Homemade Pizza Night

No spend month has been great so far but challenging. Because I love to eat, and sometimes get pretty busy, it's hard for me to deal with wanting to have something other than leftovers... again. I miss the convenience of hitting up a good restaurant. Last night, I was fed up and decided I was making something amazing. Here is the recipe I used/created. It takes around 2-1/2 hours to make, but you could probably make the dough for the crust ahead of time and be able to knock it out for dinner in no time. I, on the other hand, am very stubborn and ended up getting off work late, working out, starting the crust, heading to the store for toppings, then finally settling in for my piece with a glass of wine at about 11 o'clock. The pizza I recommend. My other methods, not so much. Recipe after the jump.


Ingredients:
(Crust)
3/4 C Warm Water
1/2 Tsp Sugar
1/2 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1-3/4 C Whole Wheat Flour

(Toppings)
Garlic Basil Pesto
1 Sliced Yellow Pepper
2 Sliced Roma Tomatoes
3 ea. Boneless, Skinless, Cooked, Seasoned, Cubed Chicken Breasts
1-1/2 C Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese

Mix water and sugar, then sprinkle yeast on top til foamy, about 10 minutes. Add salt and oil.

The wheat flour can be reduced and white flour added if you aren't used to whole wheat. A 50/50 mixture is a good start. Before I added the liquid to the flour, I mixed about 1 Tbsp ea. of garlic powder and Italian seasoning into the flour, but that's optional. Mix about 3/4 of the flour with the liquid and stir, then add the rest and mix with your hands. Once all the flour is absorbed, grease your bowl and allow the dough to rise in a warm spot for 1 hour. I made the mistake of setting it on top of my HOT oven and ended up cooking it at the bottom of the bowl a little, but it was ok.



Not quite sure why this picture came
 out so crappy and bluish.

 After it has risen, press it into your greased and/or floured pan in the desired shape. (I'm not a dough tosser, I'm a presser. This may not be awesome for the texture of the pizza, but it's how I do it.) Let your dough rise again in the pan for about 45 minutes, then bake at 475 for five minutes.

I took it out and added my garlic pesto for the sauce, but you can use a little 4 oz. can of tomato sauce (just spread onto the crust then add some salt and pepper), or alfredo sauce is also good. Toppings are completely at your discretion, but I loved this combination of yellow pepper, chicken, and roma tomatoes (they were on sale 99 cents a lb!). Always add your cheese last; it's the glue. You can reduce the amount if you want to save a few calories. Bake at 450 for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese browns a little. I allowed mine to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting. The crust came out slighty crunchy on the edges and chewy in the middle. Definitely had a hearty/healthy taste, but I didn't feel disgusted with myself after eating a piece either! The vegetables tasted amazing.

After you've made your initial purchase of flour, oil, and yeast, (if you didn't already own some) I estimated the cost of this pizza at around $5.00. Each slice (of 8) has about 250 calories, and they are very very filling. Let me know if you try this recipe and how it goes! Switching the pesto for tomato based sauce would save some calories if you were trying to go that direction.

I would recommend a sweet chardonnay to go along with this, but wine is not a necessity (and thus cannot be purchased), so I settled for a leftover sweet red. Still hit the spot.

Update on January resolutions: It's only February 9th, but I think it's safe to say I'll be continuing my resolutions to work out, keep the sink clean, and put makeup on at home. Had to laugh at myself when I went to bed late and woke up very very early for work yesterday, realizing fifteen minutes into my drive in the dark pre-sunrise hour that my face was completely bare. I have never not worn makeup to work on a weekday. I had some lipstick and mascara in my car, but that was it, so barefaced I went! That's what I get for being in the habit of putting on makeup in my car for so long!