The recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g proofed pizza dough, ready to bake
- 100 g fresh baby spinach
- 60 g ricotta, separated whey poured away
- 50 g mozzarella, well drained
- ½ small garlic clove
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 small pinch of nutmeg
- Salt and black pepper
- A little flour or fine semolina for shaping
Method
- Preheat to 250°C with conventional top and bottom heat, heating a suitable stone or steel according to its instructions. Keep dough covered until supple.
- Wash spinach and remove firm stalks. Finely chop garlic and briefly soften in the oil over medium heat. Add spinach and wilt for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Cool in a sieve, gently squeeze and chop roughly. Season ricotta with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg.
- Open dough to 28 to 30 cm. Check that it slides on a lightly dusted peel. Distribute mozzarella, spinach and small dollops of ricotta.
- Bake for approximately 8 to 12 minutes, checking from minute six. Cook the underside through without excessively browning the spinach.
- Remove, let steam escape briefly, slice and serve.
Cool and squeeze the cooked spinach
Weigh 100 g fresh baby spinach, wash it and remove any firm stalks. Its volume will shrink considerably during cooking. Warm a teaspoon of olive oil in a frying pan and briefly add half a finely chopped garlic clove. Once fragrant, add the spinach. Turn the leaves over medium heat until wilted, approximately two to three minutes, keeping the garlic from darkening. Transfer everything to a sieve and let it cool until comfortable to handle.
Gently squeeze out the cooled leaves and chop them roughly. This prevents a puddle of water between the cheese and dough. Later, distribute the spinach in small loose nests. A compact wet ball in the centre weighs down the base and is awkward to divide when eating. Frozen spinach involves a different starting quantity: the 100 g specified here refers to fresh uncooked leaves. Use that fresh version for this method instead of assuming the same weight of prepared frozen spinach is equivalent.
Distribute ricotta in small dollops
Use 60 g ricotta and 50 g well-drained mozzarella. Pour away any visibly separated whey from the ricotta, then season with a little salt, pepper and a small pinch of nutmeg. Add it in small portions between the spinach rather than spreading a thick continuous layer. Mozzarella melts in the gaps and brings the topping together. This pizza has no tomato sauce; the mild cheeses and spinach provide its main flavours.
The dough ball should already be proofed and ready to bake. Allow separately for making the dough and preheating the oven. Shape an evenly thin base with a narrow rim and top it promptly. Watch the exposed spinach edges during baking: a little roasting is welcome, but they should not become black and dry. If the topping darkens early while the underside remains soft, give the baking surface more preheating time or adjust its position on the next round. Serve straight after baking.