Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza
Plan a pizza night soon, and put this Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza on the menu!
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I was curled up on the couch the other day flipping through a recent issue of Food Network magazine. Ok, by “recent” I might mean it was an issue from last October. Hey, I blame the holidays and a rambunctious toddler for the ever-growing stack of food magazines on the side table. But I did get around to it…even if most of the recipes were Halloween-themed. Oops. But on the flip side, those Halloween recipes are almost relevant for this year. Hah!
So this issue included a highly scientific poll from their readers about pizza habits. And a couple of these pizza habits caught me by surprise. First, only 73% of folks eat their pizza crust. That means 1 in 4 people throw their crust in the trash. Back when Laura and I first started making our own pizzas, we came up with a little trick for the crust. We mix together olive oil with dried Italian seasonings and kosher salt, then we brush this mixture over the crust before baking. Holy cow. This is a crust game changer! I love our pizza toppings, but I seriously debate whether the crust is now better than the pizza itself.
Even more surprising is the fact that 47% of people have the phone number for their local pizza shop programmed in their phone. 47%! That seems really high to me. As much as we like to make homemade pizza (like this Broccoli and Goat Cheese Pizza!), we still enjoy ordering out occasionally. We recently found a new pizza shop in the area, and they make the most amazing Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza ever. I’d like to say I’ll take a stab at recreating that one for the blog, but honestly I don’t know if I can do it justice!
First Friday Pizza Night. We’ve started a new tradition with our friends where we get together on the first Friday of every month. We put an order in for the aforementioned Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza and then play board games and drink beers for the rest of the evening. But as awesome as First Friday Pizza Night is, I still don’t have that pizza place programmed in my phone. I gotta ask…do you have a local pizza place programmed in your phone? The only non-person I have in my phone is our dogs’ vet, and that’s because I might need them in an emergency. But a pizza emergency? Can that happen? Wait…don’t actually answer that question!
Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza
Broccolini and Goat Cheese PizzaWhile we love our traditional toppings of diced jalapenos and pepperoni, we decided to go in a different direction with this Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza. Broccolini is similar to broccoli, but the stalks are thinner and more tender. You could certainly use regular broccoli for this Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza, but just make sure to finely chop the broccoli as it doesn’t stay in the oven long. And goat cheese? I had goat cheese on a gourmet pizza once, and I loved it. Like loved it! So I figured why not? Let’s have fun and drop little spoonfuls of goat cheese on top of the pizza before baking. Success! This pizza was delicious!
Only 63% of folks have made their own pizza dough. If you’ve never made homemade dough, do give it a shot! It takes some time, but most of that is inactive time while the dough rises. Once you perfect the recipe, you’ll never want to order pizza again…unless it’s a Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza. Plan a pizza night soon, and enjoy this Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza. Cheers, friends!
Oh, and if you make this pizza at home, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I want to see your creation!
Looking for more fun pizza night ideas? Try one of these!
Pepperoni Pizza Pull Apart Bread
Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza
Ingredients
- ½ bunch broccolini cut into florets
- 1 batch of pizza dough homemade or store-bought
- 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
- 2 tsp Italian seasonings
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 2 oz. goat cheese crumbled
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp garlic minced
- ¼ cup green onions thinly sliced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes halved
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 460°F.
- Blanch the broccolini florets by placing them in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes. Then immediately remove from pot and rinse with very cold water. Drain and set aside.
- Roll pizza dough into a 15-16” round circle. Place dough on a piece of parchment paper.
- In a small dish, combine 1 Tbsp of olive oil, Italian seasonings, salt and garlic powder. Brush this mixture around the outer 1” of the dough. (This will become the crust for the pizza.)
- Brush the inner portion of the dough with the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil.
- In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan, red pepper flakes, garlic and green onions. Spread this mixture evenly on top of dough.
- Spread the tomatoes and broccolini evenly on top of pizza.
- Bake at 460°F for 12-13 minutes, or until pizza crust is deep golden brown in color.
I don’t have my favourite pizza place number in my phone….cause I know it by memory, lol. But, these days I usually just place the order online…they have points when ya do and you can get free pizza…YAY! Speaking of which, I have a free one I can avail of. Hmmmm….maybe tonight 😉 I don’t mind going through old issues of magazines cause they’re usually still relevant so I typically keep them, especially those special edition ones. Hubby and I love dunking our crust in a sauce, but next time, I think I’ll try your tip – sounds delicious! And so does this broccolini and goat cheese pizza. Goat cheese is so yummy on pizza cause it makes things so creamy. This and some vino and I’m set for the weekend! Your game nights sound so fun, by the way 🙂 Have a good one!
