One of the things we love most about winter cooking is all the dark earthy ingredients that are in season around this time of year. Take your vegetarian meal to a whole other level this week with our fancy-to-eat but easy-to-cook beetroot pizza.

MAKES 2 pizzas // COOKING TIME 110 min

INGREDIENTS
For the base
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp honey
500g all-purpose flour, plus extra to dust
1½ tsp salt
¾ cup puréed beetroot (about 2 large beetroots, peeled, roasted and puréed)
2 tbsp olive oil
For the toppings
40g Emmental
50g feta
5 baby beetroots, thinly sliced
10–12 asparagus stalks, trimmed, blanched
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
10g microherbs

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 220°C.
2. Combine the water, yeast and honey in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. When bubbles start to appear, add flour, salt and puréed beets. Combine until the dough just comes together.
4. Turn the dough on to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until the flour is incorporated or until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. It must be moist and slightly tacky. If it’s sticky, add more flour, 1 tbsp at a time, until smooth.
5. Form into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with cling wrap and set aside in a warm area to double in size, about 1 hour.
6. Once doubled, divide in half and roll out on to a floured surface until about 5 mm thick. Place on to separate baking trays and brush with olive oil.
7. Bake for 10–15 minutes until the dough puffs up. Remove and spread the toppings evenly on top of the pizza bases.
8. Place the trays back into the oven until all the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with microherbs and serve immediately.