Mediterranean Pizza

Directions

1. Place water, yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and let the yeast bloom. Once foamy, add the Fustini&rsquo,s olive oil, salt and 2 ¼, cups flour, place in the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and start on low speed to combine. If the dough seems too wet, add the extra quarter cup of flour one tablespoon at a time while the mixer is running. Turn speed to medium-low and knead dough in mixer until elastic. Remove dough from the bowl and finish kneading by hand.
2. Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until doubled in volume &ndash, 2 to 2 ½, hours. Punch down dough, knead to remove air, and cut into 8 equal size pieces. Knead each piece to make it round and place on your work surface a few inches apart. Cover the dough balls with a wet towel and let rise again until puffy &ndash, 30 to 45 minutes. The dough is now ready to be rolled out.
3. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°,F. In a small skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes until wilted but still bright green. Add 1 pinch salt and remove from the heat. Thinly slice the red onion. Slice the olives in half. If the sundried tomatoes are large, you can chop them smaller too. When the oven is ready, dust the pizza peel. Stretch the dough into a circle. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel. Spread the pizza sauce over the dough using the back of a spoon to create a thin layer. Add the shredded mozzarella cheese. Top with the cooked spinach, red onion, olives, sundried tomatoes. and feta cheese. Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven. Allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before adding the basil on top.
4. Pulse all ingredients in the food processor until blended but not liquefied. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.