Hah! Just as I was thinking “Ok, someone else who doesn’t have the pizza shop in their phone”…I see that you have the number memorized. You beat me, Dawn! 🙂
I totally agree with you about goat cheese on pizza. We don’t do that every time, but it’s a fun way to mix things up a bit. Oh, and yes, definitely brush the crust with olive oil before baking (when you make a homemade pizza). The difference is amazing!! Hope you got yourself that pizza night this weekend, my friend. If not, do it tonight!
I do not have the number programmed in my phone. In my defense, my wife does. So we’re 50%. BTW, I like how you turn your crusts into built-in bread sticks. I can’t even imagine throwing them away myself (unless they’re awful, I guess).
We love to make pizza too, with homemade dough certainly, but until I can get a 700-900 degree wood-fired stone oven brought over from Europe, I’ll probably still order out at the place downtown that has one now and then — hard to duplicate that. My wish list does include a crawl through Chris Bianco’s book sometime soon too!
At 50%, you’re pulling that national average up, Bill…albeit very slightly. Haha!
So the built-in breadsticks for pizza crust? That’s a requirement for us. Seriously! The olive oil brushed on with herbs and extra salt makes for one heck of a tasty crust. Oh, and let me know when you get that wood-fired oven. I’ve been dreaming of one of those for years, too! For some reason, Laura has been frowning upon me getting one…I can’t imagine why!
I have never understood why people throw their crust in the trash. I keep it for the end to enjoy the best part …. and, no, I don’t have favourite pizza number programmed. Love your broccolini and goat cheese one. Will have to make. Enjoy the week end !
Thank you so much! I agree with you about pizza crust. As soon as we learned the olive oil trick, it seriously elevated the crust to the same level as the actual pizza. So tasty! I hope you had a great weekend, too, my friend!
You are too funny about a ‘recent issue’ being last October! 😉
This pizza looks heavenly and I’m SO excited to try your spices in the crust trick!
Hey, ‘recent’ becomes relative when there’s a toddler in the house! haha! I have no idea what I did with all of my free time in those pre-Robbie days. 🙂 But, yes, this pizza? So good! And the crust trick is a requirement for sure. Thanks so much, Marissa!
One in four people doesn’t eat their crust? I wish there was a way they could all send their crust to me because that’s really all I’m interested in when it comes to pizza. Friends love eating pizza with me because I pick off the majority of the toppings and let others have them. Gimme all the carbs, all the time! I’d make an exception for this pizza though! Broccolini and goat cheese sound pretty perfect together–especially sitting on a homemade crust :).
So if you’re a crust gal, then you’ve got to start doing this trick wtih olive oil, herbs and salt. That crust seriously rivals the actual pizza! And I’ve gotta say that goat cheese + broccolini is a fun (and tasty) combo for pizza. We didn’t have to worry about leftovers of this one! 🙂
Hi David! The crust is always my favorite part! Gary always gives his to the dogs (unless I snatch it first). I don’t have my local pizza place programmed into my phone because I don’t have a cell phone, just an old fashioned house phone. Yes I know I’m living in the dark ages (my son reminds me of this all the time). We usually have pizza about once a month, either homemade or delivery. This one sounds really, really good! The addition of that little bit of goat cheese is definitely a plus! I might add a little thinly sliced red onion.
Haha! I can imagine you snatching up that crust in the midst of Gary passing it off to the dogs. And I can imagine the dogs looking up like “huh? Why would you do that!?” 🙂
Hey, I don’t blame ya for not having a cell phone. Sure, they’re handy. But sometimes the access to everything right there on your phone is a bit too much. Definitely put this pizza on your list for homemade this month. It’s so tasty…and yes, a bit of red onion would be a good addition here. Thanks, Dorothy! Hope you guys had a great weekend down there…and hope you didn’t get too much rain from Florence.
My stack of food magazines is piling up! I can only hope I get to last year’s soon! 😉 I’ve been using a lot of broccolini lately and topping a pizza with it is a brilliant idea! Yum!
So you totally understand the ever-growing pile of food magazines, too! I love reading ’em, but I just don’t have the same time as I did in the pre-Robbie years. I might have to put my subscriptions on hold for a bit just so I can catch up! Also, broccolini on pizza = do it! It’s so tender, and it’s a fun topping for sure. Thanks, Valentina!
