Florentine Frying-Pan Pizza

• 3 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
• ½ pound mushrooms, sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup milk
• nutmeg
• 1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  
• 1 pound store-bought pizza dough, quartered
• 1 cup shredded Italian Fontina or Provolone cheese
• ¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat the oven to 425oF.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Add the mushrooms and sauté until golden brown. Season them with salt and pepper, then remove to a plate. Lower the heat to medium-low, then add the butter to the pan and melt. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute, then sprinkle the flour into the pan and whisk for a minute. Whisk in the milk and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Add the mushrooms back to the skillet and stir them into the sauce. Separate the drained defrosted spinach with your fingers to loosen it up as you add it to the pan. Stir the spinach into the mushrooms and sauce. Remove from the heat.

Roll out ¼ pound of pizza dough to form a round large enough to cover the bottom and sides of a 6-inch skillet. Wrap and freeze the unused pizza dough in ¼-pound individual portions. Heads up: If your skillet handle isn’t oven-safe, wrap the handle a couple of times with aluminum foil. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of EVOO into the skillet and coat the sides with a pastry brush. Lay the dough into the skillet, pressing gently as you work the dough up the sides so it reaches the edge of the skillet. Fill the dough with the mushroom and spinach mixture and top with Fontina or Provolone and the Parmigiano cheeses. Pop in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the edges and bottom of the crust are golden brown.

Things I learned from this recipe-
1. cast iron skillet handles stay hot long after they come out of the oven... ouch!
2. be light on the salt you add... i got mine too salty because the cheeses are already pretty salty, so it kind of makes the whole dish get salty fast if you don't go light while cooking the mushrooms and sauce.


Rating: YUM