I have to be honest – I dread seeing arugula in our box.  I’ve never been a fan of this particular veggie.  It’s spicy and a little bitter, a bit like eating raw peppercorns, in my opinion.  If you’re looking to zazz up a salad, I’m sure arugula is a great addition to add some flavor without adding calories, but I just can’t stand the stuff.  However, I feel worse about wasting perfectly good produce than I do about eating arugula, so I’m in the constant quest to find it a home that I can tolerate.  Last night I might have actually succeeded.  Pizza!

My husband ordered a pizza at a restaurant that came with arugula and looked similar to this.  That served as the inspiration.  Earlier in the day, whilst the toddler napped, I roasted a couple of medium diced CSA beets with olive oil and salt, 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  The crust was David Lebovitz’s no knead dough cooked in my beloved cast iron skillet.  I topped my crust with mozzarella, beets, and salami and then broiled for about a minute.  Then I plopped a big handful of arugula on top and sprinkled with a little extra salt and Italian seasoning.  It was good – the salami was a strong enough flavor to compete with the arugula.  Most arugula pizzas call for prosciutto, and don’t get me wrong, prosciutto is delicious.  I love it, I want to use it in everything.  But it is expensive.  I used salami because it was on sale and I think it served the purpose.  This pizza turned out to be a tasty way to use two of the…shall we say…lesser loved CSA veggies.