Day 4 – over half way already! Time for something a bit different. Out of the 7 recipes for the week, this was probably the one we were least looking forward to. Spinach and ricotta pizza blanco. Me, because I’ve never been very good at pizza dough and Dave, because he expects meat to be part of every meal.
Spinach and ricotta pizza blanco
Ingredients:
- Strong white bread flour, 300g
- Fast-action yeast 7g
- Olive oil
- Ricotta, 200g
- Garlic, 1 clove crushed
- Frozen spinach, 300g defrosted, squeezed out and chopped
- Mozzarella, 1 small ball, sliced.
Method:
- Put the flour and yeast in a bowl with 1tbsp salt and mix. Mix in 1 tbsp oil and 200ml warm water to make a soft dough. Tip onto the surface and knead until smooth and springy (use a little extra flour if needed).
- Beat the ricotta with the garlic and season really well. Mix the spinach with a tbsp olive oil and season.
- Roll out the pizza dough to a thin round approx 35cm across. Put on a large baking tray and heat the oven to 220c/fan200/ gas 7. Brush the edges of the pizza with olive oil, spread the pizza base with the ricotta and dot over the spinach. Top with slices of mozzarella. Bake for 15 to 20 mins until crisp and golden. Finish with an extra drizzle of oil if you like
Verdict:
Wow! I made pizza from scratch! Give me a job at Pizza Express! This was fab, we wolfed it down in 10 secs flat! I’ll definitely be making pizza again. The ricotta and spinach mix was refreshingly different and very tasty (with the garlic running through it) but next time I’ll try it with a tomato base. 9/10