Spring Time Pizza Recipes

After heating up the oven to 450 degrees it was too hot to eat in the house.  We took our plates and moved outside to the picnic table and ate our slices of pizza in the cool shade our maple tree.
I made my favorite pizza: roasted beet, feta, caramelized onion and walnuts.
I made a second pizza: feta, pizza cheese, beet greens and morels.
Between the two pizzas I used a beet and all the beet greens off of the bunch I bought from the farmer's market Saturday morning.  Reluctantly, I let Adam pack the remaining slices for his work day lunch.  I know that I will be making pasta with radish green pesto for the kids and I...  but that pizza was so, so good.

I always enjoy pizza night.
I like to think that it involves washing less dishes...  probably not true...  after making the dough, caramelizing onions and mixing up the sauces the dishes pile up just the same.  But it feels different.
I like sliding the pizza onto the baking stone in the oven.
I like the crisp crust. (I frown on the crusts left on the edges of my husband's plate.)
I like that the pizza can mirror the season or that it can function as a reminder of the summer sun in the cold of winter.  (Reminder to myself: make twice as much pizza sauce this year.  We ran out too quickly.)

Spring Time Pizzas!

I used a twelve ounce ball of pizza dough for each pizza.  My favorite dough recipe is listed here. If you are making pizza dough from scratch use the rising time to prep the pizza toppings.

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces feta
1 onion
1 bunch beet greens
1 beet
walnuts
morels
mozzarella cheese
Italian seasoning
salt, pepper

•  make spreadable feta, used on both pizzas

                 - 8 ounces cream cheese

                 - 4 ounces feta

                 - oil , enough to make it spreadable 

• caramelize an onion (cut into rings) in butter, if it is a plain yellow or red onion add a little sugar or honey and add a good sprinkle of rosemary, used on both pizzas
• and assemble:

Roasted Beet Pizza

• Roll out the first pizza and spread with half of the feta mixture. 
• coarsely chop half of the bunch of beet greens and sprinkle over the feta.
• add a layer of caramelized onions
• finely slice one (or more) beet and layer over the onions
• sprinkle with walnuts
• dust with freshly ground pepper

Morel Pizza with Beet Greens

• roll out the second pizza
• take the remainder of the spreadable feta and add a dash of Italian seasoning and the remainder of the beet greens (finely chopped), mix together and spread on the dough
• add caramelized onions
• sprinkle with mozzarella cheese 
• top with morels

Bake both pizzas at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 - 20 minutes.