Goat Cheese Pizza

After being gone for two days and getting home late to a refrigerator with very little food, Ryan and I were in deep need of some groceries.  Unless we wanted to eat mac & cheese for the second time in 4 days.  While meandering the aisles it dawned on me that we had no idea what to fix for super.  Thankfully Ryan remembered an episode of 'Just Cook This' from Fit TV.  We do not have cable, but when he's traveling Ryan likes to watch Sam the Cooking Guy.  Apparently he made an amazing looking goat cheese pizza in 20 minutes from start to finish.  Traditional pizza is good, but for a little more variety I highly recommend this recipe, and copied it from the website.

1-10" ready made pizza crust (Boboli)

1/2 cup softened goat cheese (Chevre)*

1/2 pound shiitakes, sliced thin

4 oz fresh spinach (1/2 bag)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp olive oil

2 Tbs water

1. Pre-heat oven to 425*F

2. Spread goat cheese on pizza crust.

3. Heat a large pan over medium high heat, add oil and saute the mushrooms until soft.

4. Add garlic and stir for a minute- add the spinach and water, cover to allow the spinach to wilt.

5. Top pizza with mushroom and spinach mixture.

6. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

For the most part we followed the recipe, except we used pre-sliced baby portobello mushrooms and added a few sun dried tomatoes.  It was so good, but next time we are going to double the amount of spinach and mushrooms.  

1 slice of pizza contains(1/6): 258 kcals, 8.8g fat,4.5g sat. fat, 34g carb, 11g pro, 1.8g fiber, 436mg sodium.

While this may not be a low fat, low carb, low sodium food; at least you can feel good knowing it uses real ingredients.  If you were not pressed for time, you could always make a homemade pizza crust.  This would be an excellent appetizer for upcoming holiday parties.  It would also pair well with a fresh arugula salad for a wine and dinner night.

Cost wise we spent $11.50, if you tried a similar pizza from...

Papa John's large spinach alfredo $14.99 

1 slice-280 kcals, 10g fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 25g carb, 11g pro, 1g fiber, 690mg sodium

Papa Murphy's Large Veggie DeLite $13.99

1 slice-160 kcals, 9g fat, 4g saturated fat, 13g carb, 8g pro, <1g fiber, 250mg sodium

 Kashi Frozen Thin Crust Mushroom Trio and Spinach (1/3) $6-8.00

(1/3)- 250 kcals, 9g fat, 4.5g sat fat, 28g carb, 14g pro, 660mg sodium

I think Papa Murphy's may beat our pizza nutrition wise, but ours was less expensive and we enjoyed making it together.  

*Chevre (Chevrie) Is a soft goats milk cheese, eaten frequently in other parts of the world.  Lately it has been gaining popularity in the US; mostly thanks to top chefs and foodies.  According to my 'Flavor Bible' chevre pairs well with nuts, herbs, and fruit.  You could make countless combinations of this pizza using pairings such as:

Roasted Beets + Red Onions + Basil 

Sauteed Fennel + Asparagus + Orange zest

Fresh Blackberries + Sliced Figs + Honey

Cranberry Relish + Chopped Walnuts + Balsamic Vinegar