Spinach Pizza

This Easy White Spinach Pizza is a culinary delight, meticulously crafted with creamy ricotta, tender spinach, aromatic Italian herbs, and a generous blend of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. It perfectly captures the classic Florentine flavor, reimagined in a delectable pizza form that’s sure to become a family favorite.

If you’re a true pizza enthusiast, you won’t want to miss our other fantastic recipes. Explore the bold flavors of our Taco Pizza, the fresh simplicity of Tomato Pizza, the zesty kick of Buffalo Chicken Pizza, or the rich taste of Chicken Pesto Pizza. For fun snacks, try our Pizza Rolls, and for an easy shareable option, our Easy Pull Apart Pizza Bread is a must-try.

Understanding Pizza Florentine: A Culinary Journey to Florence

The term “Florentine” in cooking is a homage to the illustrious Italian city of Florence, known for its rich artistic heritage and distinctive culinary traditions. When a dish is prepared “Florentine style,” it almost invariably features spinach as a key ingredient, often complemented by a luxurious, creamy sauce. This signature combination creates a depth of flavor and texture that is both elegant and incredibly comforting. Our Pizza Florentine recipe, much like our classic Chicken Florentine, embraces this tradition wholeheartedly. It transforms the humble pizza into a gourmet experience, where the vibrant taste of spinach is elevated by a rich, savory base, diverging beautifully from typical tomato-based pizzas.

In the realm of pizza, Pizza Florentine—or simply Spinach Pizza—offers an unbelievably delicious twist. It’s a testament to how simple, quality ingredients, when thoughtfully combined, can create something truly extraordinary. This style of pizza isn’t just about adding spinach; it’s about building a harmonious flavor profile where the freshness of the greens meets the creamy indulgence of ricotta and melted cheeses. The result is a pizza that is both hearty and light, offering a sophisticated yet accessible option for any meal.

Essential Ingredients for Your Perfect Spinach Pizza

Crafting the perfect white spinach pizza begins with selecting high-quality ingredients. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need and why each component is crucial:

• Pizza Dough: The foundation of any great pizza. While our homemade pizza dough provides an unparalleled texture and flavor, we understand that time is often a luxury. Feel free to use your favorite high-quality store-bought pizza dough as a convenient alternative. Look for fresh dough in the refrigerated section of your grocery store for the best results. The type of dough, whether whole wheat or all-purpose, will subtly influence the final taste and texture of your crust, allowing for personalization.
• Ricotta Cheese: This creamy Italian cheese forms the luscious white base of our Florentine pizza. You can use either whole milk or reduced-fat ricotta, depending on your preference for richness. Whole milk ricotta will yield a creamier, more decadent topping, while reduced-fat offers a slightly lighter alternative without sacrificing too much on texture. Ensure your ricotta is fresh for the best flavor.
• Spinach: For optimal results and ease of preparation, we highly recommend using defrosted, frozen chopped spinach. Frozen spinach is often blanched before freezing, which helps it cook down quickly and evenly. Crucially, it’s vital to thoroughly drain all excess moisture from the defrosted spinach to prevent your pizza from becoming soggy and to ensure the Florentine topping remains rich and concentrated in flavor.
• Mozzarella & Parmesan Cheese: The quality of your cheese makes a significant difference. It is always best to grate both the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses yourself from a block, rather than using pre-bagged shredded varieties. Pre-grated cheeses often contain anti-caking agents like cellulose, which can prevent them from melting smoothly and impart a slightly floury texture. Freshly grated cheese melts beautifully, creating that coveted gooey, stretchy texture and superior flavor that elevates the entire pizza.
• Red Pepper Flakes: These small but mighty flakes introduce a subtle warmth and a gentle kick to the pizza, balancing the richness of the cheeses. Feel free to adjust the quantity to suit your family’s spice preference. Omit them entirely for a milder pizza, or add a little extra if you enjoy a more pronounced heat.
• Garlic Oil: This simple yet powerful ingredient is essential for infusing flavor into the crust and preventing it from becoming soggy. Extra virgin olive oil is combined with fresh minced garlic and brushed generously over the pizza dough. This not only creates a wonderfully aromatic base but also acts as a barrier. If you prefer a less intense garlic flavor, you can season the olive oil with about ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, which offers a milder undertone compared to fresh minced garlic.

