White Spinach Pizza (No tomato sauce)

I have been making pizza since many years, but not all of them were successful. Many of my pizza experiments failed miserably and disappointed me. Burnt base, Undercooked crust, over baked and hard crust, chewy crust, flavorless pizza, I have made them all. But my kids never complain even when I made the worst pizza of all times.  Not only just pizza, they don’t complain about anything at all. After tasting the food myself, I know exactly weather or not I have done a good job. I always kept second quick dinner option ready whenever I made pizza. Just in case, pizza failed, I have a second option available for dinner. lol..

I am glad finally I found recipe which works for me. I haven’t failed even once when I use this recipe for pizza. I have stopped making second dinner ever since I have tried this recipe. This recipe never disappointed me. Trust me people, try this recipe and let me know how it turned out. If you do not have yeast handy, please try my Stove top No Yeast Pizza.

This Pizza recipe is a No-Tomato sauce pizza recipe. Not a regular Pizza sauce pizza, but a white creamy gooey spinach sauce which goes on the top with cheese and other toppings. It’s an alternative for those who suffer from acid redux and heart burn.

How to make pizza dough:

• 3 and 1/4 cup All purpose flour (I used Organic Simple Truth brand)**
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 packet of Instant yeast (2 and 1/4 tsp)
• 1tbsp sugar
• 1tsp salt
• 1tsp garlic powder(optional)
• 1tsp Dried Basil(optional)

1. In a large bowl, add yeast, sugar, warm water and mix well until sugar is dissolved. Since I am using instant dry yeast, it doesn’t require proofing. 
2. Add oil, garlic powder and basil in the yeast mixture and whisk until well incorporated.
3. Slowly add flour in batches and keep mixing the dough until it’s formed. The dough will be soft and smooth. Knead the dough well. (If it’s feels sticky add another couple of tablespoons of flour to it and knead for good 8-10 minutes.)
4. Drizzle some olive oil on the dough and cover it with a damp towel and keep it in a warm place to rise for an hour. The dough should double in size.**

How to make White sauce?

• 2 tbsp olive oil
•  1/3 cup chopped onions
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 cups of milk(divided : 1/4 cup plus 1 and 3/4)
• 2 cups chopped spinach(optional)
• Salt to taste 
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried Basil

1. When the dough is kept for rising, we need to prepare the white sauce. We are not going to use our regular tomato based pizza sauce. 
2. Add olive oil, in a pan, add chopped onions, garlic and sauté them until they are cooked.
3. Add flour and cook it until it changes its color.
4. Add 1/4 cup of milk to the above mixture and bring it to boil.
5. Add the remaining milk to the mixture and bring it to boil. Don’t worry if there are lumps formed. If you boil it,  you can ensure that the mixture is well cooked. 
6. Add chopped spinach and cook until the spinach reduces in quantity. You can totally skip spinach if you want plain white sauce. Add salt, garlic powder and basil to the sauce.
7. Keep aside this white sauce and let it cool down.

How to make Pizza:

• Pizza dough (made earlier)
• Pizza sauce (made earlier)
• 10 oz cheese (you can use mozzarella, cheddar,  monterey jack, colby cheese or combination of all
• Pizza seasoning (dried basil, sage, oregano or any italian seasoning)

1.  Once the dough doubles in size, dump it on a pizza pan. I used my  17in* 11in cookie sheet for this pizza. Spread the dough with your fingers.

 2. Drizzle olive on top of the pizza dough. Spread the white spinach sauce on the pizza dough base directly. Spread 10 ounces of cheeses on top. I used 6 oz of mozzarella and 4oz of Mexican blend cheese. 

3.  Add chopped green pepaper on top. You can choose any toppings like olives, corn, broccoli or any vegetable of your choice.

 

4.  Bake pizza for 20-22 minutes on 400 degree F/ 200 degree C on the middle rack of your oven.

Notes:

1. If you have instant pot, go ahead and keep the dough in it on yogurt setting for an hour. If you do not have the instant pot, turn on the oven light on (Just the oven light!!) and keep the dough inside the oven for an hour. The warmth of the oven light is just enough to rise the dough. You can also preheat the oven and keep the dough on top of the oven/gas range (not inside the oven) and let it sit for an hour.
2. If you are adding Active DryYeast, you may have to proof the yeast first and then add flour to it. 
3. To make Quick No yeast No oven Pizza, refer to the recipe.
4. You can use Bread flour instead of All purpose flour.