It’s June and I’m on the hunt for Kholrabi before it gets too hot. This bulbous alien-looking vegetable, long-forgotten by our commercial food pipeline, is my first delicious salvo in a long summertime of vegetable pizzas.

         

 Purple “Vienna” kohlrabi (left), kohlrabi schiacciata with potato, apricot, raddichio, gruyere and dill, white “Vienna” kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is a German term for cabbage turnip and its origin is believed to be Northern Europe. The first reference to it is by Pliny in the first century A.D. He called it the “Pomeian cabbage”. In Italy, it is called Cavolo Rapa and a favorite in the Puglia region where it is boiled and dressed with butter or Marscapone cheese or olive oil and vinegar. The Chinese refer to it as Cai tou and Gai lan tou, the French call it Chou-rave and in India it is called Ganth-gobi or “knotted cabbage” and served with mustard oil, ginger, chili’s, coriander, cumin and tumeric. In the Kashmir region, it is called Manj and is the most eaten vegetable in every household.

                                                                     

                           Kholrabi’s has terrific advantages of two growing seasons and living above the soil away from mold and pests.

Visually, kholrabi is the vegetable equivelent of monkfish. It is stout and ugly, but once you get hooked on this wonderful tangy, sweet, cabbage-like taste with an apple texture, you can’t stop thinking about ways to incorporate it into your diet. According to the USDA, It offers 140 percent of daily recommended vitamin C and it’s a good source of potassium also. The leaves can be boiled and treated as kale but, just like Edison, I’m only interested in the bulb today. I’ve gotta get my head out of my pizza oven for a couple of hours to visit an organic farmer that I’ve admired and done business with for years, Matt Starline. I’ve never visited his farm but his produce at the Athens Farmers Market is spectacular.

        

        Matt Starline and some freshly picked organic bok choy cabbage

Matt and Angie Starline own and work an orgainic farm situated on a plateau above the Hockhocking river drainage just south of Athens, Ohio. They grow the best tasting produce without the use of herbacides, chemical fetilizers, or genetically modified seeds.  When I arrive, is see row after row of herbs, lettuces, garlic, melons, beans, potatoes, broccoli, beets, cauliflower, bok choy as well as other cabbages, tomatoes, peppers and a herd of sheep. all this is surrounded by a field of rye that is used for seed crop for next year and for erosion and wind cover during the winter months.

 

                                                                     

                                                                                  Matt and Angie Starline with two kinds of kohlrabi

 

 

As I wander around this acreage, I’m curious about a lonely tree that shades a monument.  At the base of a broken obelisk tombstone honoring a farmer who died over 200 years ago, the early stalks of summer grasses peak out from the broken memorial in ironic green splendor.

 

                                                          

                 Our father is dead

                 Beloved and dear

                 And nature wipes

              The tender tear

 

After pondering such a stark assesment of of love, loss and the adoring respect of nature, I can’t help but realize how hard the living must have been back then. After all, it was mother earth and the elements that dictated how lives were lived and lost. No air-conditioning, internet or electricity. Fortunate years, followed by starving times screamed the cycle of life that was always in your face. Today, we’ve worked hard to be the masters of our environment but we can still hear the whisper of nature’s ultimate control. This farmer from long ago looked to the earth and sky every day to be able to sustain his family and his life. The probability that he farmed kohlrabi the same way Matt and Angie Starline do now is inspiring.

 

                                                                                          

                                 The Goon with a long Pizza al Taglio with kohlrabi, spinach, goat feta, onion, tomato (missing is a shave)

 

Just past this lonely monument I see row after row of my prize and realize that nature hasn’t forgotten kholrabi, but much of America has. Luckily, Matt and farmers like him are resurrecting this beautiful bulbous treat for pizza fanatics like me. I just love the way it interplays with mustard, lemon, olives, beets, dill, potatoes and sesame in all forms. “Most people don’t even know this plant unless they’re older folks.” Matt says as he pulls a beautiful purple duck-egg sized kholrabi from the soil.

 

                                                     

 

                                                                                           Purple “Vienna” variety direct from the field.

