Lemon Cucumbers & Garlic Scapes
Ricotta, homemade cumin vinaigrette, roasted beets, lemon cucumbers, sautéed garlic scapes
Recipe
Ingredients: 1 ball of pizza dough flour for dusting
semolina flour for pizza stone olive oil salt & pepper 3-4 lemon cucumbers, chopped (these are a milder, sweeter type of yellow cucumber) 2-3 beets, trimmed 1 bunch garlic scapes, trimmed & cut into 2-3 inch pieces Ricotta cheese
For the cumin vinaigrette: 1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar ½ cup olive oil
Directions: Preheat your oven to 400° F. Place the beets in a roasting pan (or any baking dish that fits them) and drizzle with olive oil. Add about 2/3 cup of water to the pan and cover with foil. Roast the beets until tender, about 45 minutes.
Let the beets cool and increase the oven temperature to 550° F. When they are cool enough to handle, you can rub the skin off with your fingers (or a paper towel if you don’t want to have red-stained hands), and cut them into wedges.
While the beets are roasting, you can sauté the garlic scapes. These look a little like green beans once you’ve cut them, but they taste like garlic (albeit a little milder than garlic proper).
To sauté them, just melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan over medium heat, then add the scapes and a pinch of salt. Stir them frequently, until they are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
Next you can make the vinaigrette. To start, toast the cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Then grind about ¾ of them with a mortar & pestle (or spice mill), leaving the rest whole. Whisk the ground and whole seeds together with the vinegar and olive oil.
Now you can toss the beets, cucumbers & scapes in the vinaigrette, and then begin to prepare the dough using the instructions on the right. Once you’ve baked your dough for a minute, take it out and brush it lightly with olive oil.
Top your pizza with clumps of the ricotta, followed by the beets, lemon cucumbers & scapes, and pop it in the oven. Bake until the beets are sweating and the crust is a nice golden brown. Then take it out, drizzle with a squirt of lemon juice (optional), and enjoy!