Friday, May 22, 2009

Spinach-Feta Greek Pizza...

Our weekly Friday Night Pizza that I made for dinner tonight was fairly lean on the ingredient list, but those few sure meant business! The first thing I needed to do, and I know this won't shock anyone, was get our our favorite whole-wheat pizza dough buzzed together in our food processor so it could be set off to rise. Once that was out of the way, the rest of this Spinach-Feta Greek Pizza was a breeze to throw together!

Onions and garlic, added to a warmed skillet with oil, were left on the heat until the onions released their moisture and became tender. Two hearty bunches of fresh spinach, well-rinsed and trimmed, were then gradually stirred to the skillet, letting the heat wilt the leaves down to what seemed like nothing when compared to the volume we started with! With all that spinach, you need not be stingy with the seasonings - we dusted the skillet with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper to begin adding layers, but then used one more spice you may not think would work. That spice would be fresh grated nutmeg - this is lightly sprinkled in, but you won't want to add much. You don't want to taste it and think "Huh, why is there nutmeg in this?". Just the slightest touch (which also works well in white sauces) with spinach in a dish like this adds a unique flavor that one can't quite pick out, but makes your taste buds dance trying to guess.

While that spinach topping was set aside to cool, I worked my fingers on the dough, gently stretching and pushing it around until it blossomed into a rough circle. I drizzled olive oil all around the top and again used my hands to smear it into all the crevices and dimples the dough had. Since the toppings are fairly moist and already cooked, I put the dough onto the stone and gave it a chance to toast up. Once the dough was a touch golden and beginning to crisp, we slid it out and arranged the wilted spinach mixture as evenly as I could. For the cheeses, we used a combo of shredded mozzarella and crumbles of salty feta.

Baked once more, the pizza was ready when the toppings had heated through, the crust was crisp and the top had a few of those delicious browned spots on the cheese. The original recipe had a light salad of halved cherry tomatoes, tossed with fresh oregano, scattered on top of the fully cooked pizza, but the tomatoes didn't look too healthy at the market and we decided to forgo them. I'm sure that fresh burst would have been a nice contrast to this healthy vegetable pizza, but we were very pleased and happily stuffed with this as is. If you happen to be a fan of olives, they might just the spiffy ticket to dress up the top and add to the Greek theme!

6 comments:

  1. Oh, this pizza looks divine! I love spinach and feta...especially when there's onion involved. Greek is so awesome! You are so creative, and I just love that you went Greek!! Next, I want you to make a moussaka pizza with eggplant, okay? :) Thanks! (Oh, have a fabulous holiday weekend!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, this one looks like a total winner!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your pizza looks awesome! We make Greek Pizza all the time, but it never occurred to me to add a dash of nutmeg. Great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yum, this looks so good! How do you get your crust to look so good?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elyse - Thanks!

    Kalyn - I was surprised with just how much we liked this version.

    Laurie - I know, right? Nutmeg does wonders!

    Terri A - I guess I don't do anything special... I think it has to do with that snazzy dough!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Another fantastic pizza! I love the sound of this one. Far better than any you can get out

    ReplyDelete