Red Beans and Rice

Here's a simple, comforting dish to wind you down from Thanksgiving.

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup vegetable broth
salt
2 cups cooked rice

Over medium-high heat, saute the onion, garlic, and green pepper in the olive oil until the onion turns translucent. Stir in the dry spices and cook for a minute or two more. Add the beans, then the vegetable stock. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring, for about 15 minutes, or until the stock has cooked down quite a bit.

Taste, and season with salt if necessary. Most canned beans have salt in them, tread lightly. Stir in the rice and continue cooking for a couple minutes, until the rice is warmed through.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Arugula Orange Cranberry Relish

Sweet and savory, you're my favorite flavor combination:

1 orange
1, 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup arugula
1/2 cup sugar

Zest the orange, then juice it. Finely chop the cranberries, onion, and arugula in a food processor. Pour this into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the orange juice and zest, and the sugar. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving.


And with this, friends, I'm taking a break. Have a super Thanksgiving. And see you next week.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Cauliflower and Butternut Squash Phyllo Cups

These would make an elegant vegetarian centerpiece at your Thanksgiving table.

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash
1 small head cauliflower (I used a most lovely purple one)
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
olive oil
salt + pepper
8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
4 tb sage, cut into thin strips
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel the squash, cut it in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Chop the flesh into smallish pieces, about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Toss the squash, cauliflower, onion, and garlic with a couple tablespoons olive oil. Lay the vegetables out in a single layer inside a large roasting pan, or two smaller pans. Liberally salt and pepper all. Roast for 30-45 minutes, until the squash is tender.

Turn the oven down to 375 degrees F.

While you are working with the phyllo dough, keep the not-in-use sheets covered with a damp towel so they don't dry out. Take one sheet from the stack, and lay it on a clean counter. Brush it all over with olive oil. Lay another sheet on top of that one, and brush it with oil. Repeat until you have a total of four sheets stacked and oiled. Cut these into six equal pieces. Tuck these pieces into 6 ramekins or muffin tins. Fill with squash-cauliflower mixture, then top with sage, ricotta, and parmesan. Repeat this whole process with another four sheets of phyllo. The filling should make about 12 cups.

Bake for 15-20 minutes on until the phyllo turns golden brown.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Cranberry Walnut Upside Down Cake

Why not bookend the weekend with sweets?

This Sunday was my sister Kristen's birthday. So I baked her this cranberry cake. You could bake this cake too, even if you don't have double to be thankful for this week.

Maybe you can see, I had a bit of trouble with the topping. It stuck to the bottom of my pan. Perhaps my cast iron isn't well seasoned enough? I was able to chip it out, though, and then just broke up the candy and sprinkled it over the top of the cake. That tasted just fine, but next time, I might consider a non-stick cake pan in place of the cast iron.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie

A slightly less fatty version of this Pumpkin pie recipe. The end result was light, bright, and smooth. I made my own pumpkin puree, which Natasha taught us how to do last week:

To make your own version of the canned pumpkin puree that is all the rage 'round Thanksgiving, cut a small pumpkin in half, scoop out the innards, and roast opening-down at 400°F until brown and wrinkly. Let cool, scoop flesh into a blender and puree.

Dough
1 stick cold unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Filling
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pulse together the flour, butter, and salt in a food processor until most of mixture resembles coarse meal, with rest in small (pea-sized) lumps. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and pulse 2 or 3 times. Add an additional tablespoon or so of water, as needed. Pulse until just incorporated. The dough should hold together if you squeeze it in your hand. It should not be gummy.

Turn the mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Quickly form it into a disk, wrap tightly with the plastic, and refrigerate for one hour. If you're short of time, you can freeze this for half an hour, but I find that it's more difficult to work with when I take that route.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

After the dough has rested, unwrap it on a clean (obv!), floured counter. Sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour. And sprinkle flour on your rolling pin. Quickly, but carefully, roll out the dough. Give it a quarter turn after each roll. If the dough starts to stick, carefully pick it up (a bench scraper is a great tool for this) and sprinkle more flour underneath it.

When the dough is about 1-2 inches greater in diameter than your pie plate, fold it lightly in half, then in half again. You should have a triangular shape. Place the tip of the triangle in the middle of your pie plate, then unfold. Press the dough down into the pan, starting in the middle. Trim off excess, and decoratively pinch the edges. (Or don't. I used a fancy tart dish for this pie, so I didn't bother with the edges).

