Turkey Pesto Spinach Pizza (Pizza Night!)

Cubed turkey tossed with pesto then used to top pizza with spinach and cheese.

For more recipes using spinach, please see my Spinach Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. Speaking of Visual Recipe Indices, there's also the Visual Pizza Recipe Index. I've got a Greens board on Pinterest where I share likely recipes, follow me there, some behind the scenes stuff on my Instagram feed, and even more recipes and articles on my FB page. Want to know How to Use this Blog? 

new photo from 2015!

This was my second attempt at the 'make a pizza using leftover turkey' concept.  I'm posting it before the first one (which was also quite delicious) primarily because I'm just in a spinach mood.  I'd gotten bunches of spinach from the farm share and it was finding its way into everything.

Since I keep a stash of pesto in the freezer, it's easy to grab a couple of cubes when I want to add a hit of basil flavor to a meal.  This was no exception.  I set the pesto cubes in a bowl to thaw and tossed the cubed turkey on top, so it became marinated in the pesto by the time I was ready to top the pizza.

Spinach (and other greens such as Swiss chard, kohlrabi greens, broccoli rabe, and kale) give up water as they wilt.  (This makes perfect sense since the cell structure of the plant is destroyed with heating, releasing this water.)  Because of this, I usually precook greens before topping my pizzas.  [Good grief, I put a lot of greens on a pizza.]  I was feeling wild 'n crazy, though, and just tore the spinach into small pieces this time.  Worked great.  I had frost-kissed spinach, as the farmers put it.  This spinach is thicker/tougher than a tender Spring spinach.  Even the tiny leaves are tough.  If you've got a bag of baby spinach, skip the 'tear out the rib' step--unless your composting pigs would appreciate it!

Turkey Pesto Spinach Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough (see my Pizza Primer for hints & tips)
• ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil, warmed--I used about 2 Tablespoons of this
• 1 large clove roasted garlic
• 2-3 cups, packed spinach leaves (well-washed and torn into small pieces)
• 1 cup turkey tossed with 2 cubes prepared pesto
• 1+½ cups Manchego cheese (2015 update--also yummy with mozzarella!)
• ¾  teaspoon (about) Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle or other Italian seasoning blend

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  If your baking stone lives in the oven, like mine, good on you.  
2. Smush the garlic into the warmed olive oil and set aside.  
3. On an oiled piece of parchment, stretch out your dough into a pleasing shape.  
4. Brush the garlic oil evenly across the crust.  
5. Scatter spinach leaves across oil.  
6. Spread turkey-pesto mixture on top of spinach.  Top with cheese and seasoning.
7. Bake, with the parchment on a stone or a cookie sheet, for 5-8 minutes.  
8. Shimmy the pizza off the parchment and set the parchment aside.  
9. Continue baking for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.
10. Cool on a rack, slice, and serve.

This post is joining the newly-expanded Farm Girl Blog Fest at Let This Mind Be In You, What's Cookin Wednesday at Buns In My Oven, What's In The Box at In Her Chucks,  Taste and Tell Thursdays,  Foodie Friends Friday, and Food On Friday