Oca

Ingredients

Topping

• 350g of oca, cleaned and any damage cut away
• Some pesto (any of basil, wild garlic, rocket will do) or parsley persillade or similar (there are recipes in The Permaculture Kitchen for these)
• 200g mozzarella or vegan cheese
• 1-2 tsp ground coriander (best if freshly done with coriander seed)
• 1/3-1/2 tsp nutmeg, finely grated
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Extra virgin olilve oil
• Fresh coriander to garnish

Pizza

• 500g of strong white bread flour (or Typo ’00 flour)
• 5g (1tsp) fast action yeast
• 5g (1tsp) finely ground sea salt
• 30g (1tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
• 350g warm water (it’s best to weigh for accuracy)

Directions

Make the pizza dough first.

1. Pop all the ingredients together in a bowl. You can use your hands, a food processor, or a stand mixer with dough hook. Mix the ingredients together until all the flour is wet and the ingredients are well incorporated. The dough will be sticky, which is good. The wetter dough helps you get a thinner base. Cover and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes.
2. Then do a quick knead of the dough like this. Bring the top (North) of the dough to the middle. Then do the same with East, South and West parts. Then do North-East, South-East, South-West and North-West. I call this a ‘Compass Knead’. Cover again and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes.
3. Then do another Compass Knead and leave, covered in a warm place for 10 minutes. Do one final Compass Knead and leave in a warm place for 30-50 minutes until the dough has risen by 50-100%.
4. The dough is now ready to use. You can keep it in the fridge, covered until you need to use it.

While the dough is proving you can prepare the oca.

1. Steam the oca for 5 minutes and allow to cool. If you don’t have a steamer improvise with a sieve or colander over a saucepan, or just put 5mm of boiling water into a pan and pop the oca in there, cook covered and then drain & cool. The vibrancy of the colors fades a little, this is to be expected.
2. Cut the oca lengthwise in half.
3. Now, assemble the pizza (your oven is preheated isn’t it? And if you need a heated oven tray, you’ve got that in too?).
4. Get your oiled grease-proof paper or tinfoil ready. You may find that it’s easier to handle the dough if you oil your hands.
5. Divide the dough in two. Make one of the parts of the dough into a rough flat disc with your hands and pop the other in the fridge, covered.

For the pizza

This quantity of dough makes enough for two 23cm (9 inch) pizzas. It’s not really worth doing any less. So make a second pizza with another topping, or cover and pop in the fridge to make a pizza or garlic bread the next day.

Ingredients

• 400-500g oca, mixed colors if possible for visual interest.
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil
• 50g anchovy fillets, drained if in oil
• 3 plump cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• A small bunch of flat-leaved parsley, leaves picked and stalks reserved
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Grams to cups conversion

Directions

1. Cut the oca so that they are in approximately equal sized pieces. This is so they cook evenly.
2. Chop the parsley stems finely and put to one side. Chop the parsley leaves finely and keep separate from the stems.
3. Boil or steam the oca for about 10 minutes until there’s a give in the middle when you test them with a sharp knife. Strain the oca and leave to drain and air dry in a colander or sieve while you prepare the dressing in the pan you used to cook them. Make sure the pan is dry using a tea towel or over the hob heat.
4. Add the olive oil and heat over a low-medium heat. You need the oil to warm the anchovies and garlic and not brown them.
5. Add the anchovies, garlic, and parsley stems and cook gently stirring frequently until the anchovies have melted.