If the crust is getting soft, stick the pie plate in the freezer for a few minutes. Prick the dough all over with a fork (this is called "docking"). Line with parchment and fill with pie weights. (I use and reuse an old mix of dry beans for pie weights; you could use rice also). Bake in middle of the oven for 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack.

Whisk together pumpkin, half and half, milk, eggs, brown sugar, spices, and salt, then pour into shell. Bake pie in middle of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until filling is set but center still trembles a bit. (Filling will continue to set as pie cools.) Transfer to rack and cool completely.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Previous Post Round Up, Part Two

More terrific vegetarian options for your Thanksgiving table.
1. Carrot Cauliflower Soup
2. Mustard Roasted Potato and Celery Root Timbale
3. Pumpkin Cupcakes (the perfect thing to celebrate my sister's November birthday....)
4. Tempeh Shepherd's Pie

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Spicy Garlic Pumpkin Seeds

Something for your guests to snack on while you finish baking that pumpkin pie (coming later this week!).

pumpkin seeds
grapeseed oil
garlic
red pepper flakes
salt

Heat a heavy bottom pan over low. Combine the pumpkin seeds with a little grapeseed or olive oil, some chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes to taste. Toast, stirring often, for 10 or 15 minutes until the seeds puff up and begin to brown. Remove from pan and toss with salt.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Previous Post Round Up

Though these recipes weren't all imagined for vegetarian Thanksgiving, they would be perfect on your plate next week. Follow the links for more information:

1. Kale-Carrot-Cauliflower Timbales
2. Apple Cider Braised Delicata Squash over Creamy Polenta (if polenta's not Thanksgivingy enough for you, this squash would be lovely over mashed potatoes).
3. Seitan Pot Pies
4. Almond Crusted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Croquettes

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Stuffing

Everyone loves stuffing. Here's a basic recipe. You can dress it up any way you like. With almonds or cranberries or cornbread or grandma's secret something.

Here, I used totally staled bread, which I keep around for occasions such as this (or bread crumb making, crouton making, soup thickening, etc). If you use fresh or day old bread, you may not need as much liquid.

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
heart of a bunch of celery, leaves and all, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
a mixture of fresh herbs -- I used about 2 tablespoons total rosemary, thyme, and sage
6 cups roughly chopped stale bread
about 2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper

In a large, heavy pot, sweat the vegetables and herbs in the butter or oil over medium-low heat until softened. Stir in the bread. Slowly add the vegetable broth, stirring, until the bread is mostly coated. Turn the heat very low and cover your pot. Let it sit like that for 5-10 minutes, until the bread is moistened throughout. Add more broth as necessary. Season to taste.

If you like, you can now bake this in a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. This will form a nice, slight crust on top. I often skip this step, especially if I've got a holiday-full oven.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Carrot, Potato, and Celery Root Gratin

3 medium redskin potatoes
1 medium celery root
3 carrots
1 large leek
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup grated good cheddar cheese
1/2 cup ricotta
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the potatoes, celery root, carrots, and leek thin as you can. A mandoline helps here.

Combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan. Heat the milk slowly, and melt the butter. Stir in the cheeses, herbs, and garlic.

Layer the vegetables in low, wide a baking dish. After each layer, dust the vegetables with flour, salt and pepper. After the top layer, pour the milk-cheese mixture evenly over all. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, then uncovered for another 25-30 minutes.

Ok, so the flavor and texture of this finished dish were really delicious. But like the last time I made a gratin, there was a lot of liquid in the bottom of the dish. I drained it and really enjoyed the gratin, but it shouldn't work that way.

Some theories: As I was slicing the vegetables, I tossed them into water to prevent browning. I drained them, but didn't pat them dry, which may have inadvertently added quite a bit liquid to the dish. Also, I used 2% milk, though most of the gratin recipes I saw online used cream. I suggest whole milk here, but maybe you want to just go for it and try cream. I also only used one tablespoon of flour. I suggest two here; that might help.

If you try this dish, let me know how it goes!

Guest Post: Pumpkin Cookies

I met today's guest poster, Natasha, in a dorm room on the fourth floor of East Quad. The dorm, and the Residential College it housed, was known for its "creative types." Seeing that Natasha is a talented vegan cook and PhD-earning linguist, I'd say the stereotype speaks truth.

