Flatbread with Ricotta and Broccolini

If left to my own devices, I can get in a rut real, real fast. I’m the kind of person who feels a twinge of jealousy when I’m watching a television show or a movie, and the camera pans over the inside of one of the character’s closets, which is pristinely organized: a dozen exact pairs of pants, a dozen exact shirts (all tailor made, of course) all lined up and Absolutely Nothing Else. Sigh. This character has all her stuff together! I want to be like her!

Mostly because it’s so not my life. Most of my clothes are thrifted or bought at vintage stores, so basically I let other people make all my design decisions. Truthfully, I’d be happy wearing jeans and a t-shirt every day of my life. I’d probably be happy eating the same food every day too, believe it or not, but my better half and my love for him prevents me from feeding us roasted cauliflower or black beans and rice (he hates beans! Who hates beans?!) every single day. It makes me giggle to myself, though, to think that any movie made about me would pan through my kitchen cupboards to find nothing but bags of rice and beans…and flatbread chips.

Anyways, one of my “rut” foods is broccoli. It’s good for you, easy to make, and we eat a lot of it. It gets old, though, after awhile, so one day last week I brought home some broccolini, which is like broccoli but with a “ni” at the end of it. Just kidding, it’s a hybrid of broccoli and kale, with a slightly sharper flavor that holds up to roasting quite well. This flatbread pizza recipe uses roasted broccolini on top of a garlicky ricotta cheese base, and is topped with toasted chopped walnuts once it’s out of the oven. It’s a nice, rustic meal best made in the dead of winter and eaten with a cold Italian beer. It’s far from the same-old, same-old, and just might propel you out of any vegetable rut you may be in.

-Amy at Flatout