Smoked Mozzarella Spinach Pizza.
This smoked mozzarella spinach pizza is loaded with flavor. Chewy crust, sautéed spinach with lots of garlic and lemon, smoked mozzarella and ricotta cheese. A dreamy white pizza!
It’s pizza friday over here!
This deliciously loaded pizza is topped with sauteed spinach, some caramely onions, lots of garlic, lemon, smoked mozzarella and ricotta. Oh and a chewy crust that also has tons of flavor.
Doesn’t get much better than that.
This is my kind of pizza. No red sauce, no meat – I’m all over it. Eddie loves a good white pizza too and it’s not unusual that we get a red and white so we can have the best of both worlds.
This pizza is actually a copycat of one at a local restaurant. They’ve had it forever and their pizza is great – it comes on flakey crust (like a puff pastry!) and the spinach, smoked mozzarella and caramelized onions make for the perfect combo.
I seriously crave that pizza!
So of courseI had to make it at home.
I had tons of spinach (um, accidentally ordered a four pound bag from costco, do you even KNOW how much four pounds of spinach is!?) that was about to meet its maker and I happened to have some smoked mozzarella too. Huge win for me!
Also for any of you OG readers… doesn’t this kind of remind you of my marinated kale and ricotta pizza? Horrific photography aside, it really does look similar. But I promise it is the same!
First, the smoked mozzarella is everything. It brings so much flavor to any dish, but extra flavor here with the lemony garlicky spinach. They two complement each other so well. Second, the spinach has ridiculous flavor for being so so simple.
This is how I make the magic happen:
My favorite pizza crust. I’ve used this recipe for a million years. Remember my garlic bread pizza crust? I love it because you can split it in two (or even in thirds) to have a thinner crust or use the whole recipe for a larger pizza with a chewier, thicker crust. I like both, it just depends on my mood.
Sauteed onions. If you have all the time, you can caramelize them. I allow mine to get about half caramelized. Like kind of browned. Then into the pan goes the garlic and spinach.
Oh yes. Sautéed spinach! The major flavor players here are lots of garlic, lemon and red pepper flakes. Don’t forget the salt and pepper. And don’t be afraid to use a lot of spinach. This pizza that I order is packed with spinach – there are pockets of spinach an inch thick. It’s perfect and so flavorful.
Ricotta cheese for a little creaminess. This makes a difference in flavor and texture. I really enjoy it.
Finally, smoked mozzarella. It makes the entire pizza. It’s so smoky and a little sharp. I can hardly stand how good it is.
If you’re looking for an amazing white pizza with tons of flavor, this is the ticket.
Smoked Mozzarella Spinach Pizza
Smoked Mozzarella Spinach Pizza
Ingredients
crust
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- flour and coarse cornmeal for dusting
filling
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
- kosher salt and pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 12 ounces fresh spinach
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 8 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- crushed red pepper flakes, for topping
- fresh herbs or microgreens, like basil, for topping
- finely grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, honey and olive oil. Mix with a spoon, then let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and salt, stirring with a spoon until the dough comes together but is still sticky. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball and work in the additional 1/2 cup flour, kneading it on a floured surface for a few minutes. Rub the same bowl with olive oil then place the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 to 1.5 hours.
- While the dough rises, heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, string often, just until the onions begin to brown, about 20 minutes or so. Stir in the garlic.
- Stir in the spinach and lemon juice. Stir often until the spinach wilts. Add another pinch of salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle a bit of flour or cornmeal on a 10x15 inch baking sheet.
- After the dough has risen, punch it down and place it back on the floured surface. Using a rolling pin or your hands, form it loosely into your desired shape. For this recipe, I just rolled out the dough to fit a 10x15 baking sheet. Nothing specific, just rolled to fit!
- Brush the dough with some olive oil - brush all over to the edges. Layer the sauteed spinach all over the crust. Top with the smoked mozzarella. Add the ricotta in dollops all over the pizza.
- Place the pizza on the sheet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Check on it after 15 minutes - if it’s not deeply golden and melty yet, give it another 5 minutes. Once golden and bubbly, remove it and let cool before slicing.
- Sprinkle it all over with crushed red pepper, parmesan and some fresh herbs or microgreens. Slice and serve!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Plus it has vegetables!!
12 Comments on “Smoked Mozzarella Spinach Pizza.”
Wow, Jess! This looks so fantastic! I am heading out to get the ingredients right now! I mean, with all that spinach… its basically a health food, right? More slices for me! Thanks!
When do the onions go on the pizza?
they are in the skillet with the spinach! so the onions and spinach all go on at once.
Looks delicious and I’m going to try adding garlic salt, black Olives and Mushrooms. Can’t wait to try it.
Super delicious!!
Miki x
https://www.littletasteofbeauty.com/
we made the spinach pizza tonight and it was delicious.
I DID make a cheesy white sauce with parmesan, milk, and some garlic that we thickened and put on the crust first.
that only elevated the yummy spinach/onion mix even more. :0)
(we also added some grilled chicken)
best pizza we’ve had in awhile. thanks!
This was so good, trashed it up a bit by using Boursin instead of Ricott, brushed the crust with butter and Parmesan. Finally added hot honey once it came out the oven. DIVINE 🥺
Made this last night for dinner – super good! I would add another pinch of salt to my spinach when I make it again. I also used frozen spinach and just cooked out the excess water in a pan. It was kind of a pain: I cooked out the water from the spinach, took the spinach out, then did the onions, then put the spinach back in the pan. But that’s ok – it worked fine, no soggy pizza. Thanks Jessica!
You could simply add the frozen spinach to the onions, no need to take them out! The water can cook out of the whole mixture.
This pizza was so delicious! Great mix of flavors, the smoked mozzarella was great, I’ve never used it before!
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Although I used Whole Foods dough for the pizza crust, I can attest that the toppings/filling are a delicious combination! I will definitely be making this again in the future. Thank you!