I'm so excited to try these cookies, the perfect post to get us ready for a vegetarian/vegan Thanksgiving!


My mother didn't do very much cooking when I was growing up; she doesn't enjoy cooking and she's not terribly good at it (sorry, Mom). She did, however, make exceptions to this no-cooking lifestyle whenever I had a test at school. On such occasions, she would wake up early, dig the Bisquick out of the back of the cupboard, and send me off to school with a stomach full of pancakes. Though one could question the value of carb-loading a nine-year-old, I think the idea that your brain needs food in order to function best is a sound one. I also think people really like treats. So when my undergrads had a midterm in the class that I TA at UCLA this week, I decided to ameliorate the situation by providing them with a healthy influx of cookies. Here's what I came up with—together, these recipes managed to feed approximately 45 exam-taking undergraduates plus a number of roaming linguists.

Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Glaze
adapted from Growing in Grace

I came across this recipe while searching for a pumpkin cookie that would be a little less cake-like. I don't think this one hits the target, but it gets a little closer than your average pumpkin cookie. I also traded up for a flavorful maple glaze, which really makes the cookie—just make sure it goes on after they're fully cooled!

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1c brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup pumpkin puree*
1 tablespoon egg replacer, mixed with 3 tablespoons liquid**
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/3 cup powdered sugar
a little hot water

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Sift together all dry ingredients (baking soda, baking powder, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, salt).

In a second bowl, cream together the sugar and margarine. Add in the pumpkin, egg replacer, and vanilla extract. After this is all brought together, gradually beat in the dry ingredients.

Bake in tablespoon-sized scoops for 15-20 minutes (until the outside is firm—these don't get very brown). Let cool on baking sheet until they're firm enough to move without harm and then transfer to a wire rack. After they've completely cooled, drizzle on the maple glaze.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Modified for more intense pumpkin-y goodness from The Post Punk Kitchen Recipes

Ingredients
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

Keep your oven at 350°F.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon).

Cream together the margarine and sugar then beat in the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients in. Once everything is mixed up and dough-like, add in the chocolate chips, walnuts, and raisins.

Drop giant balls of dough onto your cookie sheet (about the size of 1-2 tablespoons), and flatten out a bit with your finger. Bake for 15-20 minutes until slightly brown and cooked through (using the toothpick test). Let cool on a wire rack.

* To make your own version of the canned pumpkin puree that is all the rage 'round Thanksgiving, cut a small pumpkin in half, scoop out the innards, and roast opening-down at 400°F until brown and wrinkly. Let cool, scoop flesh into a blender and puree.

** I'm not sure if this is scientifically sound, but I always consider the liquid used to mix up the egg replacer as a sneaky vehicle for extra flavor in a recipe. When making savory dishes, I always mix up my egg replacer with vegetable broth. For these cookies, I used soymilk with a little each of vanilla and almond extract.

Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

The other day, I came across a great post on The Kitchn with recipes for several stir fry sauces. Replacing chicken broth with vegetable broth and adding a tablespoon of cornstarch, I made their sweet and sour recipe for this stir fry that also included:

8 ounces tofu, cut into small pieces
1 carrot, sliced thinly cross-wise
2 celery stalks, sliced thinly cross-wise
1 medium onion, sliced, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced
3 small heads heads bok choy
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
grapeseed oil

Stir fry the vegetables in batches in a hot, oiled wok until all is cooked.

Sweet & Sour Sauce
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Whisk all ingredients together and heat in a wok until well combined and the sugar has melted. Toss the cooked vegetables in the sauce until coated.

If I use this many vegetables again, I'll double the sauce recipe. But overall, I really enjoyed the light, slightly spicy sauce. For more information on stir frying, check out another of The Kitchn's posts.

Grapeseed Oil

A few weeks ago, I learned about grapeseed oil over lunch with my dad. He had read an article about its many benefits and so we stopped to buy some after lunch. Since I have done no double blind studies, I'm not going to get into its health benefits. But what I can tell you is: I like its light, neutral flavor and its higher smoking point. And it's done a super job crisping up recent fried items.