Expert Tips for Crafting Your Perfect White Spinach Pizza

While this recipe is remarkably straightforward, a few key techniques will elevate your Easy White Spinach Pizza from good to absolutely outstanding. Pay attention to these tips to ensure a deliciously balanced and texturally perfect outcome every time.

Infuse Flavor into Your Crust with Garlic Oil

Since this white pizza gracefully skips the traditional tomato sauce, the crust becomes a crucial vehicle for flavor. We seize this opportunity by generously brushing the pizza dough with a fragrant mixture of olive oil and freshly minced garlic. This step is twofold: it imbues the crust with a delightful savory, aromatic essence, ensuring every bite is flavorful. Additionally, this garlic-infused oil acts as a protective layer, helping to prevent the crust from becoming soggy under the creamy ricotta and spinach topping, resulting in a perfectly crispy edge and a well-cooked base.

The Critical Step: Squeeze the Spinach Dry

Before introducing the defrosted spinach to the creamy ricotta mixture, it is absolutely paramount to remove every last drop of excess moisture. This step cannot be overstated, as watery spinach is the primary culprit behind a soggy pizza and a diluted, less flavorful Florentine topping. To achieve this, we recommend placing the defrosted spinach in a clean, lint-free kitchen towel or a piece of cheesecloth. Then, with considerable force, twist and squeeze out all the liquid over a bowl or sink. You’ll be surprised by how much water comes out, and this diligence will be rewarded with a pizza that boasts a firm crust and a rich, concentrated spinach-ricotta flavor.

Creating the Creamy Florentine Base

Once your spinach is perfectly dry, it’s time to create the signature white base for this pizza. In a bowl, combine the thoroughly drained spinach with fresh ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan, and a blend of savory seasonings like dried oregano and optional red pepper flakes. Mix these ingredients thoroughly until they are well incorporated. This meticulous combination ensures that every spoonful of topping is rich, creamy, and bursting with a balanced, herbaceous flavor, forming a luscious layer that will define your Florentine pizza.

Layering Your Masterpiece: Spreading the Topping and Cheese

With the seasoned crust ready and your creamy spinach-ricotta mixture prepared, it’s time to assemble your pizza. Carefully spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the garlic-infused pizza dough, ensuring coverage from edge to edge (or leaving a small crust border if preferred). Once the base is laid, generously top it with shredded mozzarella cheese. This ample layer of mozzarella will melt into an ooey-gooey, stringy, and incredibly satisfying blanket of cheese, perfectly complementing the creamy spinach base and making your pizza absolutely irresistible.

Achieving Golden Perfection: Baking Your Spinach Pizza

The baking process is where the magic truly happens. Your pizza, with its olive oil-brushed crust and generous toppings, should be baked at a high temperature, typically around 425 degrees F, until the crust achieves a beautiful golden-brown hue and the cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly caramelized at the edges. This high heat ensures a crispy crust and perfectly cooked toppings. If you prefer a softer, chewier crust, you can slightly adjust your baking method: brush the dough with olive oil but leave a 1 to 2-inch border along the edges un-oiled, and consider baking at a slightly lower temperature, such as 400 degrees F, checking frequently until the cheese is just melted and golden.

Patience is a Virtue: Cooling Before Slicing

Once your magnificent pizza emerges from the oven, resist the immediate urge to slice into it. Allowing the pizza to cool for at least 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into wedges is a crucial step. This resting period allows the melted cheeses to set properly and the creamy spinach topping to firm up. Skipping this step often results in the topping sliding off the crust, creating a messy slice. A brief cool-down ensures that each wedge holds its structure beautifully, delivering a perfect bite every time.

Explore More Easy Italian-American Favorites

Just like this delightful Pizza Florentine, these Italian recipes have been given a charming Americanized twist, making them incredibly approachable and utterly delicious for any weeknight meal or family gathering.

• Baked Rotini: A comforting and simple pasta bake that’s always a hit.
• Ravioli Lasagna: All the layers and flavors of lasagna, made easier with store-bought ravioli.
• Caprese Pasta Salad: A refreshing and vibrant salad, perfect for summer potlucks.
• Creamy Chicken Marsala: A rich and savory classic, perfect for a special dinner.
• Pasta Puttanesca: A robust and flavorful pasta dish with a vibrant sauce.
• Pasta with Peas: A simple, comforting, and quick meal featuring tender pasta and sweet peas.

