By I listed 9 new properties this week — each one a different story, a different kitchen, a different family waiting to happen. The spring market is alive with the particular energy of people who have decided this is the year they change their address and their life.
Sunday dinner at Mama's was the usual controlled chaos. Mama made pastitsio and it was, as always, extraordinary. The table held fourteen people. The arguments held more opinions than the chairs held bodies. This is how Greek families communicate: loudly, with food, over each other.
The bakery smelled like honey this morning when I stopped by. That smell — warm honey and butter and the faint yeast of dough rising — is the smell of my childhood and my mother and my father and every Sunday morning of my life. Some smells are time machines. The bakery is mine.
I made tiropita — cheese pie, feta and ricotta and egg in phyllo, baked until golden. Simpler than spanakopita, rich in its own way. The kitchen smelled like cinnamon and the Gulf breeze and I thought: this is what survives. Not the money or the stress or the arguments about phyllo. The food survives. The recipes survive. The love baked into every dish survives.
The house was quiet this evening. I sat at the kitchen table with a glass of wine and the remains of dinner and I thought about all the tables I have sat at — Mama's table in Tarpon Springs, the table in the South Tampa house I lost, the table in the apartment where I started over, this table where I have fed my children for years. Every table is a different chapter. The food connects them all.
After an evening like that one—the wine, the quiet kitchen, the leftovers of tiropita cooling in the pan—I kept thinking about how those spinach-and-cheese flavors always feel like an embrace. This Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pizza doesn’t pretend to be a Greek grandmother’s pastry, but it carries the same spirit: creamy cheese, tender greens, something warm from the oven that pulls everyone to the table. When you’ve spent a week listing other people’s kitchens, there’s something grounding about coming home to make something good in your own.
Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pizza
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb pizza dough (store-bought or homemade), at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 cup baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Fresh basil or parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Preheat your oven to 425°F. If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven while it heats. Otherwise, lightly grease a large baking sheet or pizza pan.
- Make the spinach artichoke sauce. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sour cream, minced garlic, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper until smooth. Fold in the chopped spinach and artichoke hearts until evenly combined.
- Shape the dough. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the pizza dough to roughly a 12-inch round or rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to your prepared baking sheet or a piece of parchment if using a pizza stone.
- Spread the sauce. Spread the spinach artichoke mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border around the edge for the crust.
- Add the toppings. Scatter the shredded chicken evenly over the sauce. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Add red pepper flakes if using.
- Bake. Bake for 18—22 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted, bubbly, and lightly browned in spots.
- Finish and serve. Remove from the oven and let rest for 3—5 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil or parsley, slice, and serve warm.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 36g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 780mg