Bloody Beet and Goat Cheese Pizza

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixer bowl. Then add salt, olive oil and 2 1/2 cups of flour.

3. Using paddle attachment, mix until dough just comes together. Switch to dough hook, or if doing by hand, turn out onto floured surface.

4. On medium speed, knead with hook for approximately 4 minutes, slowly adding in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time. When dough starts to clean the side of the bowl, stop adding more flour. When done, dough should be tacky, not sticky, and smooth.

5. Cover dough in a greased bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

6. While your dough is proofing… Cut the pointed side off of the head of garlic and cut the head in half. Place one half of the head of garlic on a piece of tinfoil large enough to cover it. Set aside the other half for dip or other cooking. You could also just roast the whole thing because roasted garlic is amazing.

7. Drizzle the garlic with olive oil so it seeps between the cloves. Wrap up in tinfoil. Bake in oven preheated to 350F for about 35 minutes. The garlic will be soft when done. When you pull out your garlic, increase temperature to 450F and, if using a pizza stone, slip it in the oven to preheat.

8. Holding the closed end, squeeze garlic out of skin into a bowl. It’s easier to do when still hot, but unless you sport some awesome kitchen gloves that allow you to have finger mobility, I’d suggest letting the garlic cool down a bit.

9. Prepare your other toppings. Peel and slice beets thinly (thin enough that they will cook through and get crispy on edges). Lightly toss beet slices in a bit of olive oil. Chop up the beet greens–the leaves are edible. Chop 2 shallots finely.

10. When dough has doubled, your garlic should be done and the oven should have heated to 450F with optional pizza stone inside. Now is time to shape and top the pizza.

11. Lightly deflate dough. Shape into one large or two medium pizzas. I like to pat a ball of dough out with my hands and then, holding the edges, slowly stretch the disc as I move it around in circles. You can also just roll the dough out on a floured surface. If the dough doesn’t want to hold its shape, let it rest for 10 minutes and wash a dreaded dish or two.

12. Sprinkle pizza pan, baking sheet or your pizza peel with cornmeal. Place dough on top.

13. Brush entirety of pizza with olive oil–including the crust. Then, take your roasted garlic and spread it across the dough. It should rub on, but might require a bit of mashing and then fork smearing onto the dough. Chunks here and there are fine–roasted garlic is mild.

14. Slice 2/3 of your goat cheese into thin slices, and place over garlic. Then, cover with slices of beets, sprinkle with chopped greens, shallots and a little salt. Then crumble the rest of the goat cheese across the top. I strongly suggest the cheese first method because we did not do this, and the beets slid off a bit.

15. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and melted.