spinach and feta pizza
I am so fucking lazy lately but at least we’ve got pizza today.
As I’ve documented rather often lately, I’ve been rather helter skelter with my recipe development. Just today (Monday, as I type) I prepped one step of a dish I planned to do all the way through, except Sunday evening I got quite inebriated and woke up with a nice little hangover that demanded naps more than productivity. And aimless wandering around Target. That’s oft a circumstance of drinking aftermath.
Nonetheless, I banked this nice little pie for days like these: comfort food needed, meh on full blast. Especially after Thanksgiving I’d imagine many of us aren’t that enthusiastic about cooking. Yes, you deserve a break.
But if you want to cook a little bit and not subsist on fries and various fake meats like I have lately *ahem*, this Spinach and Feta Pizza is perfect for nights of lounging on the couch spacing out to football, or whatever is on television. An easy, garlicky and buttery base, plenty of mozzarella and feta, and some spinach because we like to fool ourselves into thinking we’re being healthy when eating pizza.
Or not. I just think spinach and feta is a good combination. Spinach just conveniently happens to be a vegetable.
Butter Buns
First off, storebought or homemade pizza dough work equally fine, as in all of my pizza recipes. Just make sure it’s at room temp when you start.
Divide that pound o flesh…I mean dough…in half. Pick one and roll, punch, spread, toss, and push into a roughly 10 inch circle – or however large you can get it without ripping the crust open. Place onto a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet. Or a pizza stone, if you use that.
Poke some holes in your dough and parbake until lightly golden and a bit more firm. Firmer crust stabilizes toppings much more nicely.
Put Your Top On
I liked the simplicity of a garlic butter crust. It’s rich and indulgent but little effort. Plus, I don’t love white pizzas with ricotta, so there you go.
Mix up some softened butter (I use salted) with fresh basil, oregano, lemon zest, dried fennel, red pepper flakes, and some minced up garlic. Or, if you want, grate the garlic to prevent any big ole chunks from infiltrating.
Spread half of that butter on your parbaked crust. Wring out a thawed bag of frozen spinach as best you can to remove the moisture, then spread half of that on your crust. Finish with a good helping of mozzarella and feta cheeses.
Bake your pizza for a little bit at 500 degrees to melt the cheese and give the crust a lovely golden hue. Gon smell like a fucken pizzeria in your probably tiny-ass kitchen.
Repeat all steps, from shaping and parbaking, topping and popping in the oven, with your second half pound of dough. Slice both pies, serve em hot, with some fresh herbs and extra red pepper flakes if you please.
Hope ya’ll are alright. This week I work every damn day so I’m not sure how much energy I’ll have left for recipes, except maybe desserts. I aim to get back into a groove eventually though.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Pizza night, ahoy!
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Olive Cheese Pizza with Feta Stuffed Crust
spinach and feta pizza
Ingredients
- 1 lb pizza dough, homemade or storebought
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tbsp fresh basil, minced
- 2 tsp fresh oregano, minced
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp dried fennel
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 2 cups low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly dust a large baking sheet with cornmeal.
- In a bowl, mix together the butter, garlic, basil, oregano, lemon zest, fennel, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Divide the dough in half. Working with one half, push, roll, and spread into a roughly 10 inch circle and set onto the baking sheet. Poke several holes all over the crust. Transfer to the oven for 5 minutes until lightly golden.
- Spread half of the garlic butter mixture over the crust. Sprinkle half of the spinach, then half of the mozzarella and feta cheeses. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden in spots.
- Repeat with the second pizza crust and the remaining ingredients. Slice and serve both pies hot with fresh herbs.
