Greek Spinach Pizza

My husband, Paul and I have never been great fans of homemade pizza, which is why we never ventured into making one of our own.  We found the following recipe for Greek Spinach Pizza on the Taste of Home website and in spite of our misgivings decided we would give it a try. I am so glad we did.  This pizza is delicious!  The crust is thin and crunchy and the flavors incredible!  

We made only minor changes to the recipe adding some mushrooms and fresh garlic. The next time we make this pizza we'll probably add some grilled chicken as well.   

This recipe is for a 12-inch pizza.  Our crust turned out to be around 18 inches so we added extra of each ingredient to make up for the difference in size.  There are plenty of frozen pizza crusts available in grocery stores, but I highly recommend giving the following pizza dough recipe a try.  We found the recipe on the Food Network website.  It makes enough dough for 2 18-inch pizzas.  You can freeze the leftover dough for another time.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)

1 envelope active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

4 cups bread flour (we used organic all-purpose flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups cold water

1 tablespoon olive oil

Yellow cornmeal, for sprinkling the baking sheet  

Directions:

In a bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar.  Stir to combine.  In the food processor, combine flour and salt and pulse.  Add the yeast mixture, cold water, and oil.  Pulse until a ball is formed: this will happen quickly, be careful not to overwork the dough.  Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for several minutes until dough is smooth.  Allow dough to rest for 2 to 3 minutes.  Place dough in oiled bowl and allow to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Punch dough down, divide into 2 to 4 balls, let rise another 30 minutes.  Heat up pizza stone in a 500 degree F oven. Form a 10 to14-inch pizza crust and place on a piece of parchment paper sprinkled with yellow cornmeal.  Place topping on the crust and place the pizza, with the parchment paper in the oven on the pizza stone or on a hot inverted cookie sheet (not aluminum).  Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.  NOTE: We don't have pizza stone, so Paul and I prebaked our pizza crust directly on the pizza pan and it turned out fine.  

  Pizza dough rising:

 

                                                        Prebaked pizza crust:

Greek Spinach Pizza

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh baby spinach

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 prebaked 12-inch thin pizza crust

2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup chopped pitted Greek olives  (we used kalamata olives)

2 tablespoons chopped sweet onion

Other possible ingredients:

mushrooms

garlic

grilled chicken

                                        Organic veggies purchased from The Merc:

Directions: 

In a small bowl, toss the spinach, oil and Italian seasoning. Place crust on an ungreased 12-inch pizza pan. Arrange spinach mixture over crust to within 1/2 in. of edge. Place tomatoes on top; sprinkle with the cheeses, olives and onion. 

Bake at 450° for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are lightly browned.  Yield: 6-8 slices.

                                          Toppings added and ready for the oven:

                                                        The finished product:

Journey to the Greek Islands Part 2

The Garides Saganaki turned out to be amazingly tasty! I made a few changes to the recipe-- added organic oyster mushrooms from the Wakarusa Valley Farm in Lawrence, kalamata olives, and a little Greek oregano. I didn't have Aleppo pepper so I used crushed red pepper flakes as the recipe suggested. It did give it a little heat but it seemed to blend really well with the other ingredients.

The majority of the ingredients I used were from The Merc and are organic.

On the side, I served organic wheat pita bread made at the Jerusalem Cafe & Bakery out of Kansas City. I topped it with organic Tzatziki (yogurt cucumber dip) made at the Mediterranean Market & Cafe in Lawrence, organic tomatoes, kalamata olives, a few slices of organic red onion, and a little salt and pepper.

Give Garides Saganaki a try. You won't be disappointed!

Journey to the Greek Islands

Garides Saganaki (Shrimp Baked in Tomato Sauce with Feta) is a recipe from The Foods of the Greek Islands By: Aglaia Kremezi.  You can find this cookbook as well as some of my other favorites in my Bookshelf on the side menu. 

The author explains that this recipe is not a traditional dish of the Greek islands and was probably created in the 1960's when large numbers of tourists were visiting the Greek islands.  It became a favorite of the Greeks and tourists and is being served in tavernas throughout Greece.  

I'll be back to let you know how my journey to the Greek islands is progressing.

Garides Saganaki

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2-1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on

1/2 cup finely diced tomato, drained in a colander for 5 minutes

Salt

2/3 cup coarsely grated hard feta cheese (see Note)

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method:

Preheat oven to 400° F.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until soft.  Add the pepper or pepper flakes and the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.  Add the shrimp and sauté for 2 minutes, or until they start to become firm.  Add the tomato and salt to taste and cook for 2 minutes more, or until the sauce begins to thicken.  Transfer to a baking dish or four individual gratin dishes.  

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly.  Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 2 to 3 minutes more.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

NOTE:  If you leave feta cheese uncovered in the refrigerator overnight, it will dry a bit and can then be easily grated.  

Makes 4 Servings