Pizza is for all seasons and all circumstances. Is there anything better than stuffing your face with hot slices while sitting on the couch watching mindless television? I think not.
Turns out, when you have a little one that is finessing her food eating skills, dinner on the couch is no longer a thing. But that’s neither here nor there.
Instead – we do a mad dash from 6-6:30 PM each night to come up with a meal idea. Once a meticulous meal planner, I know gratefully share the responsibility with my husband who has some sort of psycho-mental tally on the expiration dates of all of our produce and grocery items. I should consider this a good thing.
Last night – the golden ticket item that ‘HAS TO BE USED TONIGHT, AMANDA’ – was sweet potatoes. Oh, the versatile sweet potato. Hours later, I can sit here and come up with dozens of creative ideas to use a sweet potato. At 6 PM last night with a very visible and audible 30-minute timer, we’ll call her MJ, we got crazy and turned sweet potatoes into a pizza topping.
And it worked!
COOK | Sweet Potato, Prosciutto and Pear White Pizza
INGREDIENTS
Prepared Pizza Dough: Storebought, Prebaked, whatever you like!
1-2 Sweet Potatoes
1-2 Pears
1 Package of Prosciutto
1-2 cups of fresh Spinach
2 T Olive Oil
2 T AP Flour
3/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Water
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Garlic Powder, Salt & Pepper to taste
White Cheese
Follow the package instructions for preparing your dough. We thought our little cooking timer, MJ, would have fun touching the gooey dough… not so much. She was more concerned with keeping us on track for a 6:30 PM dinner start. Bossy thing…. 😉
Peel and slice your sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch thick rounds. I sliced them again to make them more bite sized. Toss with olive oil and salt then bake at 475 for about 10 minutes until tender and slightly crispy.
Meanwhile, begin your white sauce. Heat 2 T of olive oil then slowly sprinkle in 2 T of AP flour. I use a flat whisk – like this one – which is super helpful to keep the sauce creamy and get out the lumps. Let the flour cook for about 2 minutes then slowly add in the milk, water, and lemon juice. Continue to whisk and heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. I also added some garlic powder and salt. Yumm
Hopefully, your white sauce and sweet potatoes will finish at the same time! Tip: Once you decide to cook something and you know you’ll need the oven, start preheating it to 350, then adjust the heat once you figure out what you’re going to make. I hate waiting on an oven. Or anything. I’m working on my patience. I guess…
Top your pizza crust with the white sauce, cooked sweet potatoes, prosciutto….
… and thinly sliced pears. They gave the pizza some great subtle sweetness. And were also on the “AMANDA, THE PEARS!!!” list per Josh. 😉
This would be a good time for cheese as well – we were fresh out. Funny how we seem to have plenty of produce left over, but the cheese is always gone….
Pop the pizza into an oven – see dough package for oven temp and time.
With about 1-2 minutes left, pull out the pizza and top with some fresh spinach.
The spinach will slightly wilt and you’ll feel so much better about your current level of healthiness.
Your pizza is finished when the crust is baked through to your liking, the prosciutto is crispy and the pears are warmed.
Pull from the oven, finish with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of salt. Cool slightly and enjoy!
This is a wonderful mix of flavors – perfect for a pizza! Salty, crispy prosciutto, warm soft and sweet pear and sweet potato, decadent and creamy white sauce and cheese. All layered on a big ole’ buttery carb. Oh, and a touch of green to check that food pyramid box!
Start to finish, 30 minutes or less. MJ, the baby kitchen timer, was pleased with both the time frame and the taste! Yesssss
Happy Pizza Night!
// amanda macy
amanda macy hall 