Roasted Garlic, Spinach & Tomato Whole Wheat Pizza

Roasted Garlic, Spinach & Tomato Whole Wheat Pizza – satisfyingly healthy, vegetarian meal the whole family will love!

I was supposed to share this pizza recipe last week for Mystery Dish but my computer had other plans. I primarily use my MacBook for all things work related. It was having problems first with the trackpad, then Google Chrome started acting up and things just sort of went downhill from there. I brought it into the Apple store and the diagnosis? The hard drive was failing. Ugh.

They wanted me to leave the computer with them so they could replace the hard drive, but guess what? I hadn’t backed up one. single. thing. Not cool when you have hundreds of important photos and things from your blog and run the risk of losing them all. Sooo…I bought a spacious external hard drive and got started backing everything up.

Another SNAFU. It wouldn’t complete my backup. After about one hour of downloading, it would say “backup failed” and that was that. I tried a bunch of different things, chatted with Apple, ripped my hair out, and then took it into the Geek Squad at Best Buy. They had to pull the hard drive out of my computer, plug it into their system, download all my files into their system, then download it back onto my external hard drive, and then put my hard drive back into the laptop.

That took about 2 loooong days and $135. Sheesh. After I got my computer back, I walked it into the Apple store to have the hard drive replaced (I might have cried a little bit when they took it away. No, seriously.) 😉 But luckily I had the warranty so it was totally covered. Now as I write this post, I’m back on my laptop with a brand-spankin’ new hard drive AND trackpad! Booyah!

It was a total pain but I learned a huge lesson – back up your stuff!! Even if you’re not a food blogger with tons of food pictures – you could lose photos of your kids, family, pets, etc! It’s important stuff guys. I’m so happy I was able to recover my data, even if I had to start over with other applications that didn’t transfer.

Anyway, I’m sure you didn’t stop by to hear all about my computer headaches, but more about this crazy, delicious pizza. Am I right?

My intent with this pizza, was to fulfill the Mystery Dish requirements of using at least 3 ingredients from the list talented Colleen from The Smart Cookie Cook, came up with. Here’s her list: White Chocolate – Peppermint Bark – Muenster cheese – Eggnog – Canned biscuits – Nutmeg – Browned butter – Cherry tomatoes – Spinach – Roasted Garlic – Vanilla ice cream – cream cheese

At first glance, I wanted to make a yummy eggnog dessert, or something with white chocolate. But if you’re like me then you maybe gained a few pounds during the holidays (please tell me I’m not the only one). So, yeah. Time to maybe not eat so many sweets?

I’m a huge cherry tomato fan. I buy them just about every week and keep them on the counter so when I need a healthy snack, I grab a handful of them. I used to hate tomatoes when I was younger but now I LOVE them. Same goes for spinach. I never liked it growing up, but now I buy the huge bags of it at costco and make green smoothies, add it to my omelettes, or just basically throw it in anywhere I can.

But have you ever roasted garlic before? It’s so easy and really adds a whole new dimension of flavor to garlic.

The thing that’s great about this pizza is there’s no sauce. The only sauce is the roasted garlic which saves a lot on calories plus a little bit of cheese. The mozzarella and parmesan hold it all together with the spinach and tomatoes to really bind the flavors together. The pine nuts are the crunchy icing on the cake aka pizza pie. 😉 And that whole wheat crust is absolutely delicious. It’s a healthy, filling real meal you and your family/guests/whoever will love! I didn’t get a chance to say it before with all my computer problems, but Happy New Year! xo!

Whole Wheat Spinach, Tomato & Roasted Garlic Pizza

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Servings: 1 large pizza

Author: Jenn

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 whole head garlic
• ▢ 1 3/4 - 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• ▢ 1 1/4-oz envelope pizza yeast (I used Fleischmann's brand)
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• ▢ 3/4 tsp. salt
• ▢ 2/3 cup very warm water 120º - 130ºF
• ▢ 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• ▢ 2 tsp. olive oil
• ▢ 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• ▢ 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella
• ▢ 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• ▢ 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• ▢ 1 Tbsp. pine nuts

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Slice 1/2" off the top of the garlic head and place cut side up on a piece of foil. Drizzle with 1 tsp. olive oil and a bit of water. Wrap up in foil and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes.
• Meanwhile, Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add water and 3 Tbsp. olive oil. Mix until blended, about 1 minute.
• Gradually add enough remaining flour until a soft ball is formed. Dough will be somewhat sticky.
• Knead dough on a floured surface, adding more flour if needed. About 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
• Preheat oven to 425ºF.
• Pat dough to fill out greased pizza pan. Spread 2 tsp. olive oil onto dough.
• Squeeze cooled garlic up and out of the skins and into a small bowl. smash with a fork to make a creamy garlic mixture. Spread onto oiled crust. Season with salt and pepper.
• Bake crust for 8 minutes. Then top with spinach, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, parmesan and pine nuts.
• Cook for an additional 5-8 minutes or until cheese is melted and tomatoes are tender. Cut into slices and enjoy

Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @JenNikolaus or tag #YummyHealthyEasy!

Check out what my Mystery Dish friends made this month:

1. Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies – I Dig Pinterest
2. Spinach, Tomato & Roasted Garlic Flatbread – Inspiration Kitchen
3. Spiced Biscotti with Eggnog Glaze – The Pajama Chef
4. Brown Butter Eggnog Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze – Flavor the Moments
5. Creamy Chicken Pasta Skillet – Simpy Gloria
6. Brown Butter Nutmeg Melted Ice Cream Cupcakes – The Sweet {Tooth} Life
7. White Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Blondies – Culinary Couture
8. Spinach and Tomato Quiche with Whole Wheat Crust  – The Well Floured Kitchen
9. Peppermint Bark Milkshake – The Smart Cookie Cook

 Looking for more easy & healthy dinner recipes?

Quick & Easy Chicken Fajitas

Stuffed Bell Peppers Casserole

One Pot Turkey Taco Skillet