Nettle Pizza with Ricotta

In collaboration with Eat Drink Talk

Makes enough for one large pizza

Nettles do not become watery when cooked like spinach can, so they crisp up nicely on this pizza.

If you are going to pick your own nettles, try and pick the fresh young tops which are the tenderest. Be sure to wear gloves, as they sting until they have been cooked.

Ingredients

1 recipe pizza dough (use half the dough)
Olive oil for brushing
2 large handfuls nettle leaves, ideally young shoots from the top of the plant
250 grams ricotta cheese, drained in a colander for 30 mins to remove excess water
Handful pine nuts
Sea salt
Freshly grated black pepper
Pinch of grated nutmeg

Pizza Dough

325 mls warm water
½ tsp dry yeast
450 grams flour
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Herb Bechamel

500 mls milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
A bundle of fresh herb sprigs (a mix of parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and/or marjoram)

Instructions

To make the dough, mix the water and yeast together until dissolved and let stand for 5 minutes.

Place the water and dissolved yeast in a large mixing bowl and gradually mix in half the quantity of flour to form a loose, sponge-like dough. Cover with a damp tea towel and place in a warm spot to rise for an hour.

Add the sea salt and oil to the dough and using a wooden spoon, mix in a half a cup of flour at a time until the dough is too dense to stir with the spoon. Remove to a work surface and knead, incorporating the remaining flour until the dough is smooth and manageable.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover again with a damp tea towel and place in a warm spot to rise for another hour.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to the boil. Add the nettles and cook them for about a minute, then drain in a colander and leave to cool to room temperature. Using your hands (the sting will have been removed in the cooking process) squeeze them to remove as much excess water as possible and then pat dry with kitchen roll. Chop the nettles roughly with a knife.

Preheat the oven to 250 C and place a large baking tray in the oven to heat up.

Make the béchamel by melting the butter in a pan on low heat. When melted, sprinkle over the flour and stir well with a wooden spoon until it forms a paste. Pour the milk into the pan a little at a time and whisk continuously until you have added all the milk. Simmer gently on low heat for 10 minutes until the milk has thickened into a sauce. Remove the herbs.

Roll half the quantity of dough out into a large rectangle and place on a sheet of parchment paper. (The other half of dough will keep in the fridge for 2 days or in the freezer for several weeks) Brush the dough with the olive oil and top with the nettles and ricotta and scatter with the pine nuts. Drizzle generously with some of the béchamel sauce. (You may not need all of the sauce). Sprinkle with the nutmeg.

Remove the pre-heated baking tray from the oven and carefully slide the pizza with the parchment paper onto the baking tray.

Place the pizza in the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes or until crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Jennifer Klinec from Eat Drink Talk has kindly agreed to provide Urban Junkies readers with mouthwatering recipes and foodtips.

To learn more, classes at Eat Drink Talk are held in Jennifer's beautiful loft in Clerkenwell, packed with information and useful tips, and you'll get to sample all of the delicious dishes prepared during class.

by JK

In collaboration with Eat Drink Talk

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.