Pie of the Week #4

I was inspired by some of the beautiful broccoli Stan and Judy from Countryside Orchard had at the Culver Farmers’ Market this week. Their broccoli is usually pretty spectacular, and while we have broccoli raab in the high tunnel that I hope will make some delicious winter pizzas, I do really love roasted broccoli in the fall. And broccoli likes cheese, as does pizza. So…

A broccoli cheese pizza. I made alfredo sauce and used that for the base. Because cheese. Then topped with broccoli florets, rings of red onion, cheddar cheese, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. All atop my go-to quasi-Neapolitan pizza crust.

It was beautiful and delicious! If doing it again, I think I might pre-roast the broccoli. While it had nice char, it was still fairly raw inside and had not maximized its sweetness. And, while the baking stone was at nearly 960 degrees, I did turn the fire in our pizza oven down during the bake to give it some more time. It probably spent nearly four minutes in the oven! So, perhaps a few minutes in the pizza oven while it’s preheating, or some time in the home oven, to get the broccoli nearly fully roasted might turn out even better!