CSA Summer Challege: Pizza Bianca

CSA's, or Community Supported Agriculture Programs, are popping up all over the area.  Some require you to spend a specified amount of time on the farm helping to weed, water, and take care of the vegetables that you will get in your "share" each week.  Others allow you to simply write a check at the beginning of the year and then collect a weekly share from the farm.

We chose the later option (my own gardens keep me busy enough with the weeding!) and went in on a share with two other families in the neighborhood.  At $550 for the year it's definitely not cheap.  But split three ways, it comes down to about $7 a week.  So far we've definitely received enough fresh veggies each week to keep all three families happy.

This is what we got in week 1:
Swiss Chard
Spinach
Rocket (lettuce)
Oregano
Dill
Arugula

What on earth to do with all that green?  I adapted two of the ingredients to the pizza we already had on our schedule.  The oregano was an obvious addition.  Oregano simply belongs on pizza- even if this particular recipe was sauce-free.

Spinach is an easy addition to most recipes because it doesn't overpower the flavor of the dish.  So I shredded up a few of the leaves and tossed it on.

The original recipe is below:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 prepared pizza crust (like Pillsbury)
• 1 1/2 cups fat free ricotta, see notes for a trick
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped finely
• 1/4 cup grated cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups fat free or low fat mozzarella cheese, shredded.
• Olive oil to drizzle

DIRECTIONS

Roll your ricotta as in the notes section. 

Unroll dough on sheet and pull to the edges of a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 for 7 minutes. Dough will be slightly cooked. Remove from oven, set aside. 

In a bowl mix ricotta, garlic, parsley salt and pepper. Mix well. Sprinkle mozzarella over pizza dough evenly. Drizzle the olive oil over the mozzarella. Add ricotta a dollop at a time around the pizza.   

Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the crust is deeply golden on the edges.

Note:

Place ricotta on a plate covered with 5 paper towels. Spread out the ricotta till it covers the entire towel surface. Cover with another 5 towels and roll like a cigar. Let it sit while you get everything else ready, or about 10 minutes. It will soak up a lot of the water leaving you with a firmer consistency. It will stick to the paper towel a lot, so scrape it into your bowl with a big chopping knife, it's worth the effort. If you have the time and can leave it longer, it will roll off and really look like old fashioned basket cheese, very firm and beautiful. I usually like to leave mine for a few hours or overnight.

 

VERDICT

As I mentioned, the spinach doesn't really take away the flavors of the dish.  But it does add a healthy kick.  As for the pizza itself... it was very cheesy.  I'm not sure I'd use that much ricotta again.  We were actually flicking little pieces of cheese off the slice and onto the plate because it was a bit overwhelming.

I guess the trick with the ricotta is helpful to note- although I'm not sure what would happen if you just tossed regular ricotta on top of the pizza without draining the water out of it.  Is that an Italian thing? 

But it was a delicious pizza and different than your average delivery.  Definitely a keeper recipe!