Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Copycat Recipe CPK White Spinach Pizza

Copycat Recipe CPK White Spinach Pizza

Fresh spinach, feta and mozzarella cheese on a roasted garlic oil-brushed crust. A copycat recipe for a homemade version of CPK White Spinach Pizza.


image of a slice of copycat CPK white spinach pizza on a plate



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One of my favorite items in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share or at the farmer's market is a bag of spinach. There are so many possibilities! If I'm overwhelmed with greens, unwashed spinach can hang out in the crisper longer than lettuce or even be frozen--to use in smoothies later on. My favorite is my Allergy Friendly Peanut Butter, Spinach, and Banana Smoothie. Today I'm sharing an updated version of a favorite way to use fresh spinach on a pizza.



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Fresh spinach, feta and mozzarella cheese on a roasted garlic oil-brushed crust. A copycat recipe for a homemade version of CPK White Spinach Pizza.



I didn't really set out to make a copycat of the California Pizza Kitchen White Pizza, but ever since I tried the roasted garlic oil on this Red Russian Kale and Baby Bella Mushroom pizza it has opened my world to other options.  If you don't have roasted garlic no worries! Just mince up some fresh garlic or rehydrate some dried garlic before warming in the olive oil.


Now, I must say from the start that this pizza is not an exact copycat of the CPK white spinach pizza I've gotten from my grocery store.  First of all, the CPK crust is just too thin for my tastes.  I don't need a deep dish pizza, but something a bit thicker than the cardboard circle it's on is what I prefer.  Please feel free to stretch out your crust to the thickness that best suits you--that's the beauty of making pizza at home!


Instead of just the usual Italian blend of cheese on the CPK white spinach pizza I added some feta. Spinach and feta cheese go so nicely together, so why not throw some on your pizza? Therefore this is not a California Pizza Kitchen White Pizza, it's a Farm Fresh Feasts White Spinach Pizza!


photo of a homemade copycat version of California Pizza Kitchen's White Pizza



Thanks to Heather from In Her Chucks, I learned how to make a photo collage from PicMonkey (try it yourself! Then share on my Farm Fresh Feasts FB page!). So I'm going to show you how I turn a ball of dough into a pizza crust.  If you've never tried it--go get a ball of dough and do it. What do you have to lose? It's a skill that takes practice to master, just like any skill, but once you get the moves down . . . you get it.


Where could you get a ball of dough?  If you're fortunate to live near a Trader Joe's grocery store, they have them cheap in the sliced meat/cheese refrigerator case--three flavors, too!  In other grocery stores, try the freezer case with the bread dough (look very high or very low, it is not prominently placed).  Try the fresh foods/deli area-sometimes near the ready-to-bake pizzas are bags of dough.


Try your local bakery-they may sell balls of pizza dough.  Or try a pizza parlor.  I tried this once but was so shocked at the price they quoted me (something like $5 for a 1 lb ball of dough?  Are you kidding me?) that I haven't asked again. I just make my own.


collage image of how to press a ball of pizza dough out into a circle ready to be topped.



For more recipes using spinach, please see my Spinach Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?



image of a slice of white spinach pizza on a rack


I'm going to walk you thru how my pizza making process looks, step by step. First I use parchment paper (I crumple it up a bit) and a little blob of olive oil.



photo of parchment paper with a dollop of olive oil on it
I cannot stress this enough-oil and parchment paper are your friend.  Without them easy crust at home is very hard!


Then I brush the dough with the garlic-infused olive oil. Mine looks brown here because I got distracted while warming it. Yours will probably look lighter, especially if you're using fresh garlic.


image of pizza dough brushed with roasted garlic oil


Next I scatter torn bits of spinach across the dough. If you're using baby spinach tear the whole thing up. If you're using a bag of spinach from the farmer's market tear the leaves off the stems before tearing the leaves into bits. (Compost those stems if possible.)

photo of spinach leaves scattered across a pizza dough


I scatter feta cheese on top of the spinach.

image of feta cheese and fresh spinach on top of pizza dough


Then I top with an Italian blend of shredded cheese (fontina is so good on pizza). I finish with a couple shakes of Italian seasoning blend.

photo of fresh spinach, feta and shredded Italian blend cheeses on pizza dough




photo of a slice of white spinach pizza




This recipe was first published in 2012, photos updated in 2015, and republished in 2019.

7 comments:

  1. Kirsten! spinach, cheese, bread ... = fabulous. :) i love pizza and am always rummaging around for new recipes. i'll bookmark this for future use :)

    your blog is great too! just added you to my bloglovin!

    p.s. if you want to talk at all (re your comment at my blog) - feel free to email me. xo!

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    1. I have no idea what bloglovin means, but I'm pretty sure it's a positive thing. I'll email you my pile of newbie questions. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Pizza looks awesome! And so does your photo collage :)

    Thanks for linking up and sharing your goodies with the rest of the party.

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    1. Thanks! I went photo collage crazy for Monday's post, all about eating more veggies for my friend's November Fitness Blitz challenge.

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  3. I have made this once already! It was so good! Looking forward to making it tonight!!!

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  4. Ⲕeep оn writing, great jߋb!

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  5. Yummmmmm. Found your site on line while I was cruisin for CPK white pizza recipes—next time instead of feta, give goat cheese a try. That’s what I used to add to my pizza at CPK. It’s delish!!!! Who am I kidding, no need to toss the feta to the side, use both. Lol. There can never be enough cheese- said everyone, ever!

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