Craving a light summery pizza?
This Creamy Garlic Spinach Ricotta pie will satisify that craving!
If there is one
thing in my life that I love more than my children, it is pizza. I
am not ashamed to admit this. I am one of “those”. You know the
type. The ones that could eat it every single day and never get sick
of it. Change up my toppings here and there and I'd do just fine.
The husband always,
always makes fun of me for it – how could anyone love it that much?
Well, I do. I crave it when I'm sick {weird, I know}. I
suggest it when driving around figuring out where to go to dinner. I
make it almost once a week in the hopes that the rest of my family is
on board.
I've made all kinds.
Traditional meat and cheese. The beloved and invented here in Iowa
version, taco. The classic margarita. I do not discriminate, nor
hate on any.
I grew up eating
frozen Tombstone pizzas every Thursday night with my siblings and my
mom while my Dad played in his weekly golf league. It was a genius
play on my Mom's part. One day each week where she didn't have to
even think about meal planning...and we loved her for it.
Fast forward to this
Spring when I planted spinach for the first time in my garden {stay
with me here}. I had no idea how it would take, nor grow, but I
soon found out.
It grew like
gangbusters.
I am finding myself
picking it every other day and the leaves it is producing are
ginormous. We eat a lot of spinach around here: in salads, in eggs,
on sandwiches...but I still had A LOT.
So what do I do when
I have a lot of something? I put it on pizza. Because everything
tastes better if not great on pizza.
If you've never had
a “white” pizza before, well then you are missing out! Forget
the red sauce, white sauce pizzas are often made with a butter sauce,
an alfredo sauce, a garlic sauce or a cheese sauce. This one I
invented is a bit of a combo of two of those.
I layered my
refrigerated thin crust dough {take a short cut when you can}
with a ricotta/roasted garlic/Parmesan cheese mixture {umm...hello!}
then topped that with mozzarella cheese, the wilted spinach and a bit
more Parmesan. Hubba, hubba.
The kids and I
devoured this one night when the husband was working. Now, I've got
it easy as my kids will gladly eat spinach. Fresh out of the garden,
in a salad or on pizza. I've lucked out. But, if your kids are
skittish, still give this pizza a try. The flavor is SO good.
Make them take a bite.
Give them that
whole story about Popeye and being strong, blah, blah, blah.
And if that story
doesn't work, eat their leftovers. This pizza is green and green
means vegetables and vegetables mean you can eat as much as you want.
Right?
Creamy Garlic Spinach Ricotta Pizza
1 refrigerated thin
pizza crust {or my
homemade version}
1 c. ricotta cheese
½ c. freshly
shredded Parmesan cheese
1 c. shredded
mozzarella cheese
6 c. fresh spinach,
wilted and cooked down
1. Preheat the oven
to 450 degrees.
2. Spread the pizza
crust on a baking stone and set aside.
3. In a bowl
combine the ricotta, bulbs of the roasted garlic {use my
directions HERE}
and half of the Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
4. Spray a skillet
with non-stick spray. Add the spinach to the pan and cook down over
medium heat. After a few minutes, the spinach should wilt down to 1/6
of the size. Once cooked remove from the heat.
5. Spread the
ricotta mixture over the crust. Add most of the mozzarella cheese,
then the wilted spinach and finally the remaining cheeses.
6. Bake for 12-15
minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Cut into slices and serve
warm.
Remember
how I said I've made ALL KINDS of pizza? Well, I wasn't lying. Here
are a few of our favorites!