 

Over the past 30 years in restaurants, my only experience with kholrabi was as a broth, in fact, that’s the only way I’ve seen chefs prepare it. This broth usually ends up having more chicken stock in it that kohlrabi juice. Even today, after perusing numerous vegetarian cookbooks, if there is a reference to kholrabi at all, it’s as matchsticks in lemon and radish salad or as…guess what? Yes a broth. One of my cookbooks even instructs the unthinkable “never buy kholrabi that’s bigger than a golf ball.” Matt has a different take on kholrabi. “I just take it out of the ground and eat it like an apple or saute’ it and spritz it with lemon and salt”.

 

                                                                            

                                            Roasted kohlrabi matchsticks exhibit how the different levels of sugar effect cooking

                       (Left picture) small purple and large mature green (Right Picture) Above Large green, Bottom small purple

 

I have come to love the larger bulbs that often weigh as much as a grapefruit that have a mature woody apple texture and the flavor of the turnip or rutabaga. These larger kohlrabi are my favorite because of the amount of flesh they present and pre-roasting in a 500 degree pizza oven creates a beautiful golden hue while the smaller bulbs get dark brown. Both types, are spectacular with extra virgin olive oil and lemon or sesame oil and Tamari soy sauce.. The smaller purple bulbs have a more tangy up front taste and a cauliflower back pallet linger. Obviously wonderful roasted with oil and served with Gruyere.

                                  

After covorting with the lambs and the huge dog that roams the farm, I thank Matt for the wonderful hospitality, grab some kohlrabi fresh from the ground and I’m off to make a great long pizza.

 

 Kohlrabi Schicciata

 

                      

 

“Schiacciata” means “flattened” in Italian. It is flatbread usually found in the Tuscany region, but I’ve enjoyed it in Venice also. Usually the Italians use Tipo 00 flour, a finer milled, higher protein flour than the all purpose flour we use here in the US. Every year at the World Pizza Champioships in Italy, I see numerous interpretations of Schiaciatta, some thicker and longer than others. I make them all different ways also. Viva la Difference!

 

Serves 3 to 8

Easy Dough Recipe

This part is the same as my classic pizza dough recipe. When you strip down all the finesse and personality from a pizza dough recipe, you end up with flour, yeast, salt, and water. I add extra virgin olive oil too because I love the flavor it imparts.

Unbleached flour is best for flavor and vitamins

Just your normal small packets of dry yeast work best. Instant is not as good for longer fermented recipes like this one.

Nothing compliments bread and crust like salt. All-purpose flour requires help with the elasticity of the dough that retains the gasses that form the cells (bubbles for rise) called the “gluten net.” Salt strengthens the process.

Olive oil adds a floral flavor to the dough and helps with manageability and emulsification during mixing. It eases the breakdown of the starches and strengthens the gluten net.

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour and more for kneading

3/4 cup warm/tepid water

1/2 teaspoon crushed sea salt

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

    

1. This is a 5 hour rise              2. Taking dough from bowl       3. Ready for balling

Mix the flour, salt, and yeast together with dry fingers in a large bowl. Add the water and oil and combine until blended. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap set in a 70-80 degree environment for 4-12 hours. This is the primary mixing of the dough. Note: You can let it sit for only 3 hours, but the dough will need a longer secondary proofing for at least 45 to 60 minutes in a 70 to 80 degree environment.

Balling the dough and secondary proofing

     

   1. The dough                           2. Folding the gluten.                 3. Folding under                       4. Final dough ball

 Forming the Schiacciata

1. Take the dough ball in both hands and stretch it into a football shape. Set on a lightly floured countertop and push with fingertips sideways to push gluten strands into shape. Go all the way to the edge with fingertips.

2. Hold the dough over the countertop. Using the back of your hand, let gravity pull the dough into an elongated form. Make sure the thinner parts don’t rip. Set it down on the countertop and manipulate the dough to even out the thick and thin areas.

3. With the back of both hands, place with fingers together in the center of the dough. Slowly pull them apart while opening your fingers. This will gently massage and stretch the dough in an elongated form.

4. Leave the dough on the countertop to rest for 3 to 5 minutes, do not let it sit for longer as it will begin to stick to anything. With this all-purpose flour recipe, there shouldn’t be much “bounceback” (when the round or oval pizza dough contracts back) but there may be some.

5. Transfer to a pizza peel large enough to accomodate this size. A small or medium cookie pan dusted with cornmeal and flour is a great alternative to slide the pizza onto another preheated, upside-down tray or large pizza stone in the oven.

     

      1. Pushing into oval            2. Gravity stretch.                  3. Two handed stretch.             4. Rest on countertop.

