8 JUNE 2013
Another beautiful sunny Sunday and early morning gym session left me with an annoying carb craving this afternoon. I adore pizza, but a bed of cheese and meat supported by pure carbohydrate, isn't the healthiest of options.
Sometimes though it's just too good to resist, and one way of ensuring that this carb binge is slightly more guilt free than the shop-bought of takeaway version, is to make it yourself from scratch. So this is my boy and I did today. We kept the calories
to a minimum by making a wholemeal pizza crust, topping it with low fat ricotta and fresh rocket leaves. Scroll down to find out how we did it...
INGREDIENTS: (makes one large pizza)
250g strong wholemeal bread flour
7g fast action yeast
1 tsp salt (we used himalayan pink salt but you can use any kind)
12.5g butter
125ml water
Tomato puree
Toppings of your choice: we used rocket leaves, sun dried tomatoes, ricotta cheese and prosciutto
METHOD:
Place the flour in a mixing bowl and rub the butter in with your fingertips. Add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Make a small well in the middle and pour in the water, bringing the mixture together with your fingers until it forms a dough (you may need a little extra water to bring all the dough off the bottom of the bowl).
Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead for approximately 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Place back in the mixing bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove until the dough has at least doubled in size (this is usually 1-2 hours).
Once doubled in size, turn the dough out and roll into your desired pizza shape and thickness. Place onto a baking sheet and start adding your toppings. Start with a base of tomato puree and your choice of cheese, then add the rest of your toppings.
Bake in the oven at around 200 degrees Celsius for approximately 15-20 minutes, or a little longer if you don't have a fan oven. Remove from the oven and enjoy.
I really recommend making your own pizza. They're so easy and fun to do, and there are so many flavour combinations you can try. You can even experiment with several flavours on one pizza. Try doing a rectangular base and doing a different topping in every corner!
