Beetroot pizza dough is topped with ackee butternut squash cream, ackees and marinated greens. Baked and finished with watercress, radish slices, garlic oil and a balsamic vinegar reduction. The beautiful colours of this flatbread are sure to put a smile on your face especially in the dreary winter months.
What is the best natural food coloring?
I love colourful food! Though I have no qualms about using artificial dyes and do so from time to time. Using vegetable powders to colour doughs, cakes, sauces and dressings impart beautiful color with a nutrient bonus.
I get my vegetable powders from Nuts.com. The quality is fantastic and shipping is always fasts.
- Beet Powder - 1 pound bag
- Price: $6.99
- Organic Turmeric Powder - 8 ounce bag
- Price: $5.99
- Spinach Powder - 1 pound bag
- Price: $9.99
How to make pizza in less than 30 minutes
Whenever I do pizza dough, I like to make it the day ahead and allow it to ferment in the fridge overnight. On the day when I’m ready to make the pizza I take the dough from the fridge. You can leave the dough in the fridge for up to 72 hours. I take the dough out to let it come to room temperature on the counter while the oven heats up with the pizza stone. Then while the dough is warming up, I prep the sauces and whatever toppings I plan to use. By the time the toppings are prepped, the oven is hot and the pizza can be in and out of the oven in less than 10 minutes.
What do you think? As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. If you make this or any of the recipes from this site be sure to @amazingackee and #amazingackee so that I can see your posts across social media.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by 😊
Butternut Squash Ackee Cream Recipe
This simple sauce is a great creamy base for the beetroot flatbread but can also be used as a pasta sauce. Simply reserve a bit of the pasta water to thin it out and coat the pasta with.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cooked cubes butternut squash (I boiled the squash in just enough water so that most of the water was absorbed by the time it was done)
- 2 tsps Coconut oil (or olive, canola, grapeseed, vegetable…whatever you prefer)
- 1 cup Parboiled ackee (or canned)
- 2 or more Cloves of Garlic finely minced (I like LOTS of garlic, so I used about 4 cloves)
- Leaves of a couple fresh thyme sprigs
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a non-stick frying pan, heat oil and add garlic over medium heat till garlic softens and if fragrant.
- Add the ackee and sauté till its warmed through.
- Add the thyme and cook for another minute or two, then season to taste.
- Puree ackee and squash till completely smooth.
- Store covered in the fridge, until ready to use. If you won’t be using it within a week or so it’s best to keep it in the freezer.
Notes
- It’s best to puree everything while warm, that way it will blend smoothly
- You can add nutritional yeast to the cream if you like but I preferred the flavour without it.
Beet Dough
This pizza dough gets it’s beautiful colour from beetroot powder. Made in the stand mixer and left to ferment overnight, its a relatively hands off process.
Ingredients
- 400 g Unbleached All purpose flour
- 20 g Beetroot powder
- 2 tsps Instant Yeast
- 1 1/2 tsps Salt I use kosher, use 3/4 tsp if you’re using fine sea salt
- 250 mL Water plus a 2 to 3 more tbsps if needed
- Olive oil and oil spray for the tray
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the water and yeast and whisk well to combine.
- Sift together the beetroot powder, flour and salt then pour into bowl on top of the water.
- Mix on the recommended speed for 10 to 15 minutes till smooth and elastic.
- If the dough is dry while it is mixing, add a some more water a tablespoon at a time allowing it to mix well before adding more.
- In the meantime, spray a sheet tray or a large flat bottomed tupperware container with oil spray.
- When the dough is done, divide the dough into desired amount of portions and round into balls
- Place portioned dough onto oiled tray or container and drizzle top with olive oil to prevent it from getting a skin. If using a tray, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge, if using a tupperware container, be sure to snap the cover into place so it's closed properly and refrigerate
Notes
Notes:
I always start with adding the water, more so because it cleans the bowl more nicely than adding the flour first. Start with the lesser amount of water and then add a tablespoon at a time if needed, don’t worry if the dough is a little on the slack side as the overnight fermentation will help with this. It should still however, stick to itself and not your fingers when it’s done.
I made 4 portions that were between 160 to 180g and sufficient to make a pizza about 10 inches in diameter with a thin crust.
Beets & Greens Ackee Flatbread
Once all the ingredients are prepped the flatbread comes together in a breeze
Ingredients
- 1 Recipe Beet dough left at room temperature for at least 30 minutes
- 1 Recipe Ackee Butternut Squash Cream
- *Marinated Kale & Swiss chard or whichever combination of greens you like
- Watercress washed and patted dry
- Thin sliced radish
- **Balsamic Vinegar glaze
- ***Garlic infused coconut oil or olive oil
- Flour for counter as needed (I like to use a combination of flour and semolina)
Instructions
- Working with one dough ball at a time. Lightly flour your surface and the top of your dough ball.
- Press dough to flatten it out, leaving a rim if desired.
- Stretch with your hands or if you prefer use the rolling pin to stretch to the desired size.
- Lift dough onto wooden peel that has also been dusted with flour. If you do not have a peel you can use a cardboard circle or a cookie sheet without edges.
- Spread the ackee and squash cream onto dough and top with ackee and greens
- Bake in preheated oven on stone for 5 to 8 minutes depending on desired doneness (if you like a little char and extra crisp edges, leave it for longer)
- Remove from oven, cut, drizzle with oil and top with watercress and sliced radishes, drizzle with balsamic glaze.
- If your oven can’t hold more than one pizza at a time, repeat to finish the number of flatbreads you’re making.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Notes:
*Marinated Greens:
To make the marinated kale and chard Chop and thoroughly wash the greens then spin them out in a salad spinner. Steam them in the microwave, just about 10 to 15 seconds in a microwave safe bowl, covered with a few splashes of water (this is just to soften them a bit, you could also blanch them) Pat the steamed greens dry and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil and toss well to coat. (I love a little tang on my greens and usually use lemon juice. In this case doing so could result in a soggy flatbread so I opted to use some lemon pepper I had made. It’s very easy to do but does require a little patience; zest your lemons before juicing them and leave the zest in a paper bag to dry. Once it’s dry, grind them in a spice/coffee grinder, along with black peppercorns, that’s it! Store in an airtight container)
**You should be able to find premade balsamic glaze in the aisle with the salad oils and dressings. If you want to make your own like I did, simply simmer balsamic vinegar till a third of what you started with remains in the pot. Be careful not to inhale the fumes as the vinegar is very strong and can make you cough or tear up.
***We like finishing our flatbreads with a little oil ever since having pizzas with chili oil and honey at The Bear Street Tavern in Banff. This time around I was trying out a new product from a Trinidadian company. They make infused coconut oil. Hubby and I tried the garlic flavour and chili flavour. Both are absolutely delicious, with the smoky flavour of the chili oil winning us over, that one is our favourite of the two. I mistakenly thought it was what’s sometimes called extra virgin coconut oil and so was expecting a strong coconut flavour, but you definitely get the flavour of the garlic and chili more so than anything else.
