Background: When we left the Philadelphia area and moved West, it was impossible to find a white pizza (no sauce), illustrated early on we tried to order one in Prescott AZ and they said, “never heard of that”. We had been working on making our own pizza for quite a while, and once our homemade pizza dough recipe was developed, this was the first thing we made since it’s really easy. Over time it’s been updated to include some of our favorite ingredients, especially the addition of ricotta cheese!

Ingredients: 

12 oz pizza dough homemade or store bought
5 cloves garlic peeled and minced
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
½ tsp salt; ½ tsp pepper
½ tsp pepper flakes
6 oz mozzarella chopped finely (divided)
1 large tomato or equivalent sliced thin
1 oz. Romano cheese freshly grated
1 oz. Parmesan cheese freshly grated
1.5 tbsp olive oil (for 13” pizza)
5-8 dollops ricotta; semolina flour.

Steps:

  1. Make the dough or use store bought, about 12 ounces is required for a 13-inch pizza. Roll out the dough, shape to fit the peel, then place on the peel (sprinkled with semolina). Heat oven to 450 and allow pizza steel (or stone) to heat 20-30 minutes at that temperature (while preparing the pizza).
  2. Spread olive oil on first, then sprinkle on garlic, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Next lay on 3 oz. mozzarella, followed by the spinach, tomatoes, and remaining mozzarella. Sprinkle on the parmesan and Romano, then the ricotta dollops, and place on pizza steel (or stone) and bake for about 12 minutes, turning 90 degrees a couple times as it cooks, until the top of the cheese begins to brown. Remove and allow to sit for several minutes, cut into pieces, and serve.
  3. Our pizza dough recipe is in the “Basics” section and makes approximately 24 oz. of dough, enough for two 13” pizzas.
  4.  Any additional ingredients can be added including pepperoni or prosciutto as well as other veggies out of the garden.