Mediterranean Delight Pizza

This might be our favorite pizza. It is an imitation of Papa Murphy's Mediterranean DeLite Pizza, but our version isn't quite as light. :) We start out with our traditional pizza crust and layer on olive oil, Italian seasoning, spinach, chicken, oven-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and a sprinkling of mozzarella. There are so many delicious flavors in each bite!

I use a lot of approximation for the pizza crust, but here are the basics I follow:

1 1/4 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
pinch sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 c. flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Combine water, yeast, and sugar and let sit until yeast foams. Add salt, flour, and olive oil and knead in stand mixer with dough hook or by hand. Continue to alternate adding olive oil or water as needed. Dough should not be sticky at all but should form a cohesive ball. Lightly coat ball of dough with olive oil, cover with towel, and let rise until double. Makes enough for 1 large jellyroll pan or 2 8-9 inch round pizzas.

Toppings:

olive oil

Italian seasoning

1/2 bag spinach, finely shredded

4-6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

1-2 lbs chicken, diced, cooked, and seasoned according to taste
(I prefer to use chicken thighs on pizza since they are more moist and tend to not get dried out during cooking at high temperatures)

oven-dried tomatoes (1 pint before drying)

1 c. mozzarella cheese (optional)

Sprinkle cornmeal over pizza stone or pan. Roll out pizza dough and place on pan. Brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with Italian seasoning. Sprinkle spinach over crust and press into dough. Top with chicken, tomatoes, feta cheese, and mozzarella cheese. (Note: this is optional but I like to add it simply because it holds everything in place and makes the pizza easier to eat.) Bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes.

Important: The tomatoes tend to scorch at such a high temperature (you can see some of mine are a bit scorched in the photo). The pan should be placed low enough in the oven to avoid this. Check the pizza periodically throughout the 10 minutes and if tomatoes are starting to burn, lower the pan.

**You can make this pizza "lighter" by halving the crust recipe and making the crust half as thin. You will just need to reduce the baking time accordingly.