Spinach Pesto Pizza 2-Ways
Spinach Pesto Pizza 2-ways offers a healthier pizza option, featuring plenty of vegetables blended into the pesto sauce, paired with either a wheat or spelt crust, ready to be topped with your favorites!
Americans Adore Pizza
It seems that Americans might have a deeper love for pizza than even Italians.
What’s the reason? Perhaps it’s the brief escape to Italy that each slice provides!
Over time, pizza crusts have certainly evolved.
With options like vegan and gluten-free or the classic wheat pizza crust, there’s truly a pizza for everyone to enjoy.
Pizza 2-Ways
Cauliflower pizza crust has opened up the possibility for me to cater to my Keto family members.
Honestly, a cauliflower crust, when baked to a perfect crisp, is quite impressive.
As for my husband and me, we still enjoy a dough-crusted pizza loaded with carbs.
He favors wheat dough , whereas I lean towards a spelt dough.
My husband loves to top his pizza with bacon, while I prefer meatballs that are packed with veggies—something I came up with for my grandchildren as a nutritious option.
Yet, both pizzas feature a wonderfully nutritious layer of spinach walnut pesto, brimming with flavor and essential nutrients.
Quick Yeast Pizza 2-Ways
Luckily, I’ve mastered the art of crafting both types of dough, allowing me to whip them up in just a few minutes.
The spelt dough does take a bit longer to rise, so I make it using potato water.
Using the water that I’ve boiled potatoes in for another meal provides just the right amount of starch to help the dough rise quickly.
This method also works well with gluten-free flour.
Both homemade pizza dough varieties rise in about an hour, allowing enough time to create the pesto, prepare your proteins, and set up for a delightful pizza night.
For busy weeknights, store-bought pizza dough or pre-made cauliflower pizza crusts are excellent choices.
The secret to this nutritious pizza lies in the spinach pesto sauce.
Spinach Pesto Pizza
Tomato sauce isn’t the only option for a pizza base.
In reality, a traditional cheese pizza with tomato sauce lacks sufficient nutrients to be considered a complete meal, at least from a nutritional standpoint.
My Spinach Walnut Pesto is crafted with walnuts, an abundance of garlic, fresh herbs, and lemon.
This pizza sauce alone transforms the dish into a wholesome meal.
Let’s explore the nutritious benefits of this delectable spinach pesto spread that will top your pizza.
- Spinach packed with iron and fiber.
- Walnuts offering antioxidants and omega-3s.
- Garlic known for its immune-boosting qualities.
- Fresh lemon juice and zest high in vitamin C.
Spinach Pesto Is The Healthier Pizza Sauce
Spread this pesto over your pizza base and you instantly create a tasty and nutritious meal. Looking for toppings?
We both know kids are likely to question ‘that green stuff’ on their pizza. But pesto can easily be masked by cheese and personal favorites like bacon, meatballs, or sausage.
Pizza Toppings 2-Ways
Venison meatballs are my favorite topping on my spelt pizza crust.
Lately, I’ve noticed ground venison available in most grocery stores, typically alongside bison or lamb.
I prepare them just like my Grandmas Sneaky Meatballs, hiding veggies inside.
Both of these pizzas are generously topped with cheese, melted to perfection and utterly delicious.
Flowers On My Pizza?
During the warm months, I cultivate a variety of edible flowers.
Don’t dismiss them too quickly, LOL!
These flowers offer many nutrients similar to those found in herbs.
In many respects, flowers are herbs, just with a bit more color!
For the pesto pizza 2-ways I’ve prepared for you, both include meat, but feel free to skip it and decorate the top with lovely nasturtium flowers!
Nasturtium flowers have a flavor reminiscent of radishes or watercress, which pairs wonderfully with the pesto sauce.
How To Make Spinach Pesto Pizza 2-Ways
To start, you’ll want to prepare the Spinach Walnut Pesto.
This easy-to-make pesto comes together in under 15 minutes and freezes perfectly, ready whenever you are.
Next, you’ll need to prepare either the Spelt Dough or Wheat Dough, or simply purchase a pizza dough.
Trader Joe’s (and no, I’m not affiliated with them) offers both whole wheat and traditional pizza dough in their refrigerated section.
You’ll prepare it just as directed in my recipe.
Finally, roll out the dough, spread the pesto on top, preheat the oven to 400, add any other desired toppings, and bake the pizza for 18 minutes!
Ingredients Needed
Equipment Needed
- 2 Pizza pans – my favorite is below
- Rolling pin
- Frying pan
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Basting brush
- Stovetop or burner
- Oven
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2 Large Pizza pans
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Rolling Pin
- 16 oz Spelt or whole wheat pizza dough homemade or store bought
- 16 oz All Purpose Flour Pizza dough homemade or store bought
- 1/4 cup Flour for dusting
- 8 oz Spinach Walnut Pesto homemade
- 12 oz Mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- 1/2 cup Bacon
- 12 Meatballs, cooked sneaky meatballs – veggies and meat
- 1 cup Fresh spinach finely chopped
- 12 Nasturtium flowers optional
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Cut the bacon in half and cook on top of the stove just until the edges begin to brown but not to the point of crisp. Cool.
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Preheat the oven to 400.
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Roll out each dough, on a floured surface and place on the pizza pans.
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Brush a little olive oil around the edges of the crust. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and remove.
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Spread the spinach walnut pesto on top of both pizzas. Sprinkle a little fresh spinach on top. Place the bacon on one and meatballs on the other. Place the sliced cheese on top. Return to the oven for 7- 8 minutes.
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Place the Nasturtium flowers on top, if using, cut and serve.
Two different pizza crusts and toppings with the same healthy pesto spread on each, will easily feed 4-6 hungry pizza lovers.
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