Topping the Pizza

For the sauce

2 Tablespoons ricotta cheese

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon chopped dill (1/4 ounce)

1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon whole milk or half and half

Pinch salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. set aside in refrigerator

 For the topping

6 to 8 ounces kohlrabi (one large or 3 small-any variety)

3.5 ounces fingerling potatoes with the width of less than a quarter.

2 Tablespoons salt

2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped fine

7 dried apricots (7 ounces) sliced lengthwise in matchsticks

1/2 cup fresh raddichio (or .75 ounces)

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Juice from 1/2 lemon (2 tablespoons)

6-8 ounces grated imported gruyere cheese (domestic swiss is an acceptable substitute but will melt differently and possibley burn at these temperatures)

Potato Preparation

1. Place fingerling potatoes on a cutting board and slice into thin coins. Place in water after cutting. (Step 1.) When finished, drain and place potatoes in a colinder in the sink and sprinkle with tablespoon of salt and toss with your hand. This will macerate or make the starchy juices leach from the potatoes so they don’t stick while sauteing.

 

Fingerling potatoes 1. Macerating in a colinder to leach starches 

Kohlrabi Preparation

2. (step 1.) Cut the bottom of the kohlrabi off. Please note, the bottom is very hard to cut and you will need a sharp knive. This is a safety issure because of the round nature of the vegetable and the amount of pressure you have to assert downward. (step 2.) cut the top closer to the skin, this will give easier as the flesh is less dense. (Step 3.) Taking your knife,place at the top skin and using a curving motion (like de-skinning a whole orange) skin the kohlrabi. You may use a vegetable peeler for this but sometimes the skin is too tough and you may injure yourself if you hit a rib as seen on the sides.

  

1.Cutting the bottom of the bulb 2.Cutting the top more toward the skin 3. Peeling the skin

3. (Step 1.) You now have the inner flesh of the kohlrabi. (Step 2.) Laying the flat side down, cut into 1/8 inch slabs). (Step 3.) Take large saute pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and cook to almost smoking. Add kholrabi and turn heat down to medium. Cook Kohlrabi for 5 minutes on each side turning frequently for a golden brown color. Remove from heat and spritz 1 tablespoon or juice from a quarter a lemon and toss in the pan.

  

         1. The flesh                      2. Slicing the flesh                  3. Golden brown kohlrabi

4. When cool, remove and cut kohlrabi into matchsticks and reserve in a bowl.

 

5. Using the same saute pan, add tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and add chopped garlic. Saute on medium heat until transparent (6 to 9 minutes) remove from heat if turning brown. Take potatoes from colinder and squeeze them of all juices and place into the saute pan. Using a spoon, seperate the slices so they get a chance to turn golden brown but not overcooked. This may take only 5 to 9 minutes. Remember, you will be cooking them on a pizza. When cool add to bowl with kohlrabi.

6. Using the final tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and the same saute pan, put the oil into the pan under medium high heat. When almost smoking, add raddichio and saute for 2 to 4 minutes and turn off heat. Add the last 1/4 tablespoon of lemon, stir and cover to let steam stirring a few times. After 5 minutes, uncover and let cool. Add to bowl with kohlrabi and potato and apricot.

  

1. Kohlrabi, potato, raddichio, apricot 2. Sauced schiacciata 3. Imported Gruyere cheese

7 No seasoning should be needed but toss and check for salt, if needed add more to taste. Remember these will be on a pizza with a strong sauce and cheese. (Step 2.) Prepare the schiacciata dough by spreading sauce on leaving 1/2 inch of crust around the sides. Grate Gruyere cheese on the sauce using 6 to 8 ounces. Please note the more you use, the less flavor from other components will be tasted.

 

8. Gently arrange the toppings on the schiacciata for a beautiful presentation. Smile and open oven door, slide the pizza onto the stone or upturned cookie rack while quick shaking pizza peel (or substitute) to confirm that it will slide in the oven. If it does not slide, put it on the counter and gently move it around so it will slide (this is why parchment paper is so effective) . If still no luck, (this is a secret)- take another clean cookie tray and place it firmly on top of the pizza without smashing it. In one fluid motion, turn the pizza over using both hands. Put more cornmeal and flour on the pan and return the pizza right side up to the pizza peel.

Always remember to smile

9. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the bottom of the pizza is darker golden brown and crisp. Pull from the oven and garnish with dill sprigs. Serve immediately.