Roasted Garlic Spinach White Pizza With Optional Chicken Recipes

ROASTED GARLIC, CHICKEN AND SPINACH WHITE PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut head of garlic, about 1/4-inch, to expose tops of garlic cloves. Place garlic head, cut side up, in a sheet of foil. Drizzle with olive oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Fold up all 4 sides of the foil and cover tightly. Place into oven and roast until cloves are golden brown and tender, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool before squeezing cloves from skin; reserve and mince 8 garlic cloves.* Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly coat a baking sheet or pizza pan with olive oil. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the skillet. Stir in spinach until wilted, about 2-3 minutes; season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, thyme, oregano, basil and reserved garlic cloves; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Working on a surface that has been sprinkled with cornmeal, roll out the pizza into a 12-inch-diameter round. Transfer to prepared baking sheet or pizza pan. Top with mozzarella, dollops of ricotta mixture, chicken and spinach. Place into oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheeses have melted. Serve immediately.

ROASTED GARLIC & SPINACH WHITE PIZZA (WITH OPTIONAL CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Drizzle a baking sheet with a little olive oil and place the pizza dough on top to rest before working. (Trader Joe's pizza dough requires 30 minutes sitting at room temperature, so I usually do that first).
• Lay out a large square of foil and place the garlic cloves on top (be sure you leave the peel on!). Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of kosher salt. Fold the foil into a sealed packet and place in the oven (put it on a baking sheet if you're worried about leaking). Roast the garlic until soft, golden, and fragrant, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, peel the cloves and discard the skins. Increase oven heat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare it for baking the pizza.
• Add 8 of the peeled garlic cloves to a small bowl. Smash with a fork. Add the ricotta, 2 teaspoons olive oil, basil, honey, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper. Mix well.
• If using chicken, heat the outdoor grill or an indoor grill pan on medium-high. Rub the chicken with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, flipping occasionally, until cooked through (we always check the internal temperature, which should register 165 degrees Fahrenheit). Set aside to cool. Once cool, cut into chunks.
• Stretch the pizza crust into a large (approx. 14-inch) round and place on greased cookie sheet or a pizza stone. If creating one meatless version and one chicken version, split the dough in half and stretch each into smaller rounds, approximately 8 inches or so, and place each on an olive-oil-greased cookie sheet.
• Top the crust(s) with tablespoon-sized mounts of ricotta, as evenly spaced as possible (but it doesn't have to be perfect!) Scatter with spinach and remaining garlic cloves. Top with cooked chicken chunks if using (you may only want to use half of the chicken if you're making two smaller pizzas). Scatter mozzarella cheese over the top(s).
• Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese is melted and bubbling, 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before slicing into wedges with a pizza cutter and serving.