(bright upbeat music) - Today we're making a broccoli rabe, leek and potato pizza.

Broccoli rabe is one of those ingredients that is a little bit confounding because it looks like a leafy green, but it also has these little broccoli-like sprouts.

It's not at all a broccoli.

This is a bitter green.

And that's why I have a pot of water boiling here.

It's salted and it's going to help us tone down a lot of the bitterness that comes with broccoli rabe.

To prep the broccoli rabe, we're just removing the tougher parts of the stems.

Our water is boiling, so these go straight into the water for two to three minutes.

As these blanch, they'll become a much deeper green and they'll also become more limp, which is what we want.

I already separated the light green and white parts of the leak.

The reason I'm pairing the leeks with the broccoli rabe, is that they take on a really sweet flavor, which is the exact counterbalance we want for those more bitter broccoli rabe leaves.

You'll know that the broccoli rabe is ready when the stems have become much more flexible and they're that bright green color.

You also can't always find broccoli rabe.

So, if you're looking for a substitute for this recipe, broccolini works great and then also just regular broccoli.

The next step for our pizza toppings is to saute our star ingredients.

I'm adding one tablespoon of butter to this pan over medium heat.

And then, also a little bit of olive oil.

To that we'll add all of our leeks.

I'll saute these leeks for about 10 minutes until they've softened and caramelized.

Now, that the leeks have definitely broken down and taken on some golden color, we're going to add our broccoli rabe back into the mix.

But before we do, just breaking it down into these two-inch pieces.

Okay, those go in.

(pan sizzling) We blanch them, but now we're sauteing them to give them more flavor.

They'll take on some of the leek flavor.

And then, we're adding a few more seasoning.

So, I have fresh oregano here, although you can certainly use dried oregano.

(soft rhythmic music) That goes in.

We'll also grate two garlic cloves right into the pan here.

Good time to season with some salt and pepper.

I'll saute this for about five more minutes.

And then, we'll be ready to build our pizza.

Now that our broccoli and leek mixture has cooled, it's time to make our pizza.

So, let's stretch this out.

Today I am using store-bought pizza, but you can absolutely use your own homemade pizza if you're feeling ambitious.

So, I took this pizza dough out of the fridge about 45 minutes ago and I let it rest at room temperature.

You can't stretch out cold pizza dough.

And once it comes to room temperature, you're just gently stretching with your hands or you can lift it up and stretch it out with your fists.

(gentle upbeat music) And I'm just using the edge of my hand to create a crust while also stretching it out.

(gentle upbeat music) And we're ready for our toppings.

This pizza doesn't necessarily have any sauce.

Instead we're just brushing it with olive oil and that'll act like our sauce.

And then, we have our cheese.

We're leaving a little bit of edge around the pizza so that we have a crust.

First goes our broccoli rabe, leek, garlic mixture.

(gentle upbeat music) And then I've boiled one Yukon Gold potato and sliced it.

Now, we'll brush each potato with a little bit of olive oil so it doesn't dry out.

Some fresh pepper.

I like things a little bit spicy, so a little bit of chili flake and a little bit of salt to season those potatoes.

And then, Parmesan cheese.

I like Parmesan cheese before it goes in the oven, and I like it after it comes out.

We're doing both.

This goes in the oven at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes.

If you have a pizza oven or a pizza stone, you can use those too.

But I'm just using the baking sheet today, so let's bake it.

This pizza looks so good and it smells even better, and I'm so ready to dig into it.

But before we do, a little bit more cheese.

This isn't exactly a circular pizza, so I'm going to go rustic with it and cut it into squares.

The crust got so crispy and the key is really to bake it at that high temperature to try and mimic what you would get with an outdoor pizza oven.

Every bite of this pizza has leeks, the broccoli rabe, a little bit of that potato.

And it looks very fancy, but it was pretty easy to make.

And now, all that's left to do is eat.

(bright upbeat music) - [Promoter] Despite its similar name, don't call broccoli rabe a broccoli.

While they are both part of the Brassicaceae family, broccoli rabe is actually more closely related to turnips.

In Italy, broccoli rabe is called rapini, which means little turnip.

Broccoli rabe has long been a staple in both Chinese and Italian cuisines.

And some suspect the plant's origins date all the way back to the Middle Ages, possibly descended from the wild mustard plants that carpet the hillsides of Italy.

The plant was introduced to the United States by Italian farmers in the 1920s.

But it didn't really take off in America until the 1960s due to its more bitter flavor profile.

This green vegetable is packed with nutrients including beta-carotene, vitamin C, and fiber.