Spinach Garlic Stuffed Pizza

Happy Meatless Monday! Thank you for joining Deborah and me for what hopefully will be another great round up that inspires you!

I know I just posted pizza on Friday and pizza is not something I would normally post on a Meatless Monday but hey it’s life and while I have a bunch of recipes photographed and in que I don’t have them ready. I went out for a date night last night for MPLS Restaurant Week, it was amazing, and I’m pretty sure nobody wants to hear my late night ramblings as I try to pound out a post after a very strong Old Fashioned and while sipping on my wine now sitting on the patio checking out the full moon. I love food and I could talk about it all day, well that passion is even stronger and my opinions and thoughts even more vocal after having a drink. Yes I’m sure I will be shaking my head at this post tomorrow when I read it drinking my coffee too.

On to the Garlic Spinach Stuffed Pizza. I never was a huge pizza fan back in the day because greasy cheese and all the meat and toppings just didn’t appeal to me. There was one exception, a garlic and spinach stuffed pizza! Otherwise I was one to just pull the toppings off and sprinkle the crust with parmesan and or garlic butter.

I use to have this pizza love back when I was dating my husband, well over 15 years ago. It wasn’t healthy by any means but it was so good, it was a stuffed spinach and garlic pizza usually from Green Mill. It was filled with spinach, cheese, and lots of garlic. Than you could dip it in the red sauce that came with it. I use to get such a tummy ache but oh was it good. I think the last time I had the pizza was one day when I went to meet my husband for lunch and we picked up the pizza and went to a park to enjoy it for lunch. It wasn’t the best idea as he had the box and cut into the pizza and he got oil/grease all over his khaki pants. At the time I thought it was pretty funny. He had to go back to work with a big grease stain on his pants and a strong garlic odor. I also thought it was pretty gross as I normally would blot all that grease off my pizza. Another thing I use to love that my mom brought up was pizza fries that were these pillowy puffy thin strips of dough with cheese in the middle and garlic and parmesan on top. They use to be out by her work and after she had switched jobs I never had them again. I went looking for them years later but could never find them. I set out to combine the two and ended up with more of a rectangle calzone on more than one occasion and with so much filling I couldn’t cut them into thin strips but hey it was so good I wasn’t complaining. You may have even seen this on Instagram Stories within the last couple months, they were so amazing I couldn’t help but share one night. If you are looking to get your kids, or significant other, to eat their greens this pizza might be just the way to do that!

Spinach Garlic Stuffed Pizza
Makes 2-4 servings
1/4 Neapolitan pizza dough
8oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well (squeezing extra moisture out with a kitchen towel, or pressing with a paper towel)
1-2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, grated
sea salt
4oz fresh mozzarella (Miyoko’s Fresh VeganMozz)
2 TBSP sprinkle parmesan cheese, optional (Follow Your Heart Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese)

Heat grill or oven, with pizza stone placed inside, to 550F. After tossing and stretching your dough on a lightly floured surface roll crust to a 15″ square, doesn’t have to be exact. Place crust on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the crust, sprinkle spinach, and garlic on half of the crust. Break cheese up and spread on top of the spinach, season with sea salt, and fold the other side of the crust on top of the spinach. Pinch the edges together to seal. Carefully brush, or use olive oil spray, the outside and sprinkle with sea salt and optional parmesan sprinkles. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the crust gets golden brown. If using your own crust bake per your crusts instructions watching carefully. Remove pizza, sliding a baking sheet under the parchment paper. Slice and enjoy!

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Spreading the Meatless Monday love I’m also linking up with Running on Happy and The Fit Foodie Mama for their #MeatlessMonday!