My new favourite pizza?

Yes, Mr Blogspot, I am ignoring the red squiggly line under favourite. That's how it's spelled here, like it or not. Nobody's listening to you anyway, since blogspot has its own squiggly line. Let's talk about my pizza instead.

The photo is terrible, but it was after dark when I made this, and this is the best I could do. What you're looking at is a base of creamy chipotle spinach, topped with sweet potatoes, feta and cilantro. 

Make the pizza dough first, and then the spinach, so it can cool while the dough is rising. If you are using tiles or a pizza stone, preheat oven to 500/550℉ at least 30 minutes before you want to bake the pizza. If you are using a cookie sheet, preheat it for 10 minutes or so.

Basic pizza dough (from Gourmet Today)

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

about 1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading

¾ cup warm water

1½ teaspoons salt

1½ teaspoons olive oil

Stir together the yeast, 1 tablespoon flour and ¼ cup warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. If nothing happens, you need new yeast.

Stir together 1¼ cups flour and the salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, the remaining water and the olive oil and stir until smooth. Add enough of the remaining flour (about ½ cup) so dough comes away from sides of bowl. The dough may be wetter than other doughs you've made (I didn't find this).

Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands until smooth, soft, and elastic. This dough was great: very silky, but not sticky at all. Form into a ball, put on a lightly floured surface and generously dust with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap (or the large bowl you just dirtied), and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1¼ hours. 

To shape dough, do not punch down dough, but generously flour it and transfer it to a dry work surface. Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting bottom just touch the surface, quickly and carefully move your hands around edge of dough as though you were turning a steering wheel, allowing weight of dough to stretch round to roughly 10 inches. Okay, that's confusing--just shape it however you usually do! More detail from the book: lay dough on a floured surface and continue to work edges with your fingers, stretching it to a 14-inch round. Lay the dough on a peel dusted with cornmeal. Top with spinach, and then sweet potatoes and crumbled feta, or other cheese, a little or a lot. Bake for 10-12 minutes if using tiles, a few minutes longer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. 

Creamy chipotle spinach

about ½ cup whipping cream

1 bunch spinach, washed and trimmed, or an 8-ounce bag

1 chipotle in adobo, chopped

salt to taste

Combine cream and chipotle in a wide, flat pan, over medium-high heat, and reduce cream to about ¼-⅓ cup. Add spinach and salt, and turn, until wilted. Set aside to cool. 

Just before baking, peel and slice your sweet potato very thinly. I steamed mine for a few minutes, but I don't think it was necessary, as I cut them on a mandolin. 

The before picture: