Sea Bean Pizza
Sea beans are a tideline plant also known as sea asparagus, salicornia, or pickleweed. They're salty, crisp, and succulent. Harvest them in May or June... later in the summer they blossom and turn fibrous. Blanching them reduces their salt and iodine flavor. We love them drenched in an oil and vinegar marinade alongside french and wax beans for a salty three bean salad. You can also add them to potato salads or pasta. Find them at farmers markets, or directly in a salt marsh (double check your local seaweed harvesting rules & guidelines first).
Makes 1 large pizza.
Ingredients for the dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 Tablespoon fine Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1 1/2 cup hot (but not boiling) water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Using a stand mixer, combine dry ingredients and then add hot water and olive oil. Mix with the dough hook for five minutes on a medium-low speed. Once your dough forms a tacky ball, sprinkle a light amount of flour on a dry surface and knead by hand for another five minutes. Place dough in a large bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and rest for an hour and a half, or until it's nearly doubled in size.
Toppings:
2 cups sea beans
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
5-10 asparagus stalks
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup broccolini
1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus more for greasing the baking pan
half a lemon
1 cup heavy cream<
3 large garlic cloves, diced
1 cup Parmesan, grated
As your dough rises: bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and ready a colander and bowl of ice water. When water is at a roiling boil, blanch the sea beans for one minute. Drain and shock in the ice bath for an additional minute. Drain and set aside.
In a cast iron skillet, heat 1/2 TBSP olive oil over medium-high heat and saute asparagus and broccolini for 2 minutes. Drizzle juice over the greens and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan to cool, and heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Cook the mushrooms for 3 minutes or until soft. Remove from heat.
When the dough is ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stretch the dough into a rectangular shape with your hands and move it to a greased baking sheet. Press and stretch it to cover the surface of the pan.
Cook the crust for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together cream, garlic, and cheese.
Remove the dough from the oven and evenly spread the cream sauce over the pizza's surface. Return the pizza to the oven for another three minutes, allowing the sauce to settle. Remove from the oven and top with sea beans, asparagus, broccolini, and shitake and return to the oven for the final time, cooking for 5 minutes.
To Garnish:
Onion flowers (completely optional but totally gorgeous)
1 green onion, sliced
2 tsp Furikake seasoning
The zest from your spent lemon
drizzle of olive oil
pinch of flakey salt
Lightly garnish the pizza with the above ingredients. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
