This kale mushroom brie pizza recipe is what gourmet pizza stands for. It’s perfectly flavored, thin, rustic and light. The super kale and mushrooms are sautéed with garlic for 1 minute before an instant white sauce is made with the addition of cream cheese. All topped on the perfect no knead pizza dough and then flaked with brie pieces to cover. Gourmet pizza at your fingertips!
There’s a big deal about “gourmet” this and “gourmet” that, and while I’ve been teaching so many cooking classes, I rarely use that word. Because when it comes down to it—gourmet is nothing but a fancy word for delicious. But being a French word, it’s always associated with upscale delicious—which is totally allowed!
rolled dough
mushroom and kale garlic sauté
So this “gourmet” pizza we’re talking about here, is absolutely a must try! the perfect no knead pizza dough recipe is prepared a day ahead and the toppings are prepared and pizza is baked the day of. It’s as easy as take out, only you get to control everything on your pizza and the crust you prefer.
add cream cheese for an instant white pizza sauce
ready to bake
I mention kale way too much on this blog and it’s because I really genuinely love kale.. i mean it’s the kind of obsession I brag about (unlike some of my other obsessions) and I always ask anyone who has tried kale before and found it bitter or rough to keep trying it in different recipes, because this bitterness can be beautifully complimented and this rough texture can be sautéed into smooth kale bliss!
right out of the oven
So I sautee the kale and mushrooms here with garlic for just a minute or so to get the flavors going, and to make this a white pizza without the hassle of cooking a white sauce, I add a few tablespoons of light cream cheese and mix it in the kale mixture until smooth. You can add extra cream cheese or heavy cream to it if you prefer a richer white sauce.
perfect bite
Then I slather my dough with this white sauce kale topping and add a faint layer of mozzarella cheese and brie cheese pieces on top. Baked to perfection then sprinkled with tiny pieces of minced fresh kale..Golden and crispy on the outside, airy on the inside, load of flavors from the toppings — this is my perfect pizza slice!
perfect crust
Kale Mushroom Brie Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 batch no knead pizza dough
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup of sliced cremini mushrooms
- 2 cups of sliced fresh kale (stems removed)
- pinch of red pepper flakes (optional, but recommended)
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup of room temperature light cream cheese ( or more to your preference)
- 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese , grated
- 1 1/2 cups of brie cheese cut up into 1 inch square pieces
- Fresh minced Kale for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to it’s highest setting, and place a pizza stone or a rimless baking sheet or an inverted baking sheet on the middle rack of your oven. ( For more details and tips on baking pizza dough and adjusting the crust preference, you can read the no knead pizza dough recipe post).
- Divide the dough in half and roll out the dough to your desired thickness ( and always remember the dough will puff up to about twice it’s thickness while baking). Let the dough sit covered for about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat a skillet over medium high heat and add in the olive oil.
- Add the garlic, mushrooms and kale and sauté for about 1 minute until the mixture is fragrant and the kale begins to wilt.Add the salt and pepper flakes and sauté for a few more seconds.
- Add the cream cheese to the pan and gently mix it in.
- Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down for 10 minutes (alternatively you may chill it for 5 minutes).
- Spread this kale-cream mixture over the pizza dough as evenly as you can—it doesn’t have to be perfect. And top with a thin layer of mozzarella then scatter the brie cheese pieces all over.
- Bake the pizza for 12-15 minutes ( depending on the size and thickness of your dough).
- When the pizza is done, sprinkle it with some extra fresh kale and enjoy!
