I have a confession to make…
sometimes I get off track…sometimes I get so off track that I’m in another neighborhood altogether…
such is the birth of this awesome, you’ve got to try this pizza!
My inspiration was from a dish on the January Paint Bucket, my monthly bucket list of recipes to try, called Deep Dish Spinach Quiche with Toasted Sesame Crust from Half Baked Harvest
Even though quiche is one of my very favorite things to make and cook, I just couldn’t get in the mood, and I was craving something a little lighter.
The sesame crust had me intrigued though, and I had a Pillsbury thin style refrigerated pizza crust in the fridge just begging for attention. I sprinkled it liberally with sesame seeds and gently pressed them into the dough before baking
I am “pizza crust picky,” and homemade dough is sooooooooo much better, but let me tell you, this thin crust version from Pillsbury is really good!
After baking I spread the crust with a thin layer of Alfredo. You can skip this to cut calories, or use a little cheese or marinara, but some sauce helps glue the vegetables down and hold the pizza together
Saute the mushrooms over medium high until golden, I usually get Baby Bellas, they have more flavor than white mushrooms
Top with half of the fresh spinach* and cover pan
Let it cook for a few minutes to wilt, then add the rest of the spinach and repeat
Use a slotted spoon to transfer vegetables to pizza crust, spinach is full of water, so try to drain it as much as possible so the crust doesn’t get soggy
Sprinkle with 2/3 of Parmesan and top with prosciutto and bake for about 10 more minutes
Top with remaining Parmesan and return to oven just to melt
SESAME CRUSTED SPINACH, MUSHROOM & PROSCIUTTO PIZZA
Ingredients
- 1 can of pizza crust dough
- 1 bag. 6 oz baby spinach
- 8 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1 olive oil
- 1 T butter
- salt and pepper
- 3-4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto
- 1/2 cup light Alfredo Sauce
- 4 oz shaved Parmesan cheese divided
Instructions
- Unroll dough onto cookie sheet and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Gently push seeds into dough. Bake at 400 10 minutes, until turning golden.
- While crust is baked saute mushrooms in butter and olive oil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden and cooked through. Top with 1/2 spinach and cover with a lid. Let steam for several minutes then remove lid and stir wilted spinach into mushrooms. Add remaining spinach and repeat..Set vegetables aside until crust is ready.
- Remove crust from oven and top with a thin layer of Alfredo sauce. Top with spinach and mushrooms, using a slotted spoon and squeezing spinach to drain. Cover vegetables with 2/3 of Parmesan, then proscuitto. Return to oven and bake 5-8 more minutes until brown bubbly and cheese is melted. Top with remaining Parmesan and return to oven for 2 minutes to melt. Cut into 8 squares
*you can use frozen spinach, but fresh spinach is simply better in flavor and texture for this pizza
We had this pizza with French Onion Soup with Roasted Garlic, Beer and Bacon** and it was Heaven!
** I omitted the bacon from the soup since we were having this prosciutto topped pizza
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, toast them in a toaster oven or reheat in a 350 oven for 5 minutes or until hot
You are going to love the sesame crust!
Juicy Details
If you want a no fail, fabulous, recipe for thin pizza dough, see Guy Fieri’s pizza dough here. We make this all the time, it freezes beautifully and you can’t screw it up. It rolls out like a dream and is not sticky
You also might like this pizza, Guy’s French Pig Pizza here
**I also modified this French Onion Soup with Roasted Garlic Beer and Bacon recipe and used 1 head of roasted garlic [I only had one] and substituted sherry for beer [because I didn’t have any] and it was still insanely good 🙂
for another printable version of Sesame Crusted Spinach, Mushroom & Prosciutto Pizza click here
Next time you’re thinking pizza, try making one of these…they are lighter, healthier and soooo much better than take-out!
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