Healthier Wholemeal Pizza
Hidden Veg Sauce ✅ Wholemeal Base ✅
No Kneading ✅ Extra Veg sneaked in ✅
Sunday night is PIZZA NIGHT in our house and I've been working hard on making our pizza healthier but also totally indulgent!
The thing is, what makes take away pizza so unhealthy is the MASSIVE amount of cheap cheese oozing oil all over it and the huge portion size, along with the fact that you've no idea what other ingredients are used or how fresh they are.
And frozen pizza is, well, let's just say it's 'not good'!
So I've made ours healthier with....
✴️more fibre - wholemeal base, extra veggies
✴️less fat - lower amounts of cheese, very little oil in base, fat free sauce
✴️less sugar* - tomato sauces often contain a lot of sugar, but this one is naturally sweetened with roast veg
*there is a small amount of sugar in the dough recipe, as sugar is needed to 'feed' the yeast and help your dough rise. It works out as 1/4 tsp of added sugar per 9inch pizza
So here's my best ever pizza recipe - it's much more simple than you'd think!
- Easy Hidden Veg Pizza Pasta Sauce
(makes 500ml and can be frozen)
140g Tin Tomato Puree
About 200ml Water or fill tomato puree tin 1 and a half times
1 whole roasted pepper, seeds and stalk removed
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
Optional: Pinch of salt & black pepper
Blitz the above ingredients together with a hand blender until smooth. Ta Da! Done. Use it for pasta too!
- Wholemeal Pizza Base (makes 4 x 9inch pizza bases)
500g Strong Wholemeal Flour (or 50:50 wholemeal & white strong flour)
1 sachet dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 level tsp sugar
390ml lukewarm water (360ml if using 50:50 wholemeal & white)
2 tsp olive oil
Method: Mix dry ingredients together in a very large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Add oil and all of the water. Mix well until completely combined. Cover bowl with a tea towel and leave at room temperature for at least an hour (ok to leave for several hours). When ready to use, sprinkle the dough with flour (as may be sticky) and gently remove dough from bowl on to a floured worktop. Divide in to four pieces (for 4 pizzas). Roll dough in to balls and let rest for a couple of minutes. Roll out in to 9" circles and place on baking trays (or make one at a time and keep rest of dough covered and in the fridge).
To top the pizzas:
2-3 dessert spoons of pizza sauce
50g grated mozzarella
Whatever toppings your family will eat - for me that's mushroom and cherry tomatoes!
AND LAST TIP.....For an extra kick of veg, finely grate a handful of veg (try courgette, carrot, mushroom) and sprinkle OVER the sauce BEFORE adding the cheese, it won't be seen! Have a look at my photo - there's finely grated courgette and carrot in there!
Bake in a PREHEATED oven at 200C for 15mins. Enjoy!
Try it, and let me know how you get on!!!