Making your own pizza crust is super easy. I tried several recipes to make my own healthy thin crust, and this is my favorite.
I tried mixing the ingredients with a KitchenAid mixer and also by hand. It really doesn't take much to mix and doing it by hand wasn't difficult. I found the key to kneading and rolling dough is to not skimp on the flour. As a precaution, I like to cover every flat surface in the kitchen with flour. Because it makes such a mess, it only makes sense to do several batches, one after the other and then freeze the extra. Pizza dough freezes well, just cover it in flour and put it in a large zip lock bag. Just take it out of the freezer a couple hours before you need it, or put it in the fridge the morning of.
I usually substitute 1/2 cup of wheat flour just to add some whole grain. Too much wheat flour and the crust is just too dry for my taste. Here's some other modifications I tried:
For five-grain crust:
Substitute the 1 cup of wheat flour suggested in the recipe.
Add 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup whole oats, 1/8 cup flax seed, 1/8 cup millet.
I found it's easiest to add these ingredients in the middle of adding the flour.
For garlic crust:
Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic while you're adding the flour. Yum.
For Italian crust:
Add some Sicilian, Italian, or whatever seasoning you like while adding the flour.
After rolling the dough, I bake it for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees. You know it's good when the dough gets a big bubble or barely starts to brown. Just don't cook it all the way yet. Pull it out of the oven and add mozzarella, veggies, mushrooms or whatever you like and drizzle some olive oil over it. Or go the Mediterranean route and use pesto, olives, sun dried tomatoes, capers and fresh mozzarella. Put it back in the oven until the cheese melts and starts to brown (about 10 minutes). I use a regular ole pizza pan. Curious how this would grill or pan fry.
Far as cost goes, homemade pizza dough is super cheap. I'd guess about 50 cents each (depending on what you add). By comparison, Publix's yummy five-grain dough is $3.50 a pound (makes one pizza). A typical freezer pizza is $5 to $8 dollars and isn't nearly as healthy. Healthy frozen pizzas are usually more expensive and taste like cardboard. No matter how you look at it, you come out ahead.
I tried mixing the ingredients with a KitchenAid mixer and also by hand. It really doesn't take much to mix and doing it by hand wasn't difficult. I found the key to kneading and rolling dough is to not skimp on the flour. As a precaution, I like to cover every flat surface in the kitchen with flour. Because it makes such a mess, it only makes sense to do several batches, one after the other and then freeze the extra. Pizza dough freezes well, just cover it in flour and put it in a large zip lock bag. Just take it out of the freezer a couple hours before you need it, or put it in the fridge the morning of.
I usually substitute 1/2 cup of wheat flour just to add some whole grain. Too much wheat flour and the crust is just too dry for my taste. Here's some other modifications I tried:
For five-grain crust:
Substitute the 1 cup of wheat flour suggested in the recipe.
Add 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup whole oats, 1/8 cup flax seed, 1/8 cup millet.
I found it's easiest to add these ingredients in the middle of adding the flour.
For garlic crust:
Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic while you're adding the flour. Yum.
For Italian crust:
Add some Sicilian, Italian, or whatever seasoning you like while adding the flour.
After rolling the dough, I bake it for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees. You know it's good when the dough gets a big bubble or barely starts to brown. Just don't cook it all the way yet. Pull it out of the oven and add mozzarella, veggies, mushrooms or whatever you like and drizzle some olive oil over it. Or go the Mediterranean route and use pesto, olives, sun dried tomatoes, capers and fresh mozzarella. Put it back in the oven until the cheese melts and starts to brown (about 10 minutes). I use a regular ole pizza pan. Curious how this would grill or pan fry.
Far as cost goes, homemade pizza dough is super cheap. I'd guess about 50 cents each (depending on what you add). By comparison, Publix's yummy five-grain dough is $3.50 a pound (makes one pizza). A typical freezer pizza is $5 to $8 dollars and isn't nearly as healthy. Healthy frozen pizzas are usually more expensive and taste like cardboard. No matter how you look at it, you come out ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment