Spinach Ranch Pizza



Ingredients:

Crust
  • ¾ cup warm water
  • 2½ teaspoon yeast
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoons salt
  • 1½- 2 cups whole wheat flour (bread or pastry works well)
Ranch
  • ¾ cup whole milk greek yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons fresh minced chives
  • 11/2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
  • ½ tablespoon fresh minced dill
  • 1 clove garlic
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk*
Toppings
  • 1 small red onion
  • 3-4 handfuls baby spinach
  • 2-3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 
Instructions:
  1. In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and honey- stir with a wooden spoon until yeast is dissolved. Let sit until yeast begins to activate, 5-10 minutes. Once yeast is ready, add in oil, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Turn your mixer on low with the dough hook on and let mix, scrapping down the sides as needed. From here on out, add 2-4 tablespoons of flour at a time, letting the dough mix for a bit until adding more flour. When the dough starts to come together, continue to let the mixer run for 1-2 minutes and adding more flour until your dough has pulled away from the sides of the mixer. Remove from the mixer and place in a warm spot. Brush with oil and let rise for 1 hour.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients for the ranch dressing except for the buttermilk. Taste and adjust the ranch flavors if need be. Stir in buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed to thin out the ranch if desired.
  3. Once your dough has double in size, preheat your oven to 500˚. Return to your dough and punch it down. Let rise for 20 more minutes.
  4. Roll the dough out onto a surface covered in cornmeal (I used a large wood cutting board put some of you may have a pizza peel.) Roll it out to the size of your pizza stone.
  5. Spread enough ranch over pizza to cover (you may not use all). Cut onion into thin slices and layer over ranch, followed by the spinach. Top pizza with enough cheese to cover most of the spinach.
  6. Slide pizza onto stone and let bake until crust and mozzarella is golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing.
Notes
*I often cheat with buttermilk because I rarely have it in my house. I'll combine ¼ cup milk with a couple dashes of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and let sit for a minute before using. Also- I will usually double the ranch recipe and use to dip the pizza in (the ranch flavor isn't heavy on the baked pizza. And if you have leftover ranch- use for salads!

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