Blood Oranges & Spiced Collard Greens
Sauteed collard greens with spiced Irish butter (with cumin, peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon, fresh ginger), ricotta, goat cheese, pine nuts, blood oranges & drizzled honey
We got the inspiration for this pizza from watching an episode of Heartland Table, where Amy Thielen made Ethiopian-style spiced collard greens. I’ve never been a huge collard greens person myself, but we thought that with enough cheese, and a little citrus-y sweetness to balance out the bitterness, it just might be pizza-worthy. And we lucked out, because it was delicious!
Recipe
Ingredients: 1 ball pizza dough flour for dusting semolina flour for pizza stone olive oil salt & pepper 1-2 bunches collard greens, leaves removed from stems and chopped into bite size pieces 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger good quality ricotta 1 log of goat cheese 2-3 blood oranges, cut into wedges (remove the peel & pith with a paring knife instead of your hands so you can see that nice deep color of the oranges) handful of pine nuts honey
For the spiced butter: 8 tablespoons good butter (we used Kerrygold Irish butter) ½ teaspoon cinnamon (if you’ve never browned butter before, you might want to use a stick instead of ground cinnamon—it’ll be easier to tell the brown butter bits from the cinnamon) 4 whole star anise 3 bay leaves 3 thin slices fresh ginger ½ teaspoon cumin 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
Directions:
Start out by preheating your oven to 550° F. Next, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add all the spices. You can keep it around medium heat as long as you stir it pretty consistently so that it doesn’t burn, cooking it until it starts to get that nutty brown color. You want it to be super fragrant—more than usual with brown butter, because of all the spices—so if you need to switch it to low heat to infuse it a little longer, that might be the way to go.
When the butter is brown and smells delicious, take it off the heat and let it steep for a little while, until it’s just warm to the touch. When it’s ready, strain it through a fine sieve, making sure you get all the butter and leave only the whole spices.
Next, heat a deep skillet or large saucepan over high heat. When it’s hot, add the spiced butter, reserving the brown bits in the bowl. Stir in the collard greens & minced ginger, plus about half a teaspoon of salt & some ground pepper. Keep stirring and let the greens wilt down, cooking for about 3 minutes (you don’t want these to be as soft and mushy as the typical soul food version). Add the brown butter bits at the end and stir to combine.
When you’re ready to assemble the pizza, follow the dough instructions from this recipe. After you’ve baked it for a minute, take it out and brush it lightly with olive oil, followed by dollops of the ricotta & goat cheese. You only want a thin layer of cheese here—you’ll be adding more at the end. Next, add the greens, followed by the pine nuts & blood orange slices. Drizzle some honey on the oranges, and pop it in the oven.
Bake until the crust is golden brown, then take it out. Add some extra dollops of the ricotta on top of the greens, and enjoy!