39: Spinach Pizza!

Published by Emily,

That's one beautifully crafted pizza, wouldn't you say? I think I scored huge points for style and technique, especially on the pizza dough, which turned out the perfect consistency. I even went with healthy vegetarian toppings.
As soon as I popped the pizza in the oven, I couldn't wait for the timer to beep! I even found myself sitting in front of the oven, admiring my work while it was baking. So you can probably imagine my disappointment when I took my first bite and immediately discovered a major flaw in the recipe I had followed.
In hindsight, I probably should've been a bit more cautious, seeing how the recipe had a handful of grammar mistakes and a couple obvious omissions from the ingredients list. I guess I was fooled by the blogger's photos and insistence that this was “The BEST spinach garlic pizza you will ever have." The recipe was essentially the foodie's equivalent to a misleading online dating profile. I'm almost grateful that my impatience got the best of me and I burned my mouth on the first bite because it helped distract me from the gustatory aSALT of the pizza crust.
I'm assuming it was a typo, and not the blogger's cruel idea of a prank, but the 1 tablespoon of salt the recipe called for was excessive. Hopefully she meant 1tsp (a mistyped ‘b’ between the ’t’ and ’s’ is a game changer). Or maybe she has a broken palette and her tastebuds have been desensitized to salt. I even cut back while preparing the dough and put 2/3 of a tbsp so I can't even imagine the outcome had I followed the recipe's exact instructions.
I ended up scraping the toppings off with a fork and eating them like a salad, so I can safely say the pizza is quite tasty without the crust. As such, I will leave you with the recipe for the toppings and the delicious garlic spread for the crust. If you eventually see a crust recipe below, please know that it has been tested and given my seal of approval before being published.
Recipe (Altered from Brunch Time Baker’s recipe)
Crust Ingredients
1/2 cup + 1tbsp warm water
1/2 package active dry yeast (1 tsp)
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp flour, for dusting
Toppings
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup organic baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dry parsley
1/4 tsp dry rosemary
1/4 tsp dry basil
1/4 tsp dry oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 mushrooms, sliced
Directions
Prepare the crust by mixing the yeast, warm water, and sugar and stir until the yeast has partially dissolved. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes or until the surface becomes foamy.
Sift together 1 1/4 cups of flour and salt. Combine the flour, olive oil and yeast mixtures, then gently mix with a spoon. Lightly dust your counter with some flour, and proceed to knead the dough with your hands, adding light dustings of flour along the way, for 4-5 minutes or until the dough is no longer sticky.
Brush the dough with some olive oil and cover with a tea towel before allowing it to sit for 30-40 minutes. The dough should double in size.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a small sauce pan and add the minced garlic. Toss the garlic around for about a minute. Careful not to burn the garlic. Remove from heat and mix in your spices.
Preheat the oven to 450F.
Punch down the dough and knead for one more minute. Roll it out into a circle on a lightly floured surface.
Spread some of the garlic mixture over the crust with a brush.
Pour the marinara sauce onto the centre of the pizza crust and evenly spread it around using a spoon or ladle. Remember to leave about 1 inch of crust around the sauce for the crust.
Top the pizza with some spinach. Cover with mozzarella cheese, then parmesan. Next, arrange the mushrooms around the top of the pizza.
Pop the pizza in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until crust and cheese begin to brown. Remove from heat.
Slice and serve warm!