Jennys Broccolini Chickpea Pizza

These mini pizzas don't skimp on flavor. They're loaded with lemon zest, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a hint of garlic powder. Its fall, which really means 2 things. Its not only pumpkin season, but its also cookbook season! Over the next few weeks, Ill be sharing recipes from some of my favorite new cookbooks.

These mini pizzas don't skimp on flavor. They're loaded with lemon zest, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a hint of garlic powder.

vegetarian / dinner / cookbooks

Jenny's Broccolini Chickpea Pizza

It’s fall, which really means 2 things. It’s not only pumpkin season, but it’s also cookbook season! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing recipes from some of my favorite new cookbooks. Today’s recipe comes from How to Celebrate Everything, by Jenny Rosenstrach of Dinner a Love Story. I’ve been reading her blog for years and I had the pleasure of meeting her (and having a total fan-girl moment) a few months ago.

I have to say – I love this book because it’s one of those cookbooks that you want to snuggle up with and read from cover to cover. For starters, I just love her writing. Reading this book is like having coffee with a good friend. Jenny talks all about how she creates family food rituals not just for the big holidays (although there are recipes for those too) but for the smaller life events that are no less important. Events like a weekend walk to the farmers market that ends with tomato sandwiches, an end-of-the-school-year celebration with a neighborly “bus stop social”, birthday breakfasts, pizza Fridays, etc, etc, etc.

Reading her book inspired me to create some new rituals of my own because I realized how many rituals I actually don’t have… that is unless you count Jack’s birthday carrot cake, the butternut squash soup I make on the first day of fall, or the wine I drink to celebrate 5pm. But, hey, I guess those DO count, but there’s always room for more!

Now on to the recipe! In the book this is an apres ski meal. Since we don’t have mountains (or snow) in Texas, I just decided that broccolini + chickpeas + pizza (with lots of lemon zest) sounded like a delicious way to celebrate Monday.

I took a big shortcut and baked my pizzas onto pre-made mini naan breads – see her recipe below to make a big rectangular pizza using real dough 🙂

Next on my list – these popovers! How good do they look?

Click here to get the book! We’re also giving away a copy – to enter, leave a comment below telling me about one of your favorite family food rituals. The giveaway will close this Friday. Open to U.S. residents only.


4.8 from 4 reviews

Jenny's Broccolini Chickpea Pizza

  PrintRecipe from How to Celebrate Everything by Jenny Rosenstrach. Re-printed with permission.Author: Recipe type: Main dishServes: 4Ingredients
  • 4 tablespoons good-quality olive oil, plus more for brushing
  • 1 16-ounce ball store-bought pizza dough, preferably sitting out at room temerature for about 15 minutes to warm up a bit and rise.
  • 1 8-ounce ball fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
  • 1 large bunch of broccolini (about 8 ounces), roughly chopped (including stems and leaves)
  • 1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
  • Preheat the oven to 475°F. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, grease a 17x12 inch rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Drop the pizza dough into the center of the baking sheet and, using your fingers, press out and flatten the dough so it spreads as close as possible to all four corners. Cover the dough with the mozzarella slices, leaving a ½ inch border around the perimeter.
  • In a large bowl, toss the broccolini, chickpeas, lemon zest, and garlic powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste and drizzle in the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, then give it all another toss.
  • Using your hands, add the broccoli-chickpea mixture on top of the mozzarella in an even layer. Shower with the grated Parm and brush the exposed edge of the crust with a little oil.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust looks golden and the broccolini looks crispy and dark brown, but not black-burnt. (You can always cover the toppings with foil if the broccolini looks ready before the crust is.) Remove the pizza to a cutting board to cool. Slice into eight rectangular pieces and serve.
    • NotesHer recipe calls for salami or bacon, but I used about ¼ cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes instead. I also used grated mozzarella instead of fresh because it's what I happened to have on hand.3.4.3177
     

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