Healthy Homemade Pizza
Like baseball, it seems that pizza is an American past time. Pizza gets a bad wrap when it comes to the nutritional value, and rightfully so. Many of the pizza slices contain anywhere from 300-500 cals per slice, and who can really eat just one slice? Well if you read one of my recent posts from NY, I can’t. (I ate 9 slices)
The good news is that there are ways to make pizza not as bad for you, and even make them quite healthy! My mom once again came to the rescue and provided us with a great pizza recipe. I remember growing up we would make pizza once or twice a month on friday nights. It was a great tradition and making the dough and having to kneed it and stretch it out, worked both my muscles and my patience!
So here is my mom in her own words!
Homemade pizza is in the oven today! Probably most of you busy people will think you don’t have time, picturing a time-consuming process, so Dustin suggested that I include both a homemade crust and a boughten one. And I even make the homemade crust the easy way and throw all the ingredients in my breadmaker. The following crust recipe makes two large crusts and when all the kids were home, most got eaten first time around.
2 c. warm water
2 pkg. yeast or 2 t.
1/2 c. veg. oil
4 T. olive oil
3 c. flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 t. seasalt
2 1/2 c. additional flour
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Sprinkle the yeast on the water and set for 10 min. (for the breadmaker, I just started dumping in the order of the recipe and it seemed to work fine). Add the next 5 ingred. and mix. Add the remaining flour and knead and let rise 2 times. I found that if I was in a hurry, with both the machine and by hand, I’d skip the second rising. Use either 2 very large round pizza pans or your largest cookie sheets-spray with oil and spread dough into pans. I had better luck getting crispy crusts by baking the crust first for about 10 min. before adding the rest.
Next spread the crusts with your favorite spaghetti or pizza sauce, or just plain tomato sauce with some extra seasonings (like Italian herb mix, garlic and onion pwd.). My family always liked the good ‘ole pepperoni for the next topping-the turkey variety has less fat…..but Mama here, remember, has a wimpy mouth and would make a corner with no pepperoni and extra veggies :). You could also use Canadian bacon, or cooked ground hamburger. You can easily use a whole pkg. of the pepperoni on the two pizzas if you like it heavy duty. Next, spread a can of well drained pineapple tidbits over the pepperoni. This is where I’d like to sprinkle all kinds of raw veggies, like whatever colored peppers you have, sauted onions, mushrooms, etc., before adding the shredded mozerella and cheddar cheeses…..note, I said I’d LIKE to—the kids wanted theirs without, but as they got older, some would want some of my corner! Looking back, I guess that is one way to get them to want the veggies by letting them try my corner and not forcing it :). Anyway, you can easily use a lb. of cheese but try with less and the lowfat is naturally better.
Bake at 475 degrees for 10-15 min. but watch closely for burned crust or cheese–may want to lower the oven temp.
Note, I like to use some good, whole grain cornmeal, and you can, of course, sub-
stitute some whole wheat flour for the white.
For the boughten crust, lately my favorite has been, again, Trader Joes–can you tell that I like that place?! For only a bit over a $1, you can get a crust big enough for one large pizza pan, stretched thin for a very yummy, crispy crust. They have 3 kinds: a whole wheat, an herb and garlic, and a plain white. They are in a bag, a big lump of dough, and I just let it sit at room temp. before spreading on the pan. I even freeze them, and, if in a hurry, thaw them out in a sinkful of warm water. I prebake this crust too, like the homemade, but you might want to try it without that extra step.
So, I look forward to reading your favorite pizza recipes! Sure has been fun hearing back from you all! Somebody posted a request under the guacamole recipe for a healthy chocolate recipe….I just found one this week that I will post at that site. Check out chocolate recipe.
Keep eating~healthy!
Dustin’s Mom
Click links below for more great recipes!
