Dirty Dancing Pizza

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner".....  that's right, not when she comes out of the kitchen with this pizza! I am a big Dirty Dancing fan- I watched it for the 20th (at least) time last week and this pizza uses some "baby" veggies, so there you go. My favorite "men in green", The Phila Eagles, are playing a pre-season game tonight, so the spinach green is for them, Let's GO Eagles!

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

3 cups fresh baby spinach

8 oz. sliced baby bella mushrooms

4 Tbsp tomato pesto

8 kalamata olives, sliced in half

3/4 cup ricotta cheese
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
handful of corn meal

1 pizza dough (home made or store bought)
corn meal

On a sheet pan sprinkle a little corn meal. Roll out pizza dough to fit pan, turning ends in. Brush ends with a little xtra virgin olive oil and set aside.

In a skillet heat 2 tsp olive oil until hot, add garlic and saute' for 2 min. Add mushrooms and saute' additional 3-4 min, until they are soft. Add spinach leaves and stir until wilted. Sprinkle with a little  cracked black pepper.

Spread the tomato pesto on the pizza dough. Using a slotted spoon, spread the mushroom and spinach/garlic mixture over the dough. Spoon teaspoons of the ricotta, add the olives and top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. SPrinkle with red pepper flakes, if desired. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15-20 min.until mozarella is melted and bubbly. Note- if you don't have corn meal, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil onto sheet pan. (this will keep crust from sticking). If you don't have tomato pesto you can use tomato sauce, about 1 1/2 Tbsp, spread thinly over the crust.

Pizza is one of those things that's really fun to make together, maybe it's date night? Enjoy! Lots of energy for some dirty dancing!

I make pizzas all the time and hands down, this is my favorite!