Spinach pizza without tomato sauce

I had an unusual request a while back. I was asked to make a pizza without pizza sauce on it. Hmm. I asked, “What do you want if you don’t want sauce on it?” They said, “How about spinach, olive oil and garlic?” Ok. That I can do. 

I figured I could sauté fresh spinach with some garlic in lots of olive oil and put that on a pizza with lots of cheese. How bad could it be? Here’s what I did.

1 batch of Norman’s Pizza Dough

12 oz. of fresh spinach

3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

Extra good olive oil

Red pepper flakes

corn meal

1 cup shredded Parmesan

2 cups shredded cheddar

3 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. oregano

Fresh ground white pepper

Preparation

Mix up a batch of my pizza dough and let it rise. (Oh, alright, quit nagging me. For the new readers who don’t have my pizza dough recipe, here it is ... enough for two pizza’s: 4 cups flour, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp. honey, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tbs. instant yeast and 2 cups [more or less] of barely warm water ... mix it up ... knead it ... let it rise ... and use half of it for this pizza).

While the dough is rising, wash the spinach and heat a large cast iron skillet. Add enough olive oil to generously covert he bottom. Add the garlic and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and stir. When the garlic is sizzling, add the spinach. Stir it while it cooks and wilts down. Once all the spinach is cooked and sizzling, turn off the heat, grind some pepper over it and set it aside.

Ok, now use your finger tips to shape the dough into a large circle, and place it on a pizza pan which has been sprinkled with corn meal. Spread the spinach on the pizza dough but leave the outer edge uncovered. Now evenly add the parmesan cheese over the spinach. Sprinkle the basil and oregano over the spinach and cheese. Add the cheddar and then the mozzarella evenly. Finally, sprinkle the pizza with more white pepper.

Bake the pizza at 450º until the cheese is golden brown and bubbling. Remove the pizza from the oven and generously drizzle olive oil (the best you can get) over the top of the cheese. Let the pizza sit for five minutes before slicing.

Serving

Why do I have to tell you how to serve pizza. Put a slice on a plate. Eat it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Pizza is meant to be eaten in great quantities. 

You also want a salad and a bowl of mixed Italian olives on the table. I like Chianti with my pizza, but ice cold beer will work in a pinch. When you feel like you are full, go back for another piece of pizza. I always do!