Tuesday, March 15, 2011

White Bean Italian Pizza




We love using beans in recipes where you wouldn't expect them. Our all-time favorite way to use white beans is in penne with broccoli and sausage, and we love black bean brownies!!



This time, I tried making a white sauce with the beans to use as a quasi-Alfredo sauce on pizza.


 The result was a garlic, creamy sauce that complimented the veggies wonderfully.


White Bean Italian Pizza - Finding Joy in My Kitchen

1 recipe, no-rise pizza crust
1/2 (14oz) can white beans (like Great White Northern), rinsed and drained
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 - 1 T milk
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 C fresh spinach, cleaned and trimmed
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
~1 1/2 C shredded cheeses (we used Havarti and cheddar)

Prepare pizza crust according to directions in the pizza crust recipe.

Combine the beans, garlic cloves and milk in a blender.


Puree until beans are smooth. Mix in 1 tsp. of Italian seasoning.

Spread the white bean sauce in a thin layer over prepared pizza crust.


Top with toppings. We used spinach, red pepper and mushrooms.


Top with cheese. We used cheddar and Havarti.


Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of Italian seasoning.  And, if desired, a twist of freshly ground sea salt and pepper.


Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and browned.


Enjoy the delicious garlic scent flooding your kitchen.


Slice and serve.


The crust recipe makes two pizza crusts, but the toppings for this recipe make one large pizza.  Adjust accordingly by either freezing the other pizza crust {directions here} or upping the toppings to make two pizzas.  



Made from Scratch Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Take a Look Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Hearth and Soul, Full Plate Thursday, This Week's CravingsIngredient Spotlight

34 comments:

  1. Very interesting...I would have never thought to have done something like that. The pizza looks so good!!!

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  2. What a fun and healthy idea!! Never thought to use a bean puree on pizza but it makes total sense. I love this recipe, bookmarking it for our next pizza night!

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  3. I would never have thought to put beans on a pizza, but it sounds great!! That is one yummy looking pizza :)

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  4. Looks and sounds so yummy. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. I never would have thought to stick beans on pizza - it looks really good so I might have to try it!

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  6. I adore a good pizza. This sounds so delicious. Can't wait to try it. Thanks!

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  7. That looks soooo good! This would be a sneaky way to get my son to eats beans without knowing he is eating beans ;)

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  8. Just stopping in from slightly indulgent tuesdays... I love pizza, and this is such a neat idea! I will need to try this at home now, thanks for the new bookmarked recipe!! (and now Im youre newest follower!)

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  9. That is a great idea! Maybe I'll try to "sneak" it into my next pizza!

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  10. I like the idea of a bean pizza sauce and can't wait to try it.

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  11. That looks great to try. Do you happen to know the carb count at all? I am trying a lower carb diet and pizza is pretty much out but that looks too good to pass up!!!

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  12. What a great idea to make a lower-fat white sauce. I love white sauces, but they are always full of cream, cheese, or both. Your pizza looks great!

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  13. I love the looks of this! A couple of my kids have an aversion to beans and I'm always looking for ways to sneak some into their diets. I'd never really thought of pizza, but it looks like the way to go!

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  14. I LOVE the bean sauce! I would have never thought of it. Although, I just did a white bean sort of sauce on chicken salad. I love to stick beans in things too. It is emarassing to know how many cans of beans are in my cupboard right now!

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  15. I would have never thought of this. Thanks so much for the inspiration! I'll be trying this soon.

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  16. What are the white beans? They look like Cannellini beans but as you haven't said I wanted to make sure :) Great sounding recipe though! I bet it would be nice with pasta too!

    I'm also taking part in the Hearth & Soul hop and that's how I found your blog.

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  17. @Aurelia

    You can use great white northern beans or cannellini. Thanks for asking.

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  18. What a great idea! I have a bunch of cream peas - they aren't super-flavorful, so I bet they'd work great with this!
    Stopping by from the hop!

    http://frugallygreenmom.blogspot.com/2011/03/dinner-tonight-from-ppk.html

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  19. Awesome idea! Looks wonderful - can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing -

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  20. Hi Sno White,
    What an awesome combination, white beans and pizza. It can't get much better! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and please come back!

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  21. Pizzza Looks so Delicious, THanks for Sharing at Full Plate Thursday.

    -Mythreyi
    Yum! Yum! Yum!

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  22. Looks great! Thanks for linking up to Made From Scratch Tuesday!

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  23. Very interesting recipe! What a great way to sneak protein into the kids diet.

    Thanks for sharing at the hearth and soul hop.

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  24. I am tempted to make this without cheese. Do you think it would still be good? (I can't eat much dairy because my nursing son can't tolerate it.)

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  25. What a great idea! I am always trying to add more beans to our meals and this is a rather sneaky way - which I love! thanks for sharing this with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop!

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  26. Amazing! Another great recipe; your blog is wonderful!

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  27. This was delicious. Thank you! Next time I want to try it with chick peas and do a Mediterranean version.

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  28. I have never come across such a healthy topping for a pizza! Bean sauce - how amazing!!! I will have to give this a try sometime. Have bookmarked this recipe....Absolutely lovely!

    -Shilpa

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  29. Hi! I posted a recipe of a White Bean Alfredo sauce on my blog and linked this recipe in it. Your pizza recipe sparked my idea for my sauce but I tweaked it for my special dietary issues, ultimately using PETA's recipe as my starting point(I have dairy and fructose malabsorptions).

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  30. This is such a great idea, I can't wait to try using white beans for the pizza sauce. I have included this in my January Real Food Meal Plan post.

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  31. This looks delicious! What a healthy alternative! My husband loves pizza and probably two or three times a week he goes to Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. I think this will be a healthy alternative for at least one of those nights. Thanks for the idea! Please keep posting!

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  32. I a few days ago, had it yesterday...and I want it again today. Haha!. So glad you enjoy the easy recipe of Pizza, let me know if you try it out.

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  33. I think I cam make my father surprised to make this pizza at home. He loves to eat pizza very much. I will make it today using my stainless steel pizza oven.

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Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you; especially how you're finding JOY in your kitchen.

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