No one throws away pizza crusts while I’m around, because I’m not too proud to say, “Hey, you gonna eat that?” and snatch it right off their plates. I love pizza crust – but it’s got to be actual crust, right off a slice a pizza. You can’t purposefully manufacture it any other way.
I hear ya! Pizza crust is one of the best parts. You’ve gotta try the olive oil + Italian herbs + coarse salt trick, Jeff. It seriously rivals the actual pizza!
Fabulous. This is a fine pizza in my mind; I don’t require peperoni. Love the idea for seasoning the crust. Have you ever had Pizza Hut’s stuffed crust? When our kids were older, we had friday pizza night, and we always got our usual with stuffed crust. It’s like a whole round of mozzarella surrounded by pizza dough!!! Good stuff.
I think I had Pizza Hut’s stuffed crust pizza one time years ago…like years…like when they first came out with it. It was tasty as I recall! I mean how can you go wrong with cheese + chewy bread? 🙂 But we haven’t done stuffed crust in ages. I might have to toy around with making our homemade pizza with a stuffed crust next time. That sounds like a fun experiment! Thanks, Mimi!
If the dough is delicious, there’s no reason to throw the crust. This almost never happens with homemade dough&pizza (Okay, maybe with pizza leftovers as the crust might not be as good the next day.) But I needed to trash the crust once or twice when we ate out as it was very mediocre and not worth of the consumed calories. I’ve also recently heard another trick: placing a bit of cheese inside of the crust (edges). Have you tried this? And needless to say, this pizza is delicious my friend!
You’re right about the crust never being as good on the 2nd day, Ben. That’s why you just make sure there aren’t any leftovers! Then you don’t have to worry about the crust problem. Haha! I agree with you about bad crust. Laura and I spent many weekend evenings (this was pre-Robbie) coming up with our perfect pizza crust. Now we don’t mess with that recipe! Although I would like to toy around with the idea of stuffing cheese into the crust. I’ve had stuffed crust pizzas (they’re good, but never that great in my opinion)…but I’ve never made one at home. Perhaps that will happen soon!
I am a crust eater! I’ve been know to eat the crust when my husband doesn’t finish his….I guess that makes me a scavenger! Adding olive oil and herbs to the crust sounds delish and so does this combination of goat cheese and broccolini! And I must admit, I do have a pizza number programmed into my phone 🙂
Haha! There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a crust scavenger, Kathy. In fact, I think you should add that to your business card. “Kathy: School principal extraordinaire and pizza crust scavenger.” 🙂 Hope you had a great weekend, my friend…and I hope it involved a pizza, too. Haha!
I love making homemade pizza and I always make the pizza crust myself. Also, I love eating the crust, I wouldn’t think of throwing it out. Your pizza sounds delicious. I love the toppings!!
Yes! The crust is one of the best parts of the pizza, Dawn. I remember growing up, the crust would be the worst part…but the olive oil + herbs + salt makes such a huge difference! 🙂 Of course, I love the toppings, too…but at least now the crust is elevated to equal status!
I’m thinking over here at least 95% of the people have the pizza takeaway number in their phone. Pizza takeaway is by far the largest of any take home food over here. With that said, no I don’t have the number in my phone, yes I do make my own pizza dough and finally, your Broccolini and Goat Cheese Pizza is my kinda of pizza. Fun post David.
95%! Wow. I mean we do love a good takeaway pizza for lazy nights, but if I have my choice, it would be homemade every time! Thanks so much, Ron…and happy dough making! 🙂
Hahaha – nope, I am not one of those people to have a fav pizza joint programmed into my phone! I used to think I loved pizza crust but then I read how you and Laura brush yours with oil and italian seasonings and am swooning! WOW – I’d eat the crust off the whole pizza like that!
So we don’t have a Friday Pizza night, but some of the pastors at our church got together to do a Youtube series called “Pastors in Priuses Having Pizza” where they try a different pizza joint during each show and I have seen some epic pizzas though this one right now with that fresh broccolini has me drooling!
Yes! It’s time we give more attention to the crust, Shashi! The toppings have their fame…and that’s cool. I love the toppings, too. But it’s time to share the love with the crust! 🙂
That YouTube series sounds quite fun, and hey…as long as there’s pizza involved, it’s gotta be good, right? Do give broccolini a try next time you have a pizza craving!