Lemon – Roasted Garlic Ricotta and Veggie Whole Wheat Pizza

January 5, 2012
Well, it’s 2012.
Most of us are busy writing laundry lists of resolutions for the New Year. I am normally right there with you. But this year, I feel a bit different about resolutions.
Instead of putting myself down by listing all my flaws I need to change, not changing, and then at the end be a sad sap of a person sitting at home alone in sweatpants with a tub on Ben and Jerry’s watching Real Housewives marathons, I decided it would be more beneficial to do a state of mind overhaul.
I can’t change who I was or what I accomplished in 2011, but I can control what I accomplish and how I think during this year.

I want, for myself and for all of you readers, a general state of well-being and positivity to surround everything we think, do, say, and even how we look. I can still be sarcastic and snarky, I am just going to do it in a more glass-half-full way.

So, here is to a new year. A year full of hope, smiles, laughter, good food…
… And a little bit of sarcasm. Because let’s be honest, trying to be that happy-shiny-person all the time is really not who I am and making a resolution to be so would be a joke.
Ingredients for Ricotta Topping
1 Small Bulb of Garlic, halved
3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
15 oz. Fat Free Ricotta Cheese
The Zest and Juice from 2 Lemons
1 Tablespoon of Grated Parmesan Cheese
½ Teaspoon of Salt
¼ Teaspoon of Pepper
Cut the bulb of garlic in half. Place them in the center of a piece of tin foil.

Cover the two halves with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Form the tin foil into a ball around the garlic. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees for forty minutes.

In the meantime, add the ricotta to a medium bowl. Add the zest and juice from the lemons along with the parmesan, salt, and pepper. Mix the ricotta to evenly incorporate all ingredients.
When the garlic is roasted it will become a dark golden color. Using a fork, remove the roasted garlic cloves from the bulb. Give them a mash with the fork and then add them into the ricotta mixture. Place cheese mixture in the refrigerator until ready to top and cook pizza.
Ingredients for the Pizza
Trader Joe’s Pre-Made Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 Tablespoon of Flour
1 Teaspoon of Corn Meal
 
Take the bag of dough out of refrigeration and let it sit at room temperature for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, spread the flour over a workable surface or a piece of parchment paper. Take the dough out of the bag and form it into a ball. Place it in the center of the floured surface.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12” circle. Spread the corn meal on the surface of a pizza stone or pizza pan. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.
Transfer the dough to the pan. Spread it out evenly and then curl up the edges to form the crust.
Ingredients for Topping
5 Medium Cremini/Baby Bella Mushrooms, thinly sliced
A Handful of Fresh Spinach, roughly chopped
1 Teaspoon of Balsamic Vinegar
2 Teaspoons of Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon of Fresh Parsley, chopped
 
Spread the ricotta mixture on to the pizza dough. Distribute the cut slices of mushroom. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. After the fifteen minutes turn the oven off and switch the broiler on.
Cook the pizza for an additional five minutes under the broiler for a crispier crust and for a slightly golden ricotta.
Toss the chopped spinach with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 

Top the cooked pizza with the lightly dressed spinach and then sprinkle with the chopped parsley.
This pizza is the way to start the year off on the right foot.

It is light, vegetarian, healthy, and acidic. The perfect way to indulge without really indulging.

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  • Nava Krishnan
    January 6, 2012 at 10:37 am

    Being like trying to be healthy from time to time, I like that you have used wheat flour for this pizza. That spinach with mushrooms makes this pizza all the more of our kind of food, esp for my hubby because he is more conscious with what hits his mouth then myself.

  • Tiffany
    January 6, 2012 at 2:25 am

    This pizza is everything I love about vegetarianism! 😀

  • Dansin02
    January 6, 2012 at 12:46 am

    Great post…. Happy New Year SC!!! XOXOXO 🙂