This easy recipe sheds new light on two foods you might think you know pretty well — broccoli and pizza — essentially hitting the “refresh” button on both of them.
Whirring broccoli in a food processor with a generous handful of fresh basil leaves, some good cheese and olive oil gives the stalwart everyday vegetable a moment of glory as a flavorful emerald-green pesto. It’s delicious to toss with pasta, spread on sandwiches or serve with crostini, but here it is used as the base topping for a pizza that upends your notion of what a pie can be.
This is not the usual tomato-and-mozzarella variety that all too often is laden with grease. Here, that gorgeous broccoli pesto is spread onto whole-grain flatbread, sprinkled with chewy sun-dried tomatoes and topped with an egg that cooks to runny perfection as the whole thing bakes and the crust crisps.
You wind up with satisfying individual pizzas that are a breeze to whip up for a rush-hour dinner. They have a freshly appealing look and taste, and they’re good for you, too.
Flatbread pizza with broccoli pesto, sun-dried tomato and egg
2 cups cooked, chopped broccoli, defrosted if frozen
1 cup lightly packed basil leaves
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 whole-grain flatbreads, such as pocketless pita or naan (about 7 inches in diameter, 2 ounces each)
6 vacuum-packed small sun-dried tomatoes, cut into slivers (see note)
4 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Have one or two large baking sheets at hand.
Combine the broccoli, 2/3 cup of the basil, 4 tablespoons of the cheese, the salt and pepper in a food processor. Puree to form a coarse mixture. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil and process to form a fairly smooth pesto. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Spread the pesto evenly over each flatbread, stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge and leaving a space in the center of each one for the egg. Arrange the flatbreads on the baking sheet(s). Scatter the sun-dried tomatoes over the pesto.
Crack an egg into the center of each flatbread. Bake until the egg white is cooked but the yolk is still runny, and the bread is crisped, 9 to 10 minutes.
Cut the remaining basil into ribbons; garnish the pizzas with the basil and the remaining cheese. Serve warm.
Note: If the sun-dried tomatoes are especially dry, place them in a bowl and cover with hot water to soak for 10 minutes, then drain and cut into slivers.
Makes 4 servings.
Nutrition 5/8 Per serving: 340 calories, 22g protein, 30g carbohydrates, 20g fat, 5g saturated fat, 195mg cholesterol, 580mg sodium, 12g dietary fiber, 3g sugar.
Ellie Krieger’s most recent cookbook is “Weeknight Wonders: Delicious Healthy Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less.” She blogs and offers a weekly newsletter at www.elliekrieger.com.
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