At least they're still good for something...

I must admit, I'm becoming less and less attached to typical women's fitness/health magazines. I suppose I'll save my rant on why for another day and in the meantime, suggest you check out this Hollaback Health post.

Anywho, that said, I still have a few active subscriptions and despite my reservations, I was still a little excited to get the new issue of Shape with Jillian Michaels on the cover. The issue itself was pretty "meh," but there was a hidden gem of a recipe: a Spinach & Egg Pizza.

I can't seem to find a link to the recipe and I don't have the magazine with me right now, but it was a pretty basic ingredient list.

For the pizza:
1 pizza crust (I used pre-made dough from a local market)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
3 cups baby spinach
salt/pepper to taste
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
about 3 tbsp grated parmesan*
3 eggs (I used 4)

For the "Hollandaise" sauce:
3 tbsp reduced fat sour cream (I used about 4 tbsp)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp chopped parsley flakes
black pepper
dash of salt*

Misc:
1 tbsp chopped chives (I used one green onion)

*= Not listed in the original recipe; my own personal addition.

Pre-heat your oven to 450˚F.

The original recipe said to blanch the spinach, but I hate taking the time to blanch things, so I just gave my spinach a rough chop, threw it in the microwave for a minute and squeezed out some of the excess moisture with a paper towel (make sure to let the spinach cool before handling. Duh, I know, but I totally didn't and almost scalded my hand).

In a bowl, combine the spinach, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Roll out your pizza dough onto a pan and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Next, add the spinach mixture.

Before cracking the eggs onto the pizza, the original recipe says to create little wells in the pizza first so that the eggs don't slide all over the place. HIGHLY recommend this tip; I failed to read it until after I added the eggs and baked the pizza.



Bake pizza for 7-10 minutes until crust is golden brown and eggs have set. (I ended up increasing the baking time to ensure the crust got cooked through. Consequently, some of the eggs got a bit overcooked...)

Meanwhile, combine ingredients for the "Hollandaise" sauce. I ended up having to add more sour cream because there was way too much lemon juice and the sauce was super-thin. I would suggest adding the lemon juice in increments until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. (It's possible the magazine suggested this too and I probably failed to read that as well).





Once the pie has cooled, slice, serve and top with sauce and sprinkle on chives (or green onions).



Busted the yolk to spread the yolk-y goodness all over the pie.

The verdict? Incredible! I wasn't sure how well pizza would go with ginger, eggs and a sauce loaded with lemon juice, but the result was an incredibly clean, refreshing and delicate-tasting dish. Whoever came up with that recipe definitely knew what they were doing! I'm excited to make it again; tastes of spring and summer while still satisfying your craving for pizza. I cut this into 8 medium-sized slices and assigned 2 slices per serving. The original recipe said to slice the pizza into 12 slices and listed one slice as a serving. Whatevs.

Things to do differently next time:
-make the wells for the eggs.
-bake the pizza *without* eggs for a few minutes so the crust has more time to reach [my] desired texture and also so the yolks don't get overcooked.

I'm really pleased with how well this meal turned out. A unique blend of ingredients and simple assembly made this a fast-favorite!