White Cheese Pizza w/ Shrimp & Spinach

Sorry to overload you with shrimp recipes, but shrimp was on sale last week so that meant it was time to get creative. Shrimp can be frozen for up to three weeks and defrosts quickly for a great weeknight meal.

I've already let you in on the pizza battles that occur in our household (Mr. Foodie being a pizza snob...because he's from the deep dish pizza capital of the world, Chicago...*insert eye roll*). But I love pizza. I mean I love cheese and I love bread. So when you put those two things together (quesidillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc) I'm sold. So the compromise we've made has been homemade pizza.

Recently, I ate white cheese pizza when we ordered it at work and I loved the taste of the ricotta cheese on it. I wanted to recreate the white cheese pizza at home, adding spinach. And since I had the extra shrimp at home, I decided to add shrimp to it also.

Now I'm really am at a loss for words in describing how GOOD this pizza is but I'll try to formulate something. I have made a few variations of pizza (I will share them with you soon) and this one has won out as the current favorite. The cream sauce on top of the dough is perfect with the Italian seasoning added. The ricotta and mozzarella cheese, spread over the entire pizza, taste heavenly with the spinach and seasoned shrimp. I cut each shrimp in half so there would be enough shrimp to go over the entire pizza. I didn't want to miss out in any bite. Bottom line, this pizza is extremely flavorful and satisfying.

It is also a very quick and easy recipe. Although you can follow the recipe I created below, feel free to make your own variations. I think it would be great with some artichoke hearts or broccoli instead of shrimp, to make it truly vegetarian, or maybe a little crabmeat instead. The possibilities are endless so please...try this pizza. You'll be glad you did.



White Cheese Pizza w/ Shrimp and Spinach
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
flour, for dusting
1 ball prepared pizza dough
1 tablespoon olive oil
garlic cream sauce (recipe below)
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup steamed spinach
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deviened, cut in half, lengthwise (I seasoned the shrimp with a little old bay seasoning)

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees

Flour your hands and work surface liberally. Knead dough and roll out using a rolling pin, to approximately 12-14 inches in diameter. Place on lightly floured baking sheet (I have a round one I use or you can use a pizza stone). Lightly brush the dough with the olive oil. Bake in oven for 5-6 min.

While dough is in the oven, mix the ricotta cheese with pepper and Italian seasoning

Remove dough from oven and brush with the garlic cream sauce. Spread the sauce over the dough, leaving 1/4 inch around for your crust. Then spread the ricotta cheese on top of the garlic cream sauce, using the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Then top with the spinach and shrimp, spreading evenly.

Place the pizza in the oven to bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown and bubbly. Leave pizza in oven for additional time if you want a crispier crust.

Remove pizza from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve warm and enjoy.

Cream Sauce -
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
pinch salt and pepper

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Then add the garlic and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add the heavy cream, lower to medium low heat and let simmer, approximately 5 minutes, until it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.