healthy pizza! (250 cals per 1/2)

jessalice66 · March 2011

i LOVE this recipe. i could not live in a world without pizza and i'm sure i'm not alone.
i've made this pizza a total of 6 times and plan to make another tonight. it serves about 2 people but you could double the recipe or just add more flour to make the pizza suit the size your after. there is around 500 calories ON AVERAGE (in the whole pizza, i generally would eat half so thats 250 cals) in the recipe i'm going to give you, but you could probably cut it down by using a different cheese or lighter options of some of the ingredients.
it's really quite simple;

you need:
- 100g strong flour (bread making flour). i'd go for the wholemeal option (you could go half-and-half). you may add more as you wish (100g makes a thin-based pizza around 25cm across).
- water (around 100ml, but it varies quite a bit)
- 1 tsp. bread making yeast
- dried chillies (opt.)
- tomato puree
- 2 tsp. pesto (opt.)
- cheese. i'd go for mozzarella, but you could use cheddar or something instead/as well.
- any toppings you want

method:
- mix the yeast and flour in a mixing bowl.
- add the water to the mixture. add as much as you feel necessary, it needs a doughy consistency - it holds together when lifted, but not too sticky. if you want any extra spices in your dough you should add them now. i quite like dried chillies. add more flour if you think the base wont be big enough - bare in mind that a little goes a long way with dough.
- sprinkle some flour on the surface (feel free to use normal flour here). place all the compacted dough on the surface. this is where you need to knead the dough. just keep turning it over and hitting it with your fists. there are many videos online teaching you how to knead if your stuck. i'd keep kneading for around 6 minutes - i find that the longer you knead, the nicer it tastes!
- put the now kneaded dough back in your mixing bowl and cover the mixing bowl with a tea towel. leave the dough for around 10 minutes, the dough needs to rise/expand.
- preheat the oven to a high temperature.
- after 10 minutes, the dough should be slightly springy to the touch. put a bit more flour on the surface and roll out the dough into the shape you want with a rolling pin. this is when you need to decide how you want your pizza. i like my base thin, but others like it fatter. after every few rolls, flip the base over to make sure it doesn't stick to the surface. keep adding more flour to the surface if you think the base is going to stick.
- once rolled out to the shape you like, place onto a pizza pan. spread tomato puree over the base, and add the pesto, cheese (if using mozzarella, it needs to be ripped into pieces and scattered on the base) and any other toppings you want. keep the toppings healthy - i like pineapple, you could try olives, and definitely do not overload the cheese. note, you could just stick with the cheese!
- put in the oven for around 25 minutes, until it looks cooked.

voila! have a salad on the side, and this is the yummiest meal i have ever made. hope i've explained it well enough!

if you're confused, feel free to ask.