Dear mother of all things holy this pizza sauce (not to mention the pizza itself) was good. Maybe the best sauce I’ve ever made.

 As I may or may not have said in previous blog posts, Pinterest has become my recipe archiver of choice. You’re going to get tired of me saying this, but the inspiration for this pizza was another photo I found while perusing page upon page of beautiful images. The nice thing about recipes you find on Pinterest is that you know that they’re going to create visually stunning meals.

Since I’m really into taking traditional recipes (burgers, pizzas, cupcakes) and switching up the ingredients like it’s nobody’s business, the garlic parmesan sauce featured in this recipe caught my eye. I also had a pile of frozen broccoli florets sitting in my freezer, thus this meal also served as a Operation Clear Freezer accomplishment.

In the end, it looked as though there was a tiny forest growing on my pizza. I also could have warded off the global population of vampires (not to mention men) with my garlic breath. Worth it.

PS: sorry that the photo of the broccoli and spinach pizza isn’t better – I took it in the dim light of my kitchen one evening when I was dashing out. Lack of time = less-than-gorgeous photos and a stomach ache as a result of eating too fast.

Recipe: Spinach and broccoli pizza
Crust from The Gouda Life, sauce adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Crust (for a 12-inch, thin crust pizza)
– 1 1/2 cups flour
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
– 1/2 cup lukewarm water (may need 1-2tbsp extra)
– 1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring mixture into as close to a ball as you can. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a homogeneous ball.

Knead it for just a minute or two. Lightly oil the bowl where you had mixed it, dump the dough in, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.

Dump it back on the floured counter and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.

– 1 tbsp butter
– 1 tbsp flour
– 1 clove garlic, minced
– Freshly ground black pepper
– Dash of nutmeg
– 6 tbsp Parmesan cheese
– 3/4 cup milk
– Salt

Heat butter and garlic in a small sauce pan over medium heat.

Whisk in flour, fresh black pepper, and a dash of nutmeg and let cook for 1 minute.

Slowly stream in the milk while whisking, until smooth. Cook until bubbly and thickened, 3-4 minutes more, whisking frequently.

Whisk in the Parmesan until melted and salt to taste. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pizza toppings
– Half a ball of good mozzarella cheese
– 2 cups broccoli florets (OR instead of the broccoli, cut up a few mushrooms and toss ’em on)
– Enough spinach and arugula to cover the pizza
– 2 oz goat cheese
– Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put the pizza stone in the oven while it’s preheating (if you’re just using a normal pan, ignore this part). Remove the pizza stone from the oven after it’s preheated and spread with cornmeal to prevent the dough from sticking.

Roll the dough into a 12-inch circle and carefully turn onto the pizza stone. Spread a generous amount of the sauce all over the dough. Add the mozzarella, spinach/arugula, broccoli/mushrooms. Add the goat cheese and Parmesan cheese on top. Brush the crust with olive oil and bake in the oven until the cheese turns golden.

Makes one, 12-inch pizza (enough sauce for about 1.5 pizzas).