It's been way too long since I posted a pizza recipe. I made this several weeks ago but had so many holiday recipes to post that it got shoved to the back of the line. If you haven't yet tried my pizza dough recipe, then this is your opportunity! I'm mad about my dough recipe! I'd make pizza every night if I could call it health food. I always make the dough with at least half whole wheat, so there is something nutritious about it!
After making this white pizza, I decided next time I'll use more (or all) Parmesan instead of Ricotta. Parmesan, especially a rich Parm-Regiano, has much more flavor and an intriguing salty bite. If you are going to go with the ricotta dollops, try to use a fresh fuller fat ricotta. And either way, keep the mozzarella.
Oh- I almost omitted such an important step! Make sure you chop the spinach after wilting it. You don't want all the cheese and toppings to slide off after you take a bite because you caught a long strand of spinach. And squeezing out the excess moisture will help prevent puddles from forming on your pizza.
INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pizza dough
1 large whole bulb garlic
extra virgin olive oil
4 slices bacon
10 oz. fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded
3/4 cup ricotta cheese (the fresher the better) OR Parmesan, freshly shaved OR a combo of both
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare the pizza dough according to recipe directions.
2. To roast the garlic, preheat oven to 400 F. Cut bulb in half about 1/2 inch below the stem. Brush both halves with a generous amount of olive oil. Wrap loosely in foil and roast in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until soft. Remove from the oven to let cool. Squeeze the cloves out of their skins and using a fork, mash with several teaspoons of olive oil to make the garlic paste.
3. Cut the bacon into tiny pieces and cook on the stove top over medium heat until crisp. Remove from the drippings to cool. Turn the heat to low and add the spinach to the pan (add a few tsp. olive oil if necessary, depending on how much bacon drippings remain). Cook spinach until wilted, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Squeeze out any excess water and roughly chop the spinach before topping the pizza.
4. In a small bowl, season ricotta (if using) with crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper, all to taste. If you are using Parmesan you can just sprinkle the red pepper flakes over the pizza.
5. Preheat oven to 450 F.
6. After the dough has risen, prepare the crust. Brush the crust with a light coat of olive oil and then the garlic paste. (Here is when I would season with crushed red pepper if I didn't use it in the ricotta.) Scatter evenly with spinach. Dollop ricotta over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheeses and bacon.
7. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling.
Remove and let sit 5 minutes before slicing.
Makes 1 large pizza.
(Adapted from Culinary in the Desert)
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