day 4, recipe 4; Light & Healthy Pizza, hmm.

My boyfriend refers to this as "greek-za". It was delicious, but hardly what I'd classify easy. Between struggling to improvise the dough recipe to utilize the tools I had handy, to finding under-risen dough at the half way mark and under cooked pizza at the end of the recommended cooking time, I was more then discouraged. In the end, this pizza was a melody of crispy crust, garlic and feta. I'd make it again, but on a time crunch I can almost guarantee I'd find myself rummaging through the takeout flyers for a quick fix.

1 1/2 C            fresh broccoli
1/2                  red onion
1/4 C               kalamata olives, pitted, chopped into pieces
5 cloves           garlic
1 can               diced tomatoes
1/4 C               feta cheese, crumbles
                       pizza dough
1 T+3t             olive oil

Prep work:
1 1/2 C            fresh broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
1/2                  red onion, chopped
                      vegetable oil spray
Coating:
3 t                   olive oil
2 cloves           fresh garlic, minced
Mix together in a bowl, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray. Spread broccoli and onion onto sheet and coat in spray once more; Bake for 11 minutes. Toss with olive oil coating and set aside.

*This is a crucial step in ensuring you don't end up with soggy pizza- vegetables leak liquid when cooked so baking them for a short while is very important.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees F. Spread pizza dough onto a pan- I used a rectangular, shallow pan to make a slab pizza. I sprinkled the bottom of the pan with flour before spreading the dough and brushed 1 tablespoon of olive oil before placing into oven. When dough is evenly pressed onto the pan, put into oven and bake for 5 minutes.

Sauce:
1 can               diced tomatoes, drained
3 cloves           garlic, minced
                       salt & pepper, to taste

In a handheld food processor, mix together tomatoes, garlic, salt & pepper.

Spread 1/2 sauce mixture over pre-baked pizza dough. Sprinkle the broccoli and onions over top. Add olives and feta cheese. Return to 500 degree oven and bake for 12 minutes.

The original recipe called for this to bake for 5-8 minutes. Talk about disappointment- it wasn't even close to done. The recipe boasts of a crispy crust- which indeed it did have after cooking for 12 minutes. If you were timing this pizza around a side dish- such as our delicious buffalo style chicken wings- you'd have been most disappointed that the timing was off.
Interesting experience, overall. One day, I'm sure I'll be spinning dough over my head and laughing at folks ordering from Pizza Nova for a "true italian experience"...for now, however- I won't scoff at my own desire to pick up the phone for a quick fix.
Delicious? Definitely!
Healthy? Agreed!
Worth the effort? Debatable.

No wonder the delivery guy bashfully looks away when he shows up with your soggy Veggie Supreme.