30 Healthy Snacks, 21 Healthy Snacks, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Tofu Pie, Pureed Vegetables, Roasted Veggies, Quinoa, Chicken, Omelet, Pizza, Guacamole, Hummus, Carrot Soup
Comments on Healthy Homemade Pizza »
Louise Schrunk @ 8:57 am
Funny, we just made pizza last night. I like to use the flat out bread in the bakery section instead of making my own crust because with a 14 month old and 4 yr old, time is of essence when dinner needs to be on the table, plus my 4 yr old loves to make her own, she spreads on the pizza sauce, whatever toppings she wants which was ham, bacon and cheese last night, she doesn’t normally like meat so I wasn’t going to deny any of that. Mom and Dad had peppers, onion, tomato, basil, ham and mushrooms on their pizzas. Just another option for us busy moms who have no time to make our own crust.
Allison @ 9:29 am
Take it a step further & make your own frozen pizza, too! I pre-bake the crust a bit (probably 2/3 of the time it needs) and then add all the toppings. Then I wrap them in saran wrap & freeze them. This saves so much time during the week when you can just pop it in the oven.
I also sprinkle flax seeds (that I grind up in the coffee grinder) on the pizza before I cook it. It sounds weird, but you can’t taste them & it adds a ton of fiber to the pizza.
Elle @ 9:49 am
I like using the Trader Joe’s crust, too. I use the whole wheat since it’s the most nutritious. To get even more nutrients into my kids who don’t like to eat vegetables, I look for a tomato sauce that already has a lot of vitamins and then I add extra veggies to it. A jar of baby food such as sweet potatoes (you can’t even tell it’s in the sauce!) works really well. If you don’t mind green sauce — which my son thinks is funny — you can saute some spinach in a pan for a minute until it wilts and then throw it in the blender with the sauce before you put it on the pizza.
MOM @ 1:31 pm
Louise, I love it, your little four yr. old fixing her own–you are setting her up for life, enjoying the kitchen! I have seen that flat out bread crust and wondered how it turned out…..what kind of crust does it make, thick and softer, or does it get crispy too?
And I have always said, you can’t get your kids in the kitchen too soon (well, depends on your patience and time and tolerance level for messes :)!)…..they’ll be eating for the rest of their lives so why not learn early how to do it well, and have fun doing it?!
Allison, way cool, freezing your own!! I’ve never been that organized, doing ahead, but have always admired those gals–my sis-in-law is one of those who plans her weekly menu, makes up a grocery list, and shops once a week!! Anyway, is the crust stiff enough and small enough to freeze just with plastic wrap, or do you have it on a pan or cardboard for support? And I love the ground flaxseed for fiber!! I just checked my bag, and it packs a walloping 7 g. of fiber/3 Tbls. (I’ve read that we should get 25 g. of daily fiber)
Elle, adding baby food to the sauce-who woulda’ thunk??!
And sauted spinach blended with the sauce–I can’t wait to make pizza again-am taking notes as I read and will be making all these awesome additions, for sure! Will see how well I can pass them off on Dustin’s little bro…well, he’s 18, but the only one left at home anymore to experiment on :).
Way fun, hearing all your innovative ways to rev up the “bad rep pizza”!! Keep ‘em coming….we just heard it, we may even get our name in a famous cookbook some day-ha!
Katy @ 2:16 pm
Dustin…do you have any #’s on the difference in calories? Also, when I want a taste of pizza, I will use a wheat tortilla for the crust. Not quite the same feel, but you get the taste and it’s quick.
alicia @ 4:42 pm
we use the artisan bread in five minutes a day whole wheat boule recipe. awesome book, if you have the time. the dough basically sits in your refrigerator ready for bread, baguettes (a great pair with a healthy soup) or pizza for nearly 2 weeks. in only 30 min from start to finish, we have great pizza and my kids pick their fav veggies for the toppings. here’s the link to the basic recipe http://www.startribune.com/video/11967361.html
the whole wheat version is:
in a larger tupperware container:
add 3 c luke warm water, mix in 1 1/2 tbls yeast and 1 1/2 tbls salt until mostly dissolved. add 1 c whole wheat flour, 5 1/2 c all purpose flour. mix thoroughly, place the lid on and let rest 2 hours, then use or put in fridge for 2 weeks! amazing.
when you need it, you preheat the oven and a pizza stone at 475 degrees for 20 min. then you take out the amount of dough you want for the crust, pull the sides down like you do for a boule (in the video), then roll it out as thin as you want it. add sauce, veggies and cheese, back until bubbly, usually about 7-10 minutes. it’s awesome with large broccoli florets, mushrooms and green peppers. for the sauce, we just use a can of crushed tomatoes and sprinkle oregano and basil over the top.
