and walnuts for when you've been naughty

Who says being good means suffering at the altar of self denial? Spelt flatbreads topped with bright green loveliness are a great way to pack in the goodness when you've overdone things somewhat.

Last Saturday night I had a bit of a crazy one. I didn't intend for it to be quite so wild, but sometimes these nights take you by surprise don't they.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't expect not to drink a drop, and I suppose when seeing a very old friend who can really put it away that going overboard is a distinct possibility. But last Saturday night the-princess-of-darkness-Ciara-O'Reilly and I really went to town and drank six bottles of fizz.

Yes you read that correctly - six bottles. Between just the two of us. It's obscene. Especially considering we didn't have a scrap of food to eat either.

I had a really great night, the kind that makes me wistful about old times and longing to live closer to good friends. But Sunday came and went with me in bed feeling wretched, and by bank holiday Monday I still had an enormous hangover and struggled to do anything.

Needless to say food this week has been that of ease and virtue. Next time with Miss O'Reilly, I shall make sure to tread a more reasonable path to enjoyment.

The brief when considering what to make for supper this evening was to cram in as much greenery to feed my poor body and mind as possible, but often when forcing as much 'good' stuff inside me as I can leaves me feeling a bit bored and uninspired. Not today - this green spelt 'pizza' is a seriously tasty way of being good.

For two, and with two flatbreads left for something else:
A couple of handfuls of rocket
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 small red onion, shaved very finely on the mandolin
1 fennel bulb, shaved very finely on the mandolin
A couple of tablespoons walnuts, lightly crushed
Around 70g crumbled Roquefort
The juice of one juicy lemon
1 ripe avocado
100g shelled broad beans (easiest done after boiling briefly and then cooling in cold water)
2 tablespoons natural yogurt
A handful of fresh mint
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
A heaped teaspoon black onion seeds
Sea salt and black pepper
340g white spelt flour
1 teaspoon yeast granules
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup of warm water

Method:
Start with making the dough - which is rather soft and wibbly before cooking so needs lots of extra flour on your work top to stop it from sticking - Add 2 scrunches of salt, honey and the yeast to the cup of warm water and leave for 10 minutes
- In a mixing bowl place the flour and onion seeds, make a hole in the centre of the dough (reserving a bit for kneading) and pour the water in, then using your hands mix it all together until you've formed a ball of dough
- Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for a couple of minutes, then place it into a floured bowl and cover with cling film for an hour
- Take the dough out of the bowl and turn it out onto a floured surface, cut into quarters and roll each out each in turn into as round a shape as you can make 
- Lay them one at a time on a lightly oiled baking sheet on a baking tray and bake for 11 minutes until you've baked all four. Remove them from the oven and turn the oven off
- Pile them up separated by baking paper, this will stop them cooling down and getting stuck to each other, and will keep them just crisp enough
- In a food processor combine the broad beans, avocado, yogurt, mint, a scrunch of sea salt and a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil, and blitz until its formed a smooth paste
- Into a mixing bowl combine the razor thin red onion, spring onion, razor thin fennel, lemon juice and a scrunch of sea salt and mix together with your fingers, then add the rocket and combine gently again - you want to keep the rocket from going soggy
- Use half the avocado mixture on each of the 2 flatbreads and smear it over the breads like you would a tomato sauce on a pizza
- Cut the breads up on a chopping board and move them to a plate (I find it easier to cut them up before piling everything on them)
- Now pile up the fennel and rocket mixture onto each of the slices
- Top with the crushed walnuts and dots of the Roquefort cheese, then eat

2 comments:

  1. This looks lovely. I'm not so keen on roquefort but I'm sure it would be just as good with goats cheese.

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  2. Thanks Corina. You're right I think goat's cheese would work very well indeed - perhaps one of the more fluffy ones like a Crottin? Actually I think a hard goat's cheese shaved over would also be good x

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