Sweet potato, oats, broccoli and pumpkin seeds are some of the best foods for us and they also happen to have all the specific nutrients your body needs to support a healthy immune system.
From zinc to beta-carotene, this recipe provides the building blocks that will help you ward off winter ills and chills.
vegetarian, gluten-free option
Makes 2 single-serve flatbread pizzasIngredients
Sweet potato crust
- 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cut into cubes (equal to around 2 cups once chopped)
- ⅔ cup rolled oats, gluten-free if needed
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 egg
- Wholemeal flour or more oats, if needed to bring dough together
Broccoli pesto
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets and stem discarded (around 2 cups once cut)
- A bunch of fresh basil, leaves and stems
- ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 40g parmesan or pecorino
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp water
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lemon - juice and zest divided (use ½ of the lemon juice and all of the zest for the pesto. The remaining juice goes into the ricotta topping - see below)
Ricotta topping
- 100g fresh full-cream ricotta
- Remaining lemon juice
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
How to make
- Preheat your oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Make sure you choose a tray that is big enough to house two smallish pizzas
- To make the crusts, place the sweet potato and oats into a food processor or blender and pulse them together a few times until they resemble a very fine crumb. Add the salt, pepper, olive oil and egg to the jug and pulse again until the mixture forms a dough. If your dough is slightly too wet, add wholemeal flour or more oats one tablespoon at a time until the dough is dry enough to handle. Split the dough into two even portions and press each piece into a round pizza base shape on your prepared baking tray. Place into the oven to bake for 25 minutes or until the base is looking dry and crisp
- While the pizza bases are baking, place all the ingredients for the pesto including half of the lemon juice into a food processor or blender and pulse three to four times. Once everything is roughly chopped, blitz the pesto together on a medium-high speed for around one minute, adding more water or oil as you go if you need to loosen the pesto up. Once the pesto has reached a paste-like consistency, taste and adjust with salt, pepper and lemon juice to suit you. Then, quickly mix the ricotta, remaining lemon juice and all of the zest, nutmeg and salt and pepper together and set aside
- Once the pizza bases are nicely baked, remove them from the oven and gently flip them over so the underside is now on top (you may need to wait for them to cool slightly before you do this). Spread a generous layer of the broccoli pesto over the top of each pizza base (you will have leftover pesto) and then dollop small amounts of the prepared lemony ricotta evenly on top of each. Place the pizzas back in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp up completely
- Once done, cut each pizza into slices and tuck in
Roberta's tips
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up 3 days. Re-heat in the oven for 10 minutes at 180°C
- You can make the base in advance. Complete up to the end of step 3, cool the bases and pop them in the fridge or freezer for later