MOM @ 7:39 pm
Katy, I’ll let Dustin answer the big picture, but I just checked a bag of the herb and garlic dough and it has 140 cals. in 1/8th of the crust. A whole grain tortilla from T.J. also has 140 cals. A high fiber
wrap has only 70 cals., and, 6 g. of fiber. Do you just bake it on a cookie sheet….how does the crust turn out? Certainly a fast way of taking care of a pizza craving-that’s a good one to try on Eric for one of his late night hunger hits!
Alicia, wow-that video was truly inspiring, in its simplicity and the resulting loaf of bread that looked fit for the king’s table!! And now I get to ask a pro:
how do you get the pizza onto the preheated stone???
Do you take the hot thing out of the oven and roll the dough onto it and go from there, or do you somehow transfer the whole finished product onto the stone??
I gotta’ admit it, I actually have a stone in the bottom of my oven that I have never used! :(. I hope big bro. Jer doesn’t read this, ’cause they gave it to us years ago and I never got educated-sad, huh?? I can’t wait for you to blog back, Alicia, ’cause I just might have to change my menu for tomorrow and make Greg a pizza that will knock the socks off him for his Valentine dinner-what’s to stop me from making it heart shaped and really get into this big time-??!! ha!
One more question, are you able to roll the bread dough thin enough to get a crispy crust, or is it a thicker crust?
With all this blogging, I wonder how many of you are going to be making pizza this weekend?! Share your results with us, k?
Unca Jerry @ 7:21 am
MOM-litl sis- That’s Okay- we rarely use ours -the pizza stone- but it does make it nice and crispy and probably better than aluminum healthwise. (gotta avoid aluminum and all nonstick cookware you know) For a non bread pizza for the no-grans people ( there are those who consider grains no more valuable than sugar)we like the zucchini crusted version. Go to http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/the-vegetables-you-love-to-hide-zucchini-crust-pizza-flatbread-466.html for a really deluxe pizza. Not trying to be a wet blanket but you better listen to me cuz I’m your BIG BRO (:(
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alicia @ 10:12 am
sorry it took so long to respond. crazy times with the kids lately.
i use a pizza peel to transfer the dough. this is the easiest method (sprinkle lots of cornmeal on the bottom and it slides right off. Before we bought a peel, we used a sturdy cutting board with the same concept. the trick is not to let the pizza sit out of the oven for too long before putting it in. the longer it sits on the board or peel, the harder it is to transfer. then we use the cutting board or peel to remove it from the hot stone.
to clean the stone, don’t use soap! i usually just scrape anything off with a knife or spatula and re-oil if needed. water and soap can damage the stone and weaken it, so that it might crack in your oven.
as for the crust, my family doesn’t like a too crispy crust so i haven’t tried it. i wouldn’t see why not, the crust rolls out really well. we usually roll it out to about a 1/4 in and it puffs up to about a 1/2 in to 3/4 in pizza crust. not too thick, not too thin.
enjoy!
MOM @ 9:20 pm
Many thanks Alicia!! I am sitting here actually eating my share of my first experiment with your crust for pizza…and the review is a big thumbs up, my husband included–he really liked the crispy crust!! Eric will get his chance to critique it when he gets home, but I think we have a keeper here! I really appreciated you walking me through using the stone, esp. to not wash that stone and ruin the thing-after sitting in the bottom of my oven for years! I did bake the crust alone for 5 min. before adding the toppings, then only baked it for an additional 5 min. I actually rolled it out on the peel, sprinkled with cornmeal–or is that how you do it too? Now I have a hunk of dough rising, ready to bake my first fancy artisan loaf on the stone–see if it looks as professional as on the video!
Have a fun, calm weekend with the kids!! Ha
Let’s see if my brother uses their stone now with these instructions!
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