Spinach Pesto Pizza with Roasted Peppers and Portobello

Pizza is always a good quick way to use up leftovers, but sometimes it needs to be mixed up a bit. I get easily sick of the "yooj." I had a leftover portobello cap that I wanted to use, and who doesn't like a good roasted red pepper? Add some feta and pesto, voila! This pesto couldn't be easier to make. Any leftover can be frozen to be used later in sauce, or on another pizza, even a pasta salad!

Spinach Pesto
Ingredients

1/4 cup walnuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 pound baby spinach (about 10 cups)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
kosher salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

In a food processor, pulse the walnuts and garlic until chopped. Add the spinach, oil,  Parmesan, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor bowl as necessary. Mix in lemon zest and parmesan.

Using my recipe for whole wheat crust, pesto, slices of the leftover mushroom, roasted red pepper slices, and feta cheese I put together a really amazing pizza! Paired with a salad made a delicious dinner!

Crazy Pizza Bread

When I came across this recipe I wasn't sure what to expect. It seemed odd and like the name, a bit crazy. But Thanksgiving was coming up and I wanted to try something new to have while watching the Dog Show. Boy am I glad I made this! I have a feeling it is going to become famous at my parties from now on! Check out the recipe below and the changes I made.

Why yes, that is ooey gooey cheese bursting out the side of the loaf!

Crazy Pizza Bread

Ingredients
1 teaspoon yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups favorite toppings, chopped small ( I used stick pepperoni, red peppers, green peppers, sauteed garlic)
4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a bowl. Let it sit for 3 minutes until foamy, then add in flour and salt. Mix (using a mixer, spoon, or your hands) just until it comes together. Add in the toppings and combine well. Dough will be tacky.  Let rise for about 1 hour, then put in the refrigerator for another hour.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and flour a Silpat or waxed paper. Roll out into a rectangle about 11×17”. Sprinkle cheese over top. Then, using the Silpat or paper, fold into thirds the long way. Seal sides so cheese is not exposed. Let rest while you preheat oven to 450 degrees. Let oven stay at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Bake the bread, either on a pizza stone or baking sheet, for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. About 3 minutes before taking it out, lightly brush the top with olive oil and let it finish baking. Let rest on a wire rack to cool slightly before slicing.

Next time I make this I will add roasted garlic and caramelized onions. This bread is best served hot, I personally liked it as a pizza "biscotti" where I sliced the loaves into one inch pieces and toasted before serving. I would also serve with marinara sauce next time. This is seriously good stuff people.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

 Whole Wheat Pizza
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 packets yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp honey or sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups AP flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

Combine water and yeast, let sit for approximately 5 minutes until foamy. Oil large bowl, set aside. Mix yeast mixture, honey, oil and salt. Stir in flours with wooden spoon until sticky. Transfer to oiled bowl, brush oil over the top of dough and cover with a dry dish towel. Let rise 1 hour. Punch dough down and divide into 8 pieces. Work each piece into a 5 inch circle. Place on a corn meal dusted sheet pan and place in freezer over night. To store layer pizza dough and parchment paper in a ziplock bag. Keeps for 3 months. You can also make two larger pizzas from this. I like to do the individual size for easy weeknight dinners or lunches.

Pizza Party at my Place!!

My Easy Pizza Sauce
1 8oz can unsalted tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp each onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano, salt, pepper, and dried parsley

Mix together. This freezes extremely well. The individual pizzas use about 1 tablespoon of sauce.
red pepper flake to taste

To bake, preheat oven to 450°. If you are using a pizza stone leave in the oven while preheating. Do not take pizza crust out of the freezer until you are ready to bake, it will defrost and get messy. Get your toppings ready, I like to use sauteed mushrooms, pepperoni, peppers, chicken, pesto, cheddar, mozzarella, whatever you have on hand is going to be good on the pizza! Once oven is preheated bake on a pizza stone of sheet pan for 15 minutes. The crust will be golden brown and delicious!

This was our dinner tonight, and we have 6 crusts left in the freezer along with at least 4 more soup servings! Talk about time savings, and money savings!