Deep Dish Pizza

So happy I signed up for delivery from Terra Organics. This week there was kale in my box. I love kale, I just don't know how to prepare it. Luckily Vegetarian Times magazine came to the rescue again with their recipe for a deep dish pizza (from their Healing Foods Cookbook magazinewhich I found at UWT bookstore. Or go to vegetariantimes.com). The pizza dough was super easy to make, and the pizza was De-Li-C-Us! Substitutions: I had a leek and grated Parmesan cheese that needed to be used so I added them to the recipe, I didn't have fennel seeds or Neufchatel cheese so I omitted them, and I substituted 1 tsp oregano for the fresh herbs. The recipe calls for a 12 inch skillet. Mine is 10 inches and it worked just fine!

Deep Dish Skillet Pizza

Dough:

1 tsp light brown sugar

1/2 0.25 oz pkg dry yeast

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tbs flax meal or ground flax seed

2 tsp olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

Topping:

2 Tbs olive oil

3 garlic cloves minced (1 Tbs)

8 cups loosely packed kale

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 tsp ground fennel seeds

2 Tbs Neufachetel cheese (2 oz)

1 cup crumbled feta cheese (4 oz)

12 cherry tomatoes halved

2 Tbs chopped fresh oregano or basil

To make dough: dissolve brown sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl. Stir in yeast and let stand for five minutes. Stir in whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup all purpose flour, flax meal, oil, and salt. Knead two minutes while adding remaining 1/4 cup all purpose flour. Oil separate bowl, and turn dough in oil to coat. Cover, and let rise in warm spot until dough doubles in size (about 45 minutes).

To make topping: heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for about two minutes. Add kale, cover and cook stirring occasionally about 15 minutes (mine was a bit dry so I added a little veggie broth to keep from burning) or until kale is softened. Add mushrooms and fennel seeds (I added leeks and oregano at this point) and cook for about 7 to 10 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in Neufchatel.

Preheat over to 475F. Oil bottom and sides of 12 inch cast iron skillet. Stretch and pat dough over bottom and halfway up sides. Let dough rest 5 minutes. Spread kale mixture, scatter feta, tomatoes and fresh oregano on top (I omitted the fresh herbs and added a handful of Parmesan cheese). Bake 15 minutes on bottom rack. Let stand five minutes before serving.

YUM!