Thursday, April 3, 2014

Who says Pizza isn't Healthy?

I have been wanting a spinach pizza for a while. I decided that since fresh organic spinach was a bit hard to come by right now, that I would try using frozen spinach. It worked great. So here is my recipe for a spinach pie, more of a guide than a recipe as I did not precisely measure anything once the dough was made, but it was the best pizza I have made in a long time.

The idea here is a layered  pizza. Make each layer taste good and the whole thing will be great! One layer consists of spinach sauteed with onion and nutmeg. One layer is seasoned mushrooms and onion, Then there is a bit of cheese and some additional toppings.


I began by making my favorite pizza dough.

Usually I form the pizza crust on a paddle and slide it into the oven so it is in direct contact with the heated pizza stone. But this is a pan pizza, so I formed the dough to fill a sheet pan.

I made this pie to suit two different tastes, one side is vegetarian and one is not. The non-vegetarian side has tomato sauce Turkey Bacon and black olives. The veg side goes heavy on the spinach does not have any tomato sauce and instead of Bacon, it has smoky tempeh. So really, suit yourself with the toppings. If you eat ham or bacon, they could be used instead of the tempeh or turkey bacon. If you hate olives, leave them off. If you love garlic, saute it with the spinach or 'shrooms.

The other ingredients are at the ready:



tomato sauce (optional)
one or two 10 oz packages of frozen spinach, thawed or partially thawed
8 oz of  fresh mushrooms, sliced

One onion finely chopped
1/2 onion thinly sliced
3 slices of Smoky Tempeh fried until slightly crisp and chopped
3 slices of Turkey Bacon, fried and chopped
organic cheddar cheese
black olives 
salt & pepper
nutmeg
Italian seasoning
Olive oil

First I prepared the tempeh by frying it up in some olive oil and then chopping it after it came from the pan.
Next I sauteed the sliced mushrooms with half of the chopped onions, adding a little black pepper to them. Reserve the cooked mushrooms.



Half of the pizza gets tomato sauce. I used some organic tomato sauce that happened to be open in the fridge. The other half of the pie can be lightly brushed with olive oil, or not. Sprinkle the entire pie with Italian Seasoning. 
Saute the sliced onion in a little olive oil. When it is done, distribute the onion slices over the entire crust.
Next, saute the thawed spinach in a bit more olive oil along with the rest of the chopped onion. The goal here is to evaporate most of the moisture left in the spinach while cooking it lightly. Add salt and a light sprinkle of fresh nutmeg. When the spinach no longer seems wet or juicy distribute it over the pie. I went heavier on the spinach on the veg side, lighter on the tomato side.



Add grated cheese lightly over the whole pie. Use your favorite flavorful cheese. I used organic cheddar. Distribute the reserved mushrooms over the spinach. Distribute the other toppings over the pie as you like. I put organic turkey bacon and black olives on the tomato side, and organic smoked tempeh on the spinach only side.




Pop the whole thing in the oven for about 20 minutes, slice and enjoy!




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