A very simple combination of baby spinach, Forestiere mushrooms, mascarpone cheese, and mozzarella makes this vegetarian spinach and mushroom pizza a tempting choice for a weeknight treat.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and I'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Vegetarian pizza recipes are rather difficult to nail if you are not a full-time vegetarian, particularly because of that feeling that something is missing. Anyone who has a meat-eater in the house asking, "but where's the meat?" will relate.
So, to make that feeling go away, I play with flavors, and sometimes I get them so right that I end up liking the vegetarian pizza toppings better than any meat or seafood pizza I have ever eaten.
This is the case with this mascarpone pizza, which only contains five ingredients on top of a very thin base.
That crispy crust you see in the pics is homemade with the help of my trusty bread maker.
So, there's not too much work involved with this mushroom pizza, which is exactly what I want to hear when I'm craving a treat on a busy day.
I like my white pizzas to be garlicky, so this one has minced garlic in the spinach and mushroom topping, but you can omit that if you'd like. Just a word of advice - you'd be missing out!
What do you need for this spinach and mushroom pizza?
I do like to keep it simple on pizzas because too many things on a thin crust and you'll end up with a soggy bottom. That's no way to eat pizza, so we're keeping it light.
- Forestiere mushrooms - What are Forestiere mushrooms, you may ask? They are a variety that is very much similar to chestnut mushrooms, but they have a milder taste, and they tend to keep their colour when you cook them. They're a hybrid between closed cup and chestnut, if you will. In the UK, I have found them in Tesco, but they are probably available elsewhere too. If you can't find them, some quality chestnut mushrooms would do just fine. You'll need 250 g (3 ⅓ cups) for two pizzas.
- Baby spinach - about 200 grams (6 cups) would be enough for two pizzas.
- Mascarpone cheese - this goes directly on the stretched dough and acts like a sauce. Don't worry if it takes some acrobatics to spread it on the dough; it will melt beautifully in the oven.
- Mozzarella balls - I used the ones from Galbani, cut in halves.
- Red onion (or shallot)
- Garlic (optional)
- Your preferred pizza dough (see the recipe card for mine)
And that's all. I told you it was simple. With this spinach pizza recipe, you need to be careful to cook the spinach and mushrooms until there is very little liquid left.
Even if you think it's too dry, trust me, it isn't, so cook those veggies until they start to get brown and are almost sticking to the pan.
Skip this step, and you'll end up with a soggy pizza with spinach and mushrooms, which, let's be honest, no one wants.
If you liked this pizza with mascarpone cheese, have a look at some of my other recipes:
- Healthy Tuna and Red Onion Pizza (High Protein)
- White Pizza with Haggis and Mushrooms
- Easy Vegan Mushroom Bourguignon
Looking for more delicious inspiration? Follow Skinny Spatula on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Spinach and Mushroom Pizza with Mascarpone Cheese
Ingredients
For the dough
- 160 ml (⅔ cups) water
- 235 g (2 cups) strong white flour
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
For the topping
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 250 g (2 ½ cups) Forestiere mushrooms (or chestnut)
- 200 grams (6 cups) baby spinach
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 175 g (¾ cups) mascarpone cheese
- 150 g (5.5 oz) mozzarella mini balls, cut in half (or shredded mozzarella)
- 1 medium red onion
Instructions
- Add all the dough ingredients in the bread maker in the order recommended and run the "dough" cycle. Some machines have a special "pizza" setting. If yours has it, use that instead.
- You can also make the dough by hand by adding all the dry ingredients in a bowl, mix them well, and gradually add the olive oil and water until you have a slightly sticky dough. Leave it to prove for 1 - 1 ½ hours.
- In a cast iron or non-stick pan on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the mushrooms and spinach, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the liquid evaporates. Add the minced garlic halfway through if using it.
- Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350F).
- Roll the pizza dough to form two 28 cm (11-inch) pizzas and add the dough to the pizza trays.
- Spread the mascarpone cheese on the dough, careful not to tear it.175 g mascarpone cheese
- Divide the spinach and mushroom mixture into two and spread evenly on the pizzas.
- Add the mozzarella, spreading it evenly on each pizza.150 g mozzarella mini balls, cut in half (or shredded mozzarella)
- Sprinkle the pizzas with fine slices of red onion.1 medium red onion
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the base is crisp and the mozzarella is melted and slightly golden.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is per serving and is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
mrmhf says
Never considered spinach on our pizza before. We just had a huge haul of spinach from our veg patch and made spinach soup. Saturday nights are homemade pizza nights, so it'll be spinach from our veg patch on the pizza tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion.
Patchworks.studio says
This looks so good. I know my kids won't eat the spinach or mushrooms but I will!!
Alice says
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it 😊
updownflight says
My absolute favorite pizza is always mushroom pizza. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the lovely mushrooms you mentioned, but do have some nice flavorful ones waiting for me in my fridge. I think I might make this tomorrow, with just a couple close substitutions.
Alice says
It works great with most mushrooms, so substitutions shouldn’t be a problem. I hope you like it 😊
Dimple@shivaaydelights says
Looks delish!
Alice says
Thank you! 😊
Carly Newberg says
I love this idea! So many of my favorites all on one pizza! Spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and onion! Must try! Thanks for sharing.
Alice says
I'm so glad you liked it!
Kelli Kostizak says
Literally to die for!
Alice says
Oh, thank you ❤️ it was delicious indeed 😋
Bookish Refreshment says
looks yummy and healthy
Alice says
Thank you 😊
mimi rippee says
This looks so good! Although I wouldn't mind it with a little Italian sausage...
Alice says
Some sausage would be a great idea!
Gayle says
I can't wait to try this Pizza
Alice says
I hope you like it! 😊
Margaret at Bottomfeeder says
Beautiful! I want to try this it sounds so good!!!
Alice says
I'm glad you liked it!
SimplyGrace says
This has all my favorites on it! I’ll have to give it a try!
Alice says
Thank you, Brittani, I hope you like it!
Lauren Vavala | Delicious Little Bites says
What a perfect vegetarian recipe for meatless Monday! I love the use of both mascarpone and mozzarella cheese - yum!!
Alice says
Thank you, Lauren!
Jen says
This would be such a fun dinner to make with my kids while being cooped up this weekend. So delicious!
Alice says
It's great for the little ones to get their daily veggies!
Danielle says
Another wonderful way to enjoy all the health benefits of baby spinach. Fantastic recipe to keep handy!
Alice says
I'm glad you liked it, Danielle!
Elizabeth says
Oh my goodness this sounds like the BEST PIZZA EVER! Once we get out of self-isolation for coronavirus I'm totally buying the ingredients for this recipe!
Alice says
Thank you, Elizabeth! It’s an amazing pizza indeed and I feel like I want to have it every week 😂
alwaysusebutter says
Now this looks like a delicious pizza!! Definitely trying it out this week!
Alice says
Thank you! It is delicious indeed 😋