spinach and artichoke pan pizza

Over the pandemic, I quietly broke up with every pizza dough recipe I’ve shared to date. I know I have some nerve only telling you this now. The family wanted pizza for dinner weekly, and I was overdue for a homemade pizza reckoning. Why? Because after years of trying to get my home oven even half as hot as the ones at pizzerias that crank out gloriously blistered and glistening pies, and too often ending up with disappointing textures, I finally realized I was chasing the wrong pizza dream. Instead of fighting an uphill battle, I replaced my usual pizza dough with a no-knead focaccia-ish dough that bakes up beautifully in a regular oven, perfectly every single time.

The crust is tender and stretchy with deeply golden and crisp olive oil edges. A longer bake time allows the toppings to brown and blister without burning the whole pizza. Plus, it holds toppings, even a generous amount of toppings, like a charm, without them collapsing the dough or causing watery puddles. From here the fun began with everything from the The Angry Grandma (Pizza) inSmitten Kitchen Keepers, my third cookbook, to this.

A couple weeks ago, I spotted a gorgeous spinach and artichoke pizza with spinach pesto, artichoke hearts, and a blistered and blissful amount of cheese onNotfolu’s Instagram[oh and please don’t miss hersnacks newslettereither] and could think about nothing else until I made it myself. Like previous times when I’ve been enthralled enough by a photo enoughto chase it, I didn’t have a recipe to work from, I just played around until I made a pizza that tasted as good as the photo looked to me. I love the classic spinach and artichoke combination, but even more so when it’s not swallowed up by a vat of cream and cheese — here, you can actually taste the vegetables too. But nothing could have prepared me for my son choosing it over the classic tomato-cheese pie I also made, and declaring that “ifJoe’shad this by the slice, I’d get it every time.” Joe, call me!