Build a Better Pizza

This post is for people who like to eat, want to stay healthy and do not mind spending a bit of time in the kitchen. One Saturday I had a yen for pizza so I set out to make a pizza that is high in fiber and low in fat and salt. It is not at all hard to do, but it takes some time. Since I am a morning person, I made the components early in the day and put it together for supper.
The recipes below make a crust for 1 medium pizza but enough sauce and mock Italian sausage for two. That is because tomato puree comes in 10.75-ounce cans and ground turkey comes in 1 pound packages. Save the leftover sauce and turkey for another day. (Freeze them if you are going to save them longer than 3 days.) You could also double the crust recipe and make two pizzas. Either invite guests or freeze one. I just planned another pizza supper for 2 days later.
The hardest part of making a healthy pizza is controlling the salt; the culprit is the cheese so be sure and count the sodium in the cheese. Turkey has some sodium, too. I added no salt to the crust or sauce to offset the salt in the cheese.

We cut the pizza into 6 wedges; I divided by 6 to figure out the sodium per serving. I calculated it this way:

1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese: 400 mg. of sodium
1/2 pound ground turkey: 160 mg. of sodium
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese: 128. mg of sodium
Total: 688 mg. or 115 mg. per slice

If you are not on such a low-sodium diet, you may want to add a pinch of salt to the crust (add when you add the vegetable oil) and/or the sauce. If you add extra cheese, you will up the sodium and cholesterol.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1/2 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup bread flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

Put the warm water into a large bowl–I use the one that came with my mixer so I can use my dough hook. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the brown sugar and stir. Cover with a clean towel and let the yeast prove for 10 minutes. It should be bubbly if the yeast is active.
Add the vegetable oil and 1/2 cup of each of the flours. Beat at medium speed. Add the remaining flour and switch to the dough hook. Knead with the dough hook until a soft, smooth ball of dough is formed. (If you do not have a dough hook knead by hand 5-10 minutes.) You may need to add a little more flour. If so, keep the proportions of whole wheat to bread flour 50-50.

Spray a round pizza pan with cooking spray and put the ball of dough on it. Cover and let rise for an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 350. Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a circle a bit larger than your pizza pan. Pinch the excess dough up around the edges to make a ridge that will hold your toppings. Bake 12 minutes or until the crust is barely done. Add the toppings now or later.

Makes enough for 1 medium pizza.
(At this point, I just cooled the crust and covered it for later use.)

Pizza Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
(Or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
(Or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
(Or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 10.75-ounce can no-sodium-added tomato puree
1/2 can water

Add the olive oil to a sauce pan and saute the onions and garlic until they are translucent. Add the herbs and saute a minute longer to develop the flavor. Add the tomato puree and water and simmer 20 minutes on very low heat.

Makes enough sauce for 2 medium pizzas.
(If you are going to use it later, cool, cover and refrigerate.)

Mock Italian Sausage

Cooking spray
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon anise seed
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
(Or 1 teaspoon dried parsley)
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
(Or 1 teaspoon dried sage)
1/2 teaspoon dehydrated minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dehydrated minced garlic

Spray a heavy skillet with cooking spray. Over medium high heat, begin browning the turkey. When it is about halfway done, add the remaining ingredients and cook until the turkey is done through. Makes enough for two medium pizzas.

(If you are going to use it later, cool, cover and refrigerate.)

Sausage and Veggie Pizza

1 pizza crust
1/2 recipe pizza sauce (above)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 4-ounce can no- salt-added mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 recipe mock Italian sausage (above)
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the pizza sauce on the crust. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the sauce. Add the other toppings, ending with the Parmesan cheese. Bake about twenty minutes or until the cheeses are melted.

Other Healthy Pizza Toppings

Vegetable toppings are the lowest in calories:

Chopped broccoli
Thinly sliced zucchini
Thinly sliced yellow squash
Thinly sliced tomatoes

Meats should be low-fat such as:

Cooked chicken strips
Extra low-fat ground beef, browned and drained