I made this pizza tonight in an effort to stay awake, but then I got so excited by how good it turned it out that I immediately want to share it... or maybe it's my delishional state (due to lack of sleep). (Don't worry - the Asian invasion isn't quite over yet. I still have my favorite dish left to share...) Yesterday afternoon, I was feeling sluggish and a bit fevered so I laid down to take a nap around 6 p.m. Well I didn't wake back up until 11 - and at that time I was feeling fantastic!
That means I didn't fall back asleep until about 3 a.m., which was followed by a series of bad/bizarre dreams that kept jolting me back awake. Mice running at me and tornados. I've been exhausted all day but I wanted to stay awake long enough that I'd be able to sleep through the night. So here we are.
I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home - mostly because I had no idea what I wanted. As soon as I walked by the broccoli I knew I wanted to make a pizza. My favorite pizza place in Chicago, Piece on North Avenue, is New Haven style. My roommate and I often go and get a white pizza (no sauce but lots of garlic) with tomatoes, artichokes, spinach and goat cheese. Last time I went I had a white pizza with broccoli and spinach. It was phenomenal - the broccoli caramelizes just a bit and mixes with the cheese for a gooey treat. My mini pizza (on a pita bread) was missing roasted garlic because I didn't want to wait while the garlic roasted - I would have fallen asleep. This is definitely going to help my cravings for Piece when I'm not here anymore. (Don't get me wrong - Piece's pizza is by far superior. If you have a chance to go - go! They have great beer too. Their Hefeweissen just won bronze at World Beer Cup last weekend.)
Start with pre-roasting the broccoli a little bit so you don't have to burn the whole pizza to get that caramelized flavor. Put on a pan and drizzle with EVOO. (Thanks Rachel Ray.)
While the broccoli is roasting, prep all the other ingreidents - whip off and slice cremini mushrooms, wash and pat dry spinach and slice up the mozzerella. (See all the prepped ingredinets - they are blurry so you can't. Hehe!)
Pull out the broccoli out when it start to turn a little brown in spots but not cooked through.
To assemble the pizza, I started with a whole wheat pita (on foil for easy clean up) and a drizzle of EVOO.
I smoothed out the oil with a spinach leaf and then add the rest for a bed of spinach.
Add the broccoli. I've always loved steamed broccoli with butter, which was probably my favorite food as a kid. Roasting broccoli might be my new favorite way to prepare it though!
Add the sliced mushrooms.
Add the fresh mozzerella.
Spot goat cheese all over. Goat cheese takes any pizza from great to phenomenal. The creamy texture and rich taste bring the whole thing over the top.
Stick in a 400 degree oven until the cheese is melted and edges of the pita bread are a little toasty.
Add hot pepper flakes - if you're into that kind of thing. Enjoy! I certainly did!
Happy cooking. (Did you ever watch Bob Ross? He makes me extremely happy - and at the end of all his shows he says, "Happy painting and God bless." It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.)
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