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Spinach, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Pizza

Source of Recipe

by Marsha, from "The Wolfgang Puck Cookbook" (Random House, 1986)


List of Ingredients

6 ounces pizza dough (top-quality store-bought or homemade; see below)
2 tablespoons pesto (top-quality store-bought or homemade; see below)
1 cup baby spinach leaves, stemmed, washed and dried
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Fontina cheese
1 large Roma tomato, ends trimmed, cut into seven slices
1/2 cup button mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned, thinly sliced
1-1/2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Pinch of minced fresh oregano
Pinch of minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Recipe

• Place pan or pizza stone on middle rack of oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the dough into an 8-inch round. Move dough onto pizza stone or pan.

• Brush the inner circle with pesto. Arrange spinach leaves on the dough, then the remaining ingredients.

• Bake until the dough is nicely browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a firm surface and cut with pizza cutter or a large sharp knife. Serve immediately.

Pesto

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted
12 fresh basil leaves, medium-size, washed and dried
Pinch of salt

• Pour oil in blender. Add garlic, nuts and basil leaves. Blend on low to a smooth paste. Season with salt. Makes 1/4 cup.


Pizza Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup cool water
1 package fresh or dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water

• Place the flour in a food processor.

• Combine the salt, honey, olive oil and 3/4 cup cool water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Mix well.

• Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4-cup warm water and let proof (or stand, until the yeast swells and becomes bubbly), for 10 minutes.

• With the motor on the food processor running, slowly pour the salt and honey liquid through the feed tube. Then pour in the dissolved yeast.

• Process until the dough forms a ball on the blade. If it is sticky, add sprinklings of flour. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth. Place in a buttered bowl and allow the dough to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.

• Divide the dough into four equal parts. Roll each piece into a smooth, tight ball. Place on a flat sheet or dish, cover with a damp towel and refrigerate. One hour before baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

• Lightly flour a work surface. Using the fleshy part of your fingertips, flatten each ball of dough into a circle, about 6 inches in diameter, making the outer edge thicker than the center. Turn the dough over and repeat.

• Lift the dough from the work surface and gently stretch the edges, working clockwise to form a 7- to 8-inch circle.

• Repeat with the other three pieces. Place the circles on a wooden peel (a flat, smooth shovel-like tool used to slide pizzas onto a baking stone) or on baking sheets, and build the pizzas as desired.

• Notes: To make the dough in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, place the flour in the bowl and add the ingredients in the same order as when using a food processor.

• Knead the dough in the machine until it forms a smooth ball. Place the dough in a buttered bowl and allow it to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.

• To prepare by hand, place the flour on a work surface and make a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and proofed yeast.

• Slowly incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients working from the center outward. When a dough forms, knead it on a floured surface until smooth.

• Place in a buttered bowl and allow the dough to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.

• You can also roll out the pizzas with a rolling pin, then inch up the edges with your fingers to form a little ridge.