Just beet it

If Mother Earth had a favorite food, I think it would be beets. Deeply maroon spheres with wispy tails and wild bushy green hair, beets look like they have a story to tell. Their guts are firm and range in color from blood red to light pink and yellow spirals. Their taste is organically earthy--like the sopping wet loam you find hidden underneath blankets of thick moss. They are shy creatures, though, as they rarely make an appearance in standard fare. Only the most adventurous, Earth-loving people wrangle beets on a regular basis.

Before receiving a bundle of these little critters in my CSA box, I had never tried them. A shame, really. I have Meadville to thank for a lot of things, I suppose. For the last two years I scoffed at the suckers who had to spend their summers bogged down in Meadville. I was certain that a summer vacation in Meadville would be lonely and stale. Boring. Beige. I pictured a sad, empty town complete with tumbleweeds and ill-fitting tank tops. This summer has been living, breathing vibrancy. A slurry of late nights with summertime friends. Laughing with the local bakers and coffee-shop owners. Picnics and iced coffee in the bleachingly hot Meadville sun. New music pumping life into the walls of our creaky, ancient apartment. Plucking young vegetables from the Environmental Science

departments experimental garden. Big, bright flavors dancing out of our tiny kitchen. One of the boldest and sunniest treats to march out of our kitchen was beet pizza. With beautiful local beets and spicy pepper jack cheese, this is a slice of Meadville summer. A wedge of a more independent, brave, Earth-wrangling and friend-making Crumb Bum.

(As it turns out, pizza is ridiculously easy to make at home. Seriously. Do it. )

Spicy Beet Pizza

Serves 2-4

Crust from Smitten Kitchen, the rest from the mind of Bum.

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat*)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (you may need up to 2 Tbs. more)
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce**:

A few of your favorite tomatoes

A sprinkling of brown sugar

Some fresh basil (preferably plucked from your college's garden while skipping home at 2:00 am after a particularly good 4th of July party)

Salt n' pepper

For the toppings:

3 large beets (the greens, too!)

1 medium onion

Your favorite amount of pepper jack cheese

Make the crust:

Combine flour and salt. Dissolve your yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Add the yeasty mix and

oil to the dry ingredients. Stir all ingredients together into the best dough ball you can muster. Flip ball out onto a lightly floured surface, kneed daintily, and form into a ball. Oil the bowl you just used to mix the dough. Return the dough to the newly oiled bowl and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Let it nap for 1-2 hours, or until it is doubled in size.

When the dough is thoroughly rested, flip it out onto a lightly floured flat surface (I use a cutting board, as my counter is dappled with mysterious sticky spots). Gently press the air out of the dough, and let it be for another 20-30 minutes.

While you're waiting, preheat your oven to its top temperature and...

Make the sauce and toppings:

For the sauce: Cut your tomatoes in half (if you are using cute little plum tomatoes, leave them whole). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Throw them into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until soft enough to squish.

While the tomatoes are roasting...

Chop the toppings: Peel the beets and slice into thin medallions. Take the bitter veins out of the greens, and rip the leaves into bite-size pieces. Slice the onions thinly. Shred your cheese. Set all topping aside. That was easy!

The tomatoes are starting to smell sweet and lovely...

Return of the sauce: Take the tomatoes out of the oven and slide them into a medium bowl. Take a fork or whisk, and blend until mostly smooth (I like mine chunky). If you prefer yours to be velvety smooth feel free to use a blender at this point). Stir in ribbons of basil.

Assemble your pizza:

Make sure your surface is still dusted with flour. Roll out your pizza dough to your desired thickness. Slip the circle (or in my case, wobbly oval) onto the baking sheet you used to roast your tomatoes. Adorn your crust with your sauce and veggies. Practice your Feng Shui, and arrange your topping harmoniously. Sprinkle cheese over top of everything, taking care to make sure your greens are mostly covered (they may burn if there is no tasty milk fat to protect them). Pop your pizza into the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese begins to blister. Don't turn that dial, or the pizza may cook unevenly. When the unbearably delicious fragrance drives you to jump in the oven with your pizza, remove the pan and allow it to cool as best you can (my impatience usually trumps the safety of my taste buds at this point). Cut into uneven slices, and serve with red wine (preferably the kind with a cute goat on the label).

Showin' how funky and strong is your fight

It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beet it, beet it. .

*Some will say that all purpose is the way to go, but I say nay! Use whatever flour you like. Spelt, quinoa, rice. . it's all gravy.

**You can use any sauce you like, really. You can even leave your pizza mostly naked (just drizzle some olive oil on the crust)!