Spinoccoli Pizza...that turned into all out veggie pizza

I love vegetarian pizza.

But broccoli on my pizza? Ewww.

However, this recipe for Spinoccoli Pizza with a white sauce was too tempting to pass up.

The white sauce was so good.

But I couldn't stop at just spinach and broccoli. I had to add some sauteed onion and then some chopped tomato for a splash of color.

See? Isn't it pretty with the red? It's a Christmas pizza!

So the verdict? I've been missing out all these years! One of the best veggie pizzas I've ever had.

The crust was fantastic as well. I used this recipe for the crust, with a few adjustments to make it a whole wheat crust. And I also spread garlic butter over the edge of the crust.

Although I'm not sure why my crust grew horns while it was baking.

Pizza Dough

This makes enough for two pizza crusts. I put half of the dough in the freezer and am hoping it's a dough that freezes well!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 TB vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup water, room temperature
2 TB olive oil

Directions:
Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top.

Add bread flour and salt to a mixer and mix briefly to blend.

Add the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture.

With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture and the olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed.

Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.

Press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. (If freezing the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at this point.) Cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.

To bake, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 500˚ F for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to your shaping surface, lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Shape the dough with lightly floured hands.

Veggie Pizza

For the white sauce:

Ingredients:
1 TB butter
1 TB flour
3/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste
6 TB grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.

Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbling and light golden, about 1 minute.

Whisk in the heavy cream and garlic, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and bubbles.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the grated Parmesan until completely melted and smooth.

Putting it all together:

Okay, you've got your pizza stone preheating in the oven and your dough shaped on a cornmeal pizza peel.

Spread white sauce over the dough, leaving about a 1" border.

Brush garlic butter over the 1" border.

Top with veggies. This was a great combination:

1 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed, cut small, and then sauteed with onion in olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion, sauteed with broccoli in olive oil

1 cup packed fresh spinach, cooked in olive oil, just until wilted

1 chopped tomato

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

grated Parmesan cheese, sprinkled over the top

I didn't have any mushrooms, but would have sauteed those up and added them as well.

Slide the pizza from the pizza peel onto the pizza stone. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 500 degrees, until the crust is golden brown.