Kale Pizza
As is often the case at this time of year, things in our house are CRAZY BUSY. The to-do list is over a page long and that doesn’t even include work or all of the school events happening this week. It can be a bit overwhelming. It is times like these when I start to fight the urge to order pizza. Every night.
So I have been trying to focus on making quick, easy meals- veggie fried rice, veggie quesadillas, quick pastas, etc. These are great, but last night I really wanted something different. I sort of wanted pizza but I also had a lot of kale in the house that needed to be eaten. So I decided to make kale pizza. I thought maybe I had gone off the deep end, but then I found that others have had the same idea in the past. And it turns out, kale on pizza is awesome. Really.
We tried three different versions of kale pizza last night: kale, sliced tomato, ricotta and parmesan; kale, ground lamb, feta, and pine nuts; and kale, ground lamb, ricotta, parmesan, and pine nuts. They were all really good. My veggie-loving son ate almost all of the tomato-based pie, my meat-loving son gorged on any he could get his hands on (tomato and lamb), and my husband and I enjoyed whatever was left!
The trick here, I think, was sautéing the kale before it went onto the pizza. This meant that it didn’t become the sad, soggy stuff that spinach can be on pizza, but was actually crisp and flavorful.
A note on timing, this can be a 30-minute dinner on two conditions: 1) you already have the pizza dough ready or use store-bought, and 2) you make one, big pie instead a number of smaller ones. This is just because if you do smaller ones, then each one needs its own 10-12 minutes in the oven. So if you want to try this as a 30-minute meal, just make one, big pie on a cookie sheet with already made dough.
Kale Pizza
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
- 1 bunch of kale
- ½ lb ground lamb
- 1 roma tomato sliced
- 1/3 cup kale cooked
- ¼ cup ricotta
- ¼ cup feta crumbled
- parmesan
- 4 tablespoons raw pine nuts optional
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Kale Prep: Tear the kale into bite-sized pieces and wash and dry thoroughly. In a frying pan, heat the oil on medium-high. Add the kale and saute for 3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Lamb Prep: Brown the lamb in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Place pizza stone in oven (if using) and preheat the oven to 450. To assemble the pizza, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough either into 8-inch rounds or to fit into a large cookie sheet. If using a cookie sheet, oil the sheet or place parchment paper on it and transfer the dough to the cookie sheet before assembling the pizza. Top Tomato-Kale Pizza with roma tomato, 1/3 cup cooked kale, 1/4 cup ricotta, a sprinkle of parmesan, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Top Lamb-Kale-Feta Pizza with 1/4 cup cooked lamb, 1/3 cup cooked kale, 1/4 cup feta. Top Lamb-Kale-Ricotta Pizza with 14 cup cooked lamb, 1/3 cup cooked kale, 1/4 cup ricotta cheese, a good sprinkle of parmesan, and a good sprinkle of sea salt. Distribute ingredients, except for pine nuts, evenly on pizza dough. If you are using pine nuts, sprinkle 2 tablespoons on each pizza 2 minutes before the baking time is up. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the crust is slightly golden. Remove from oven and allow pizza to cool for 3-5 minutes before cutting.
