Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Greek-Style Pizza with Ricotta and Feta

I have been eating horribly lately, which is why I haven't been updating as much as I should. I have been on the hunt for a new roommate/apartment as well as a new job so life has been stressful and it has caused me to not cook as much and basically eat anything that is in front of me. But I am trying to get back on track!

My amazing internship at J Public Relations has been a great way for me to take my mind off of all the stresses and learn a lot. One of their clients is a great juice cleanse company called BluePrintCleanse that I am SO excited to start on Monday. I am planning on documenting everything for my lovely loyal readers and let you know all of the good and bad of doing the BPC cleanse!

Now...on to my latest cooking adventure! This recipe from Shape Magazine will make you never want to order pizza in! I needed to find something that would be easy and very tasty. I didn't want to have junk-food withdrawals and this pizza not only tasted amazing but left me feeling great after eating. I hope I can stay on track and get my life in order! I know that my cleanse on Monday will truly help me get everything together.

On to the FOOD!!


Ingredients:
Makes 8 slices

Cornmeal for sprinkling
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped fennel
1 10-ounce package chopped frozen spinach, thawed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 14-inch whole-grain pizza crust (see recipe, p. 214) or store-bought pizza dough
3.4 cup fat-free prepared marinara sauce
1.2 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese (about 3.4 cup)
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1.4 cup chopped fresh mint

Directions
  • Place a pizza stone on middle oven rack, turn oven to 500°F, and let stone heat for 20 minutes. (Alternately, use a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal; preheat oven but not sheet to 500°F). If using a stone, liberally sprinkle a wooden peel or baking sheet with cornmeal.
  • Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fennel and sauté 5 minutes; reduce heat to low. Squeeze spinach to remove excess water and stir into fennel. Season with salt and pepper.
  • On a lightly floured clean surface, roll dough to form a 14-inch circle. Transfer to prepared peel or baking sheet and slide dough onto heated pizza stone—or just transfer to baking sheet—and cook 5 minutes. Remove pizza stone or sheet from oven to add toppings.
  • Spread sauce over crust. Arrange fennel-spinach mixture evenly over red sauce. Spoon tiny dollops of ricotta over fennel-spinach mixture. Sprinkle with feta and bake 12 to 15 minutes more, or until edges are golden.
  • While pizza cooks, place tomatoes and mint in a bowl and toss to combine. Scatter mixture over pizza before cutting it into 8 slices and serving.
Nutrition Information per serving:
(1 slice): 176 calories, 4 g fat (23% calories), 2 g saturated fat, 27 g carbs, 7 g protein, 3 g fiber, 128 mg calcium, 2 g iron, 381 mg sodium

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