Mushroom Broccoli Pizza

End of April. School is winding into the testing-then-coasting part of the year, which is brutal for two weeks and then, briefly, sustainable. My students did their state assessments Tuesday and Wednesday with extended time and small-group accommodations and a snack at hour two of each session. Marcus did better than last year. Aaliyah finished. Devonte cried halfway through and we paused, ate a granola bar, did some breathing, and started again. He finished too. That's the win. The win is finishing.

Sunday dinner at Mom and Dad's. Wally was in his chair, slower than at Easter but stable, which is the new measuring stick — not "is he better" but "is he the same." He was the same. He ate a small plate of mashed potatoes and a slice of the meatloaf my mother makes the way her mother made it, which is heavy on ketchup and unapologetic about it. He held Nora on his lap for fifteen minutes. He fell asleep in the chair after. My dad sat across from him and didn't take his eyes off him, which is what my dad does now, all the time, in a way he hasn't had to do for any of his children in fifty years.

I made my dad a coffee in the kitchen and we stood there for a minute and looked at Wally through the doorway, the way you look at something precious that's also fragile. Dad said "he's okay, Mandy." I said yes, Dad. He said "for now." I said yes. We didn't say anything else. The coffee was hot. The kitchen was warm. The window was open and you could smell the lilacs in the side yard, which were just starting to come in.

I cooked easy at home this week — slow cooker chicken thighs Monday, leftovers Tuesday, spaghetti Wednesday, sheet pan sausage Thursday, pizza Friday, takeout Saturday because Ryan said he could not look at the kitchen anymore. The blog post this week was a pep talk about how the rotation is the rotation and that's a feature not a bug. Fifty-two comments. The rotation always wins.

Pizza Friday showed up exactly when it was supposed to this week — no explanation required, no energy to spare, just the rotation doing what the rotation does. This Mushroom Broccoli Pizza is the version I keep coming back to: earthy mushrooms, tender broccoli, enough cheese to feel like a reward. It’s the kind of dinner that asks nothing of you and still manages to feel like you did something right.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb store-bought or homemade pizza dough, room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pizza sauce or marinara
8 oz cremini or baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cups small broccoli florets
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Instructions

Preheat oven. Place a baking sheet or pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450°F. Allowing the surface to heat up first gives you a crisper crust.
Blanch the broccoli. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add broccoli florets and cook for 2 minutes, then drain and pat dry. This prevents soggy toppings.
Sauté the mushrooms. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and most of the moisture has evaporated. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
Stretch the dough. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the dough to a 12-inch round or rough rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper.
Build the pizza. Mix the remaining tablespoon of olive oil with the minced garlic and brush lightly over the dough edge (the crust). Spread pizza sauce over the surface, leaving a 3/4-inch border. Scatter mozzarella evenly. Arrange mushrooms and broccoli on top. Sprinkle with oregano, red pepper flakes if using, and Parmesan.
Bake. Carefully slide the parchment with the pizza onto the preheated baking sheet or stone. Bake for 16–20 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned in spots.
Rest and slice. Let the pizza cool for 2–3 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mushroom Broccoli Pizza — Because the Rotation Always Wins