4.98 from 36 votes

Spinach Pizza

By:
Kristen Chidsey

Servings:
8

Prep:
15 mins

Cook:
20 mins

Total:
35 mins

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White Spinach Pizza is made with creamy ricotta, spinach, Italian herbs, and a mixture of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses to capture the classic Florentine flavor in pizza form.

Ingredients

Pizza Dough:

• ¾ cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• ½ tablespoon olive oil
• ½ tablespoon honey
• 1 ¾ cups whole white wheat flour, or all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the Pizza:

• cooking spray
• 1 pound pizza dough
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic, or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted, and drained well
• ½ cup ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• 2-3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions

For Pizza Dough

• Combine the warm water and yeast in a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer with a dough hook attached). Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy, indicating it is active.
  
• Once the yeast is active, stir in the honey and olive oil. Gradually add the flour and salt to the bowl, mixing as you go. Use either the dough hook on your stand mixer or a large sturdy spatula to combine the ingredients until a shaggy dough forms and all components are well incorporated.
  
• Once the ingredients are mixed, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes, or use your stand mixer with the dough hook on low-medium speed for the same duration. Kneading develops the gluten, giving the crust its characteristic chewiness.
  
• Lightly oil a clean bowl and place the kneaded dough inside, turning to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and place it in a warm spot. Allow the dough to rise for 20-30 minutes, or until it has roughly doubled in size. This proofing step is crucial for a light and airy crust.
  

For Pizza

• Preheat your oven to a blazing 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Prepare a 12-inch pizza pan or pizza stone by lightly spraying it with cooking spray or brushing it with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent sticking and encourage a crispy crust.
• On a lightly floured surface, carefully roll out the pizza dough into a 12-inch circle, aiming for a thickness of about ¼-inch. Gently transfer the rolled dough to your prepared pizza pan. Alternatively, you can save a step by rolling the dough directly onto the lightly greased pizza pan.
• In a small bowl, thoroughly combine the 1 tablespoon of olive oil, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon of fresh minced garlic (or ½ teaspoon garlic powder). Using a pastry brush, evenly spread this aromatic garlic oil mixture over the entire surface of the pizza dough, creating a flavorful base and barrier against sogginess.
  
• Take the defrosted spinach and place it into a clean, lint-free kitchen towel or cheesecloth. Over a bowl or sink, firmly squeeze out as much excess water as possible. This is a critical step to prevent a watery and soggy pizza.
  
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the thoroughly drained spinach with the ricotta cheese, dried oregano, Parmesan cheese, and optional red pepper flakes. Mix these ingredients well until a smooth, uniform, and richly seasoned mixture is achieved. Spread this creamy mixture evenly over the garlic-infused pizza dough, then generously top with the shredded mozzarella cheese.
  
• Carefully transfer the pizza to your preheated oven. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and crispy, and the cheese is beautifully melted and bubbly. The edges of the crust should be visibly browned. Once baked, remove the pizza from the oven and allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing into wedges and serving. This resting period helps the cheese set and prevents the topping from sliding off.
  

Equipment

• 12-inch pizza pan or pizza stone

Notes

Pizza Dough: While our homemade dough offers superior flavor and texture, feel free to use your favorite high-quality store-bought pizza dough as a convenient alternative.

Storage: To enjoy leftovers, allow the pizza to cool completely. Store any remaining cooled pizza slices in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. For reheating, gently warm the pizza in a dry skillet over medium heat until the cheese is melted and the crust is crispy, or reheat in a 275-degree F (135 degrees C) oven until thoroughly warmed through. Avoid microwaving, as it can make the crust soggy.

Nutrition

Calories: 235kcal


Carbohydrates: 23g


Protein: 13g


Fat: 10g


Saturated Fat: 4g


Cholesterol: 26mg


Sodium: 541mg


Potassium: 112mg


Fiber: 3g


Sugar: 1g


Vitamin A: 1355IU


Vitamin C: 0.6mg


Calcium: 233mg


Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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