Healthy Pizza

Saturday night, a group of girls from the Arts Administration masters program got together for a pizza night. We watched TV shows about ghost hunters and Nazis, made pizza, drank wine and beer, and just had a good time hanging out together. I'm a pretty big fan of pizzas, but I can't eat many of the traditional staples of a pizza. So tonight for dinner, I decided to explore some healthier pizza options to meet both my dietary needs and my picky eating habits.

I made a broccoli spinach pizza with an olive oil sauce for myself. It was very tasty, and incredibly easy to make.

I started with Pillsbury thin pizza crust, because I don't like too much crust. It's all about the cheese and toppings for me! You simply spray a cookie sheet and unroll the crust. It's rectangular in shape, not circular, but that tends to work better for thin crusts anyway. The directions state that if you want a crispy crust, bake it for 5 minutes before adding toppings to it. For softer crust, don't. I opted for a midway point and popped mine in for about 3 minutes.

Next, the sauce. I'm not a fan of red sauces because the tomatos are hard on my stomach, and white sauces are often too fatty because of all the cream. So I made my own sauce; I mixed together olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and half a spoonful of my tried and true Philadelphia cooking creme (the reduced fat Italian Cheese & Herb variety, as usual). I whisked this all together so it was a consistent texture and then drizzled it over the pizza dough. You can use the back of a spoon, a spatula, or one of those nifty little brushes to ensure the sauce covers the entire pizza.

Then, the cheese! For the sake of ease and time, I opted for pre-shredded cheese. I used an Italian blend, which consisted of mozzarella, provolone  and parmesan cheeses. Of course, I'm always a fan of freshly shredded cheese, so if you have some on hand, definitely shred it yourself and go for stronger, fresher flavor!

My pizza mid-process; it's got sauce, cheese and broccoli so far.

I chopped up some broccoli heads and spinach leaves which I sprinkled across the top of the pizza, then added more cheese on top. Pop the whole thing in the oven following the instructions on the dough package (I baked it for 13 minutes at 400 degrees) and it's golden. While cooling, I sprinkled some additional rosemary on top for a little added flavor.

The finished product; golden around the edges without being burnt!

The end result was flavorful and filling; definitely something I'll have to hold on to and try again. The crust is a tiny bit sweet yet savory, and the rosemary and thyme complemented the cheese and greens. In the future, I may contemplate adding black olives, artichoke hearts, or chicken. I probably spent 20 minutes making dinner tonight, and used barely any dishes. Plus, I ate some veggies! I paired mine with some moscato (and some peach iced tea Crystal Light after my glass was empty) and watched some Wilfred on Netflix. Night: success.