Spinoccoli Pizza

Girl Pizza!!!  Pizza topped with a garlic parmesan cream sauce, broccoli, spinach and two types of cheeses.  Pretty girly, huh?

This is the kind of pizza my roommates in college would order for pizza night.  This is a pizza I know my mom would love.  For some reason, broccoli is woman food.  And when combined with a cream sauce and cheese, it is even better.  

I spent most of my life being a cream-sauce-on-pizza hater.  It was a combination of it being unhealthy and me thinking cream sauce just did not belong on pizza.  Since then, I have embraced all things cream.  And while it is still true, I would never order something like this if I could choose a good red sauce or a California style pizza or even deep dish...it is a simple and delicious combination of flavors and I am not so much of a hater.  

May I also note that I have tried the recipe for the pizza dough from Baking Illustrated a few times now (the one Annie posted a tutorial on).  It calls for bread flour, which I have always ignored and just used regular AP flour (lazy)...always liked the results.  This time, I tried it with bread flour and it makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.  Gives it a good chew.  The dough itself is beautiful and perfectly elastic.  Very easy to work with.  I felt like I was a pizzeria man, rolling out my dough with such ease.  And the bottom is so crispy.  If I were rating the dough recipe, it would definitely be a 10/10 for at home pizza crust.  Below are the ratings for this particular combination of toppings!

Spinoccoli Pizza

by Annie’s Eats

For the white sauce:

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

3/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

1 clove garlic, smashed

Salt and pepper, to taste

6 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the pizza:

Pizza dough (1/2 this recipe) 

Olive oil, for brushing

1/2 cup packed baby spinach leaves, torn

1 cup very small broccoli florets

2 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

2 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Grated Parmesan

To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbling and light golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in the heavy cream and garlic, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from the heat and whisk in the grated Parmesan until completely melted and smooth. Discard the garlic clove. (Note: This will make a bit more sauce than you need for the pizza, but with a little extra cheese it makes a great dipping sauce for crust.)

To make the pizza, preheat the oven and a pizza stone at 500° F for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Lightly brush the perimeter of the dough with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of the white sauce over the crust, leaving a border clear around the edge for the crust. Sprinkle the torn spinach leaves over the white sauce. Evenly distribute the broccoli florets over the dough. Layer evenly with the shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Finish with additional grated Parmesan, if desired. Transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.

(Servings: 3, Prep time: 2.5 hours, Cook time: 12 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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foodforscot Ratings:

Shanon (taste):  7/10

Scot (taste):  8/10

Effort:  3/5

Dishwashing Effort:  3/5