Tuscan Kale Pizza
As I mentioned in my post on Grilled Eggplant Bruschetta, my husband’s mini-greenhouse has been a real miracle of production this summer, and has ripened things that are just hard to harvest around here. One of these things is Tuscan Kale, also known as Lacinata Kale and Dinosaur Kale, because the bumpy green leaves look just like cartoon dinosaur skin. It is easy to imagine Godzilla covered with this stuff. But unlike Godzilla, Tuscan Kale is really tasty and no threat to Tokyo.
Tuscan Kale has its big traditional moment of fame in the classic Tuscan, white bean soup called ribollita, and it is delicious that way. But we have a lot of it, so I wanted to try out new recipes that capitalize on its prehistoric lusciousness. Hence the birth of Tuscan Kale Pizza.
You ribollita fans know kale is great with tomatoes, so you could simply sautée some and toss it on a red pizza made with DeLallo Imported Italian Pizza Sauce or, for those that favor a more American flavor, the domestic Italian Style Pizza Sauce. In fact, since this pizza dough recipe makes enough for two 14-inch crusts, you should do that for your second pie. But for your first one, consider taking the white route—as in white beans.
The essential ingredients of All Tuscan Stuff, to my mind, are garlic and rosemary, so that is where my pizza began. First I sautéed the garlic and some fresh-snipped rosemary in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and butter until the garlic turned golden. Then I emptied a can of rinsed and drained cannellini beans into the skillet. When the beans were hot, I mashed them with a potato masher and seasoned with a little salt and cayenne. The green flecks of rosemary and pink and red flecks of bean skin and cayenne were just so pretty together.
Then, I de-boned the kale and sliced the leaf parts into ribbons about a half inch wide. These I sautéed in more Extra Virgin with some thinly sliced shallot. When the shallot turned transparent, I poured in a half cup of water and covered the pan so the kale could steam a bit. When the pan was dry and the kale tender, I rolled out the dough and assembled the pizza, with white bean paste for the sauce, then the kale and shallot mix on top, then some slightly aged mozzarella we get from a nearby farmer, some grated Pecorino Romano and a handful of pine nuts.
The resulting pie carried all the yummy flavors of bean, garlic, rosemary, kale, cheese and pine nuts, plus a really nicely varied texture, because some of the kale strips stayed tender under the cheese and some, exposed to the hot air of the oven, became crispy like strips of toasted seaweed, without, of course, that fishy flavor.
Tuscan Kale Pizza keeps well and is one of those delightful foods whose flavors deepen and mature overnight in the fridge. Instant breakfast!