Baked Barbecue Tempeh with Apple Butter Brussels Sprouts Slaw

I make barbecued tempeh a lot, but I've never baked it before. The slower, oven-cook works well for tempeh, giving it plenty of time to absorb the flavors of the sauce.

Baked Barbecue Tempeh
1, 8 ounce package of tempeh, cut in half crosswise
1 clove garlic
barbecue sauce

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Narrowly slice the garlic. With the tip of a knife, cut small slits in the tempeh loaf. Tuck the slices of garlic into these slits. Generously brush all sides of the tempeh with barbecue sauce. Place the tempeh on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes. I melted cheese on top of our baked tempeh, but this meal is vegan if you opt out of that.

Apple Butter Brussels Sprouts Slaw
I made apple butter last week. It was so easy. You should make some too. Store bought apple butter would also work here, of course.

1 1/2 cups shredded Brussels sprouts
1 carrot, peeled and shredded or finely chopped
1/2 apple, finely chopped
handful walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup grape seed oil
tablespoon apple butter
salt and pepper

Combine the vegetables and walnuts in a mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, apple butter, salt, and pepper (to taste). Toss everything together. Ideally, this should sit in the refrigerator for at least a few hours before you enjoy it.

On a fluffy bun, top tempeh with slaw.

Celery Root Latkes

My favorite food family is croquette-fritter. So I'm glad to follow Andy's lovely guest post with another fried vegetable patty. These are slightly dressed up latkes. Celery root and potato are so good together.

1 small celery root, peeled
2 large redskin potatoes
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
salt + pepper
2 eggs, beaten
grapeseed oil

Grate the celery root, potatoes, and onion. A food processor helps here. Combine the grated vegetables with the rosemary, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the beaten eggs until all is well combined.

Fill a frying pan with 1/8 inch of oil.

With a wooden spoon, scoop a spoonful of the potato mixture, and press it down with your hand to compress. Drop this into the hot oil and cook for about 5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Fry in batches. Add more oil as needed. Drain on a paper towel and serve with applesauce and sour cream.

Guest Post: Chickpea-Bean Cakes with Curry Cheese Sauce

Today's guest post is brought to you by an old childhood summer camp friend. I've mentioned before how my decision to become a vegetarian was partially spurred by that place on Big Blue Lake, though I haven't thought much about how camp may have spurred my interest in food, generally. But seeing how Andy is the second guest poster who I met at Pendalouan, I can't help but wonder: is a trend emerging? Is cookie sheet pizza somehow to thank for Meals; for Moderns?


Chickpea-bean cakes with curry cheese sauce
Serves 3-4 people


This recipe is an adaptation of my mother's recipe for lentil patties with cheddar cheese sauce which is a favorite in our family. I've stuck to the spirit of that recipe but made it a little more exciting perhaps by incorporating some more ethnic-fusion stuff in.


You will need:

* 2 cups chickpeas (garbanzo beans)-- canned is fine, steamed/boiled dried are better.
* 2 cups lentils, black beans, or black soybeans. Almost any bean will work, I like one with a nutty, earthy flavor.
If you are cooking the beans yourself it's better to overcook them a bit as it makes them easier to work with when smashing them into patties
* 1 ½ cups toasted cooked barley, brown rice, or Grape Nuts (yes, the breakfast cereal). If you are toasting grains/rice yourself they should be somewhat crispy but not totally hard. Other cereals can be used but results may vary.
* 1 ½ cups smashed-up plain (preferably unsalted) crackers (I use wheat germ...almost any will work)
* 2 eggs
* 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
* 1 onion, grated
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tbsp cracked black pepper
* 1 tsp coriander
* 1 tsp cumin
* extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese.
* 2 cups plain yogurt, the less thick the better, those yogurt drinks work very well if you can find plain ones. If you are using thicker yogurt you may need to increase the amount of water.
* 1 cup water (room temp is fine, very cold is bad)
* 1 tsp salt
* 4 tbsp flour
* 4 tbsp margarine or butter
* 2-3 tbsp madras (yellow!) curry powder to taste


Directions:

1. Mix the beans, grated onion, garlic, cereal grains, 2 tbsp of butter, eggs, and crackers in a large mixing bowl. Smash the beans well, you want them to be pasty enough to form into a cohesive patty but not so mushed that they are like mashed potatoes.

