MAKING LIGHT, HEALTHIER PIZZA - THE TOPPINGS
Pizza is everyone's favorite but usually they are not the healthiest food to eat. Really you can add anything to a pizza including healthier choices like vegetables, but its is the cheese and the fatty meats that we normally add that pile on the calories and cholesterol. We have a few suggestions for making healthier pizzas that everyone in the family will love and you will know that you are getting good nutrition while at the same time enjoying the pleasure of pizza-eating. We much prefer lighter pizzas, especially in the summertime. A summertime pizza is a lighter pizza made with fresh vegetables, fewer toppings, and a crispy crust. We have included the recipe for the summertime pizza below.
 The Sauce: Most of us are familiar with the regular tomato based or marinara sauce that is usually used on the classic pizza, but you can choose to use a different kind of sauce if you want to spice up your family life a little. A white sauce made from Greek style yogurt and package French onion dip is really good and we personally like using barbeque sauce mixture that we like on our favorite Barbeque Chicken Pizza. You can even leave the sauce off altogether and just brush your crust with olive oil which will prevent if from drying out in the baking process. For the tomato sauce you can use a canned tomato-base pasta sauce as your pizza sauce but really it is easy to make your own. That way you know what you are eating and that there are no preservatives or unwanted salts added.. We have posted the recipe for homemade pizza sauce made from Roma tomatoes. You can peel and seed them to begin but we like to cook them with the peels and seeds and then but them through a strainer like the hand operated Victorio Strainer or even the Berry Press Attachment for the Bosch Universal Plus which will take all the seeds and skins out and make a nice smooth sauce. If you do remove the skins and seeds by hand and omit the olive oil, you can also use this recipe as a Salsa.
Tomato Sauce for Pizza or Pasta
2 to 3 cups peeled and seeded Roma tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed, dried oregano or a tablespoon of fresh
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves or two teaspoons fresh
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions - Chop the seeded tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Cook the tomatoes along with the seasonings and sugar for ten minutes or until it starts to thicken, stirring frequently. Add the olive oil. Let cool.
Parmesan, Basil, and Tomato Summertime Pizza
5 tablespoons French onion dip
1/2 teaspoon crushed oregano
5 medium-sized red and yellow tomatoes
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves snipped into pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
2 teaspoons virgin olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Directions Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- After letting your pizza crust rise for 10 minutes, spread the onion dip on the crust. Sprinkle the oregano evenly over the onion dip.
- Cut the tomatoes into quarter-inch thick slices. Lay them on paper towels as you cut them to soak up part of the juice.
- Layer the tomatoes on the crust. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the freshly cut basil over the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the parmesan cheese over the tomato slices.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Serve hot.
 The Veggies: It’s amazing what you can put on a pizza. You can serve many of your favorite garden vegetables on a pizza, everything from tomatoes to potatoes and broccoli to beans. Some may seem a little strange but if you like the veggies, chances are—you’ll like them on a pizza. We rather fancy a zucchini pizza made with the white sauce , garden fresh zucchini, a few onions, and green pepper. If the kids are a little wary of the vegetables you can hide them by grating them into the sauce or cutting them fine enough that they don't find them on the pizza. Your veggies are usually placed on a base, often a marinara sauce. It doesn’t have to be a red sauce. White pizzas are made with either a white sauce like Alfredo or simply a nice coating of olive oil. You need enough that your pizza is not dry but no more, especially if you want a crispy crust.
The Meat: Our men and boys in the family love meat on the pizza! We try to give them what they want but instead of using the high fat sausages and ham, we choose lean ground beef or ground turkey that has been cooked and the fat drained off before adding to the pizza. You can also use cooked chicken as we do in our Barbeque Chicken Pizza recipe.
The Cheese: What is pizza without the cheese? To reduce the calories and fats from the cheese try using a low fat cheddar mixed with a skim milk mozzarella. If you grate the cheese are the fine setting you can get a better coverage of the pizza with less cheese. Some pizzas are baked without the cheese until the last 2 min. when a light skiff of cheese is added and the pizza popped back in the oven to bake for a couple more minutes to let the cheese melt.
Baking: Pizzas are baked in a hot oven up to 500 degrees F. If using a pizza stone put the stone in the oven about 15 min. prior to baking, to allow it to heat up to the maximum temperature. Transferring the pizza from the peel (or flat cookie sheet) to the stone is made easier with the addition of corn meal on the peel before shaping the pizza. The corn meal allows it to slip on and off easier. Bake only 10 to 15 min. or until the cheese is bubbly and starts to turn brown or the edges of the crust in browning. If you want a crisper crust, pre-bake the crust about 8 min. before adding the toppings and then bake another 10 min. with the toppings.
Baker’s tip: If you are not going to serve your pizza immediately, place the pizza on a wire rack. A hot pizza left on the pan or cutting board will sweat and make the crust soggy.
Our next post will teach you how to grill a pizza on the barbeque. |
The Sauce
