Saturday, March 5, 2011

Pizza My Way!

My family has 'pizza night' on Fridays.  I don't eat restaurant pizza because of the cheese and sodium etc.  But I want pizza too!  My thought was to buy my own ready-made crust and make my own pizza.  I was surprised and disappointed to read that store-bought pizza crust lists "cheese" as an ingredient in the crust. Why do they do that?  (always a good idea to read labels so you know what you're eating).  I finally found a whole wheat pizza crust recipe that has ingredients I can live with (it does have white flour and a bit of white sugar) and tastes amazing.  It was super fun and easy to make.  I used my pesto sauce and veggies to top my pizza.  Enjoy!



To make 12 ounces of dough or 1 large thin crust pizza

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour (next time I am going to try it with all whole wheat flour)
1 pkg quick-rising yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 - 1/3 cup of hot water
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation
  1. Combine the flours, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
  2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
  3. While dough is resting, get all your toppings ready and waiting!
  4. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack; preheat oven (and stone) to 500°F or highest setting. When preheated, roll out on stone and top the pizza quickly (as it will be very hot) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve immediately.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Take caution on the use of all purpose flour. Unless organic, it is likely whitened with bleach or peroxide. Also, white flour (including organic) is stripped of the good parts of the wheat – the germ and the bran, and is typically enriched because the natural nutrients have been removed. This creates higher amount of empty calories in white flour, which causes spikes in glucose levels when eaten, and unless immediately burned will turn to excess fat in the body. By the way, same is true of white rice.

Drew

Eating Smart (Tracy) said...

Very true! Thanks for the comment!

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