2. Using your hands, press the mixture into balls about 4-5 inches in diameter and then squish them down into thinner patties, they should look about the same size as a fairly large hamburger patty. Press hard or they tend to fall apart when frying.

3. Cover and refrigerate the patties for 20-30 minutes, they will set into their shape and be much easier to keep together when frying.

4. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt 4 tbsp butter or margarine. Once it is fully melted, slowly whisk in the flour, creating a roux.

5. Add the yogurt and then the water (in that order) and increase heat to medium, stirring frequently until it is just below a full boil.

6. Reduce heat slightly and add the cheese, salt, and curry powder and stir vigorously until the sauce is fully combined, then reduce heat to very low. You can keep this sauce on very low heat while you fry the patties or just turn off the heat and put a lid on the pan (I do this), just don't forget to stir it occasionally.

7. In a frying pan, heat 2-3 tbsp (don't really need to measure) extra virgin olive oil over medium-low heat. Tip: the oil is ready for frying when you can see it shimmer a bit when moving the pan, but be careful not to heat it past its smoke point.

8. Reduce the heat slightly and carefully set as many patties into it as you can reasonably fit.

9. Fry each patty for 7-10 minutes on each side or until they are well browned, then turn them and do the other side. Be careful when flipping them as they have a tendency to break apart. Add more olive oil if the pan looks dry as needed.

10. Top the patties with the sauce and serve. Enjoy! I often accompany them with steamed broccoli or other green vegetables as the sauce is delicious on those as well.


These are best served immediately but can be reheated. If you want to have some for later my suggestion is to make the patties up to the stage after you let them set and then freeze them without frying them. Later you can defrost them and fry them up.

Pumpkin Pancakes

It was Halloween last weekend. Remember that?

2 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together the dry ingredients. Whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined. Pour batter onto a hot, greased griddle and cook for a few minutes on each side.

Rolling Pins

I just bought the slender rolling pin pictured above, on the left. Next to it is my old rolling pin. The one my Dad gave me, after he taught me how to bake an apple pie. Before I even get into the advantages of the French style, tapered pin, let me just say, the Dad rolling pin wins. Much like crazy beats strong, nostalgia beats utility. That may also explain why I have eight to ten partial sets of cracked grandma dishes.

Hoarding aside, I do want to espouse some advantages of the new rolling pin, with the caveat that, so far, I've only used it on pizza dough.

It's nice and light, very easy to handle, and its lightness seemed to give me more control. I like that it has no handles -- that means whatever I'm rolling out won't be cut off by the edge of the pin. And it's super easy to clean. There's no nether-zone where the handles meet the pin.

I wonder if its light weight will work against it for something like a pie crust, where the dough is rolled out out quite thinly. We'll see, I guess. And I've always got the Dad pin.

Beet Ricotta Pizza

Last week my friend Heather told me about a simple dish of beets, ricotta, and olive oil. It sounded just delightful, so I thought I would make it. Except on a pizza.

I cooked the beets first following the Times' method, as usual:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the greens away from the beets, leaving about 1/4 inch of stems. (Later this week, we'll show you how to sauté the greens.) Scrub the beets and place in a baking dish (or lidded ovenproof casserole dish). Add 1/4 inch of water to the dish. Cover tightly. Place in the oven and roast small beets (three ounces or less) for 30 to 40 minutes, medium beets (four to six ounces) for 40 to 45 minutes, and large beets (eight ounces or more) for 50 to 60 minutes. They’re done when they’re easily penetrated with the tip of a knife. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the covered baking dish. Cut away the ends and slip off the skins.

For the crust:

1 1/8 cups warm water
1 packet active dry yeast
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more)

With your pizza stone inside, preheat your oven to its hottest setting.

Mix the yeast and water. Set aside. Put the flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. With the processor running, add the olive oil, then the water-yeast solution (once the yeast is dissolved). Continue with the machine running until a ball begins to form. If the dough is too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it produces the desired consistency. Remove the dough and form it into a ball, then dump it into a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, non-drafty place for an hour or so.

This recipe makes two crusts. Roll out one half of the dough, brush it with olive oil, then cover it with sliced beets, ricotta, coarse salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Bake on the preheated pizza stone for about ten minutes. Do the same for the second half of the dough, or place it in a plastic bag and save it in the refrigerator for tomorrow.