Baby Greens and Beets, Manciata with Tomatoes

September 22, 2014 | 3 Comments

Hi friends! Welcome to week 36 of 52 Weeks of Cooking. This week’s theme is hot and cold. As I was making this pizza/salad sandwich, I remembered my friend Marcy Deeds fondly. Marcy and I always split a Spinach Manciata at Azzurro Pizzeria in Napa, Ca. The maciata’s at Azzurro had a light sprinkle of Parmesan cheese baked over the dough, acting as a barrier, so the dressed salad would not make the dough soggy. My family likes a bit more melty cheese. I also added thinly sliced ripe tomatoes. After we placed the dressed salad on top, it folded up beautifully, and was not only delicious but was also very user friendly as a sandwich. Next time I make manciatas, I will roll the dough paper thin, like they do at Azzurro.

We u-picked tomatoes at Oakhill Organics. These are the gorgeous tomatoes I used for the manciatas.

I found that slicing the manciatas width wise into big slices made them a snap to fold up and eat. I was able to get three large sandwiches out of this manciata. This is such an easy crowd pleasing meal. It would be perfect as a theme dinner party, a make your own lunch your kids will love, or even as picnic in the park(light cheese layer, salad & dressing on the side). However and wherever you choose to eat your manciatas, please share them with your family and friends. Feel free to leave me a comment a let me know how you top your manciata.

Baby Greens and Beets Manciata with Tomatoes

Recipe type: Entree

Author: Jillian

Ingredients

Favorite pizza crust recipe(or you can use mine)
5-6 tomatoes, sliced thin
Enough baby greens to top 4-5 manciatas
Beets, sliced very thin
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (for sprinkling on dough)
Enough mozzarella to lightly cover individual manciatas (we used 1/2 lb in my house, but we like a lot of cheese) optional
Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing on dough
DRESSING
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Mustard-optional
Salt
Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. or as hot as your oven will get
Roll each dough ball paper thin
Brush on olive oil
Sprinkle cheeses lightly over dough
Lay on thin slices of tomatoes – optional
More cheese(s) – optional
Bake in oven for 5-10 minutes or until crust is crispy
Take out and let sit for 3-5 minutes
Toss whatever salad you would like with a light amount of dressing
Cut the crispy dough into wide slices
Top your slices with salad and toppings(more sliced tomatoes, sliced beets, pinenuts, Parmesan cheese, peppers, olives…
Fold up and enjoy!

feijoiri

Tags: baby greens, baby kale, beet greens, Manciata, Oakhill Organics, roasted beets, shredded mozzarella, tomatoes

Categories: Lunches, Main Courses, MostPopular, Oakhill Organics, Summer Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes

3 Responses so far.

Sandy Hausser says:

September 27, 2014 at 12:58 am

Ahhhhh, memories…..

Reply
Liz says:

October 18, 2014 at 7:48 pm

I’ve never heard of a manciata before! Looks fantastic. I was thinking of pizza this week, and these will have to be the substitute. With peppery salad greens coming into season, I’d love your favorite salad dressing recipe to pair with the greens in this dish.

Reply
- Jillian says:
  
  October 19, 2014 at 5:50 am
  
  Hi Liz! The salad dressing I usually make includes balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Sometimes I add a small spoonful of homemade jam. I lightly dress all green salads because that is my preference. Sometimes a creamy dressing is lovely on the Manciata. In that case I make a ranch style dressing with yogurt, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Hope this helps. Come back and let me know what you think.
  
  Reply