So, tonight was like every other busy working school night along with baseball try-outs... and MCAS... ugh!! Could a day of being
"weighed and measured" get any worse? So, in the spirit of keeping promises to 7th grade boys on MCAS day, we ordered his favorite, Frontier Pizza! Completely awesome! Stevie's fav! Love me some Frontier Pizza! No joke!
But Stevie's idea of pizza, and my idea of pizza might part ways a bit. Let's say, tonight, Stevie got his "cheesy" Frontier Pizza fix, and I made my own. And here's how it went!
First... remember when I said I truly revere old, crappy kitchen tools that just keep showing up to do the job... even though they clearly are NOT ready for their close-up? I meant it, behold my 20+ year old pizza pan from K-Mart (does that even exist anymore, anywhere... K-Mart? Yup, bought it at K-Mart, don't judge... just a broke college girl lookin' for a pizza pan).
So, MY pizza was full of all my favorites... and what I had left in the fridge on a Thursday night. Prepared pizza dough (no apologies, I "short cut" this step all the time, hey, it's the workin' girl talkin'), some pesto (1/3 cup), baby spinach (2 cups), mozzerella cheese (1 and 1/2 cups), a little thin sliced shallot (about 4-5 thin slices), parmesan cheese (1/4 cup), and toasted pine nuts (2-3 Tablespoons).
To get the spinach ready, I zapped it in the microwave for 1 minute with a little S and P and 1 Tablespoon of water, covered with wax paper. (I didn't want to add any calories to my pizza in this step, and this worked perfect)
.
After 1 minute, the spinach wilted by half, and I squeezed out any extra water with my favorite tools... MY HANDS.
After stretching that dough ever so gently with my hands, I layed it in the pan. To stretch the dough, I coat my hands with a little olive oil and sort of hold on to the edge of the dough, while gravity pulls the dough down (gently handling the perimeter of the dough... holding on to it, while rotating around and around).
After stretching the dough and laying it into that supremely AWESOME pizza pan, I slather on the pesto with a rubber spatula. I ease it all the way out to the edge... I want pesto tastiness in every bite!
Next, sprinkle on the spinach, mozzarella cheese, and sliced shallots (remember, squeeze the moisture out of the spinach... soggy pizza... bad).
Next, add the parmesean cheese and the pine nuts. You won't regret it!
Lay that pizza in a 450 degree oven, on the bottom shelf (crispy crust) and cook for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, this is what my pizza looked like, and I don't know why I always do this, but I gave it another minute!
And this is what I got! Dammmnn! Lookin' good for some Thursday night, veggie drawer, leftover, home made pizza! I'd kill for a tomato to slap on this pizza, but, no luck. I will have to enjoy this lovely pesto-spinach cheesy pizza sans tomato. It's a tough job, but, I'm up for it!
The big finish! I had some fresh basil that I ripped over the top of that cooked pizza! Pizza never looked so green!
And there you have it! Some green, spinachy pesto pizza for Mom, and some equally delicious Frontier Pizza for Stevie. What will you choose?
So, tonight was like every other busy working school night along with baseball try-outs... and MCAS... ugh!! Could a day of being "weighed and measured" get any worse? So, in the spirit of keeping promises to 7th grade boys on MCAS day, we ordered his favorite, Frontier Pizza! Completely awesome! Stevie's fav! Love me some Frontier Pizza! No joke!
But Stevie's idea of pizza, and my idea of pizza might part ways a bit. Let's say, tonight, Stevie got his "cheesy" Frontier Pizza fix, and I made my own. And here's how it went!
First... remember when I said I truly revere old, crappy kitchen tools that just keep showing up to do the job... even though they clearly are NOT ready for their close-up? I meant it, behold my 20+ year old pizza pan from K-Mart (does that even exist anymore, anywhere... K-Mart? Yup, bought it at K-Mart, don't judge... just a broke college girl lookin' for a pizza pan).
So, MY pizza was full of all my favorites... and what I had left in the fridge on a Thursday night. Prepared pizza dough (no apologies, I "short cut" this step all the time, hey, it's the workin' girl talkin'), some pesto (1/3 cup), baby spinach (2 cups), mozzerella cheese (1 and 1/2 cups), a little thin sliced shallot (about 4-5 thin slices), parmesan cheese (1/4 cup), and toasted pine nuts (2-3 Tablespoons).
To get the spinach ready, I zapped it in the microwave for 1 minute with a little S and P and 1 Tablespoon of water, covered with wax paper. (I didn't want to add any calories to my pizza in this step, and this worked perfect)
.
After 1 minute, the spinach wilted by half, and I squeezed out any extra water with my favorite tools... MY HANDS.
After stretching that dough ever so gently with my hands, I layed it in the pan. To stretch the dough, I coat my hands with a little olive oil and sort of hold on to the edge of the dough, while gravity pulls the dough down (gently handling the perimeter of the dough... holding on to it, while rotating around and around).
After stretching the dough and laying it into that supremely AWESOME pizza pan, I slather on the pesto with a rubber spatula. I ease it all the way out to the edge... I want pesto tastiness in every bite!
Next, sprinkle on the spinach, mozzarella cheese, and sliced shallots (remember, squeeze the moisture out of the spinach... soggy pizza... bad).
Next, add the parmesean cheese and the pine nuts. You won't regret it!
Lay that pizza in a 450 degree oven, on the bottom shelf (crispy crust) and cook for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, this is what my pizza looked like, and I don't know why I always do this, but I gave it another minute!
And this is what I got! Dammmnn! Lookin' good for some Thursday night, veggie drawer, leftover, home made pizza! I'd kill for a tomato to slap on this pizza, but, no luck. I will have to enjoy this lovely pesto-spinach cheesy pizza sans tomato. It's a tough job, but, I'm up for it!
The big finish! I had some fresh basil that I ripped over the top of that cooked pizza! Pizza never looked so green!
And there you have it! Some green, spinachy pesto pizza for Mom, and some equally delicious Frontier Pizza for Stevie. What will you choose?
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