When I saw some lovely purple asparagus at the market, I knew that had to combine it with a recipe that I have been wanting to try for a while: Quinoa Pizza Crust. Since quinoa and pizza are two of my favorite foods, it seemed destined to be a winning combo.
This is the purple asparagus. With the awful lighting and yellow cutting mat it is hard to tell how beautiful this is, but rest assured it was a lovely sight. To see how purple this pretty veggie can look, click here. Purple asparagus is slightly sweeter then its green cousin, and usually costs a tiny bit more, but not too much. I think that portion up there cost me about $3. Sometimes it is worth the splurge in the name of beauty. Wondering why it is so purple? Word is that cancer fighting phytochemicals called Anthocyanins are responsible for the color. It’s still green on the inside though, I guess those phytochemicals can’t get too far under the skin.
Shaved aparagus sounds really fancy but all you need to shave it is a plain old potato peeler. Just trim off the woody bottoms of the stalks (or bend & snap!), cut off the tender tasty tips (which you should cut in half and throw on your ‘za), and then get to shaving that asparagus. The result will be a pile of tasty shavings that will cook up perfectly while your pizza bakes. Yummy!
Here is my quinoa crust after I let it bake and then flipped it over. It looks green because there is fresh basil up in that biz. The hardest part of making this crust was remembering to soak my quinoa for 8 hours. Other then that, you just blend it, add some spices and olive oil, and then bake it. I’m not gonna lie and tell you this tastes exactly like a typical pizza crust, it has got a definite quinoa flavor and the texture is a little different, but it is still crispy and chewy and good. It is also gluten free, whole grain, rich in amino acids, proteins, and calcium! The healthiest pizza crust you ever did eat.
- 1 c quinoa plus enough water to cover for soaking
- 2 tb olive oil
- ½ c filtered water
- ½ t kosher salt
- ½ cloves raw garlic
- ½ t oregano
- 1 c fresh basil leaves
- ½ red bell pepper
- 6 big stalks of asparagus (more if your stalks are little)
- ½ c tomato sauce
- ¼ c of shredded mozzarella
- 1 oz chevre goat cheese
- Place the quinoa in a bowl and pour in enough water to cover the quinoa. Let soak for 8 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Brush a 12-inch cast iron skillet with oil and place in oven to preheat.
- Drain the quinoa, rinse thoroughly, and place the quinoa in a blender. Add basil, garlic, oregano, salt, most of the filtered water and blend. Add more water as needed, until the batter resembles a thick pancake-style batter.
- Once the oven is heated to temperature, pour the batter into the skillet and quickly spread it out evenly across the bottom. Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the underside is well-browned and starting to crisp. Use a large spatula and carefully flip the crust. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven, and top with sauce, mozarella, asparagus, bell peppers, and chevre. Return to oven for 5-7 minutes, or until the crust is well-browned on the bottom and crisp. Remove from the skillet and transfer to a cutting board or plate. Slice & serve.
This recipe is also featured over at the Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday.
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Oh lovely, even with the un-beautiful lighting! I’m usually lucky to get good green fresh asparagus here, much less purple. Anthocyanins are quite powerful(for a medicinal compounds found in food which translates to not very compared to synthetic medicine), and they are a class of chemicals founds in blue and purple foods. Red cabbage, blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, chokeberries, blue/purple potatoes, purple cauliflower, and even red apples all have good amounts of them. They are the chemical that makes blue/purple food turn blue in basic solutions (like pancake batter) and purple in acidic solutions (like salad dressing). Makes a good science project.
You might like my brown wild rice pizza crust, it’s a little different, but quite good. Link: http://groundcherry.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/black-olive-and-artichoke-pizza/