Pennywise Pizza
July 23rd, 2009
How much does a pizza cost? $12? Something like that? I haven’t actually purchased a pizza pie in a pretty long time so I’m guessing.
When I was maybe 8 years old living in New Jersey I’d gather up my quarters and walking a few blocks to our local pizzeria. A slice cost $1.00 and I felt very grown up ordering and paying for my own food! As an adult, New York pizza is by far the best I’ve tasted, with Chicago deep-dish style a very close second.
But let’s face it. Pizza isn’t the healthiest meal. Maybe you can get some mushrooms on top. Still, it’s not knocking my socks off with nutritional value. But pizza is fantastic when you make it yourself – a delicious, healthy, real-food, cost-conscious dinner.
You with me?
Here’s how I did it. I started in the morning with a 5 minute homemade dough. You mix it together, set it in the fridge and let it rise all day. Then you come home, roll it out, bake, add toppings and bake some more. Not bad.
Got leftovers in the fridge? Throw ‘em on! Got veggies you don’t know what to do with? Perfect! Maybe you have cheese, maybe you don’t. Got some sauce lying around? Pesto? Hoisin? Work it, sista.
Pizza is undeniably accommodating. And therefore, a big money saver. Food that goes bad or gets thrown away is a major waste of money. So…use it and save the bucks.
Michelle’s Herbilicious Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
3 cups whole wheat bread flour, plus 1/4 cup
1 tsp. instant yeast
2 tsp. sea salt
1 cup water
2 Tbl. olive oil
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 handful fresh basil leaves (or oregano or sage, you get the gist)
In the morning
In food processor combine flour, yeast and salt. Turn on machine and add water and oil through feed tube. Let the machine run for less than a minute and it should form a ball of dough. Remove, turn onto floured surface and knead for a few seconds. Place ball of dough into oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth in the refrigerator.
In the evening
Remove dough from fridge. Divide into 2 or 4 equal pieces to make smaller pizzas that actually fit on a cookie sheet. Make each piece into a ball on floured surface, cover with a towel and let rise 20 minutes while you prep your toppings. (I used roasted golden beets, chopped beet greens, feta and a quick homemade pesto. The beets had been sitting in my fridge about to go bad! This all came together really well but obviously you can use anything.)
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Oil cookie sheets. Place dough on sheet and press out into a circle using your hands. Bake for about 6 minutes. Remove from oven, add toppings, then bake another 6 minutes. Serve.
It struck me odd that I don’t do this more often. Making the dough was super easy and cost pennies.
And by splitting it into 4 smaller pizzas, I had individual servings ready to rock the next day for lunch – the kind of lunch that makes other people jealous!
This post is part of Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Carnival and Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays.
Yum! This sounds like a great recipe
July 24th, 2009 at 12:32 amLove homemade pizza. You’re right, it’s the quality of ingredients that makes something healthy or unhealthy, pizza is a great example of that. We make it quite a bit because it’s great for both kids and adults. We top ours with all sorts of great seasonal veg. YUM!
July 24th, 2009 at 7:36 amHow funny! I ate pizza last night from Domino’s, and I kept thinking, “This is okay, but I’ll bet I could do better.” I’ve never tried homemade pizza dough before… sounds like fun!
July 24th, 2009 at 9:27 amI LOVE home-made pizza!! I always tell people that they’ll never believe how easy and cheap it is. We make a big batch and get about 5 medium sized pizzas out of it or 10 individual calzones. And there are soo many good leftovers. I also like to make fresh pasta because it’s so cheap and has a much better texture than dried. Your pizza looks awesome
yum!
July 24th, 2009 at 10:34 amWe have pizza night almost once a week… I am WAY gonna try your dough recipe…
GREAT FRIDAY!!
and yes, Pizza is very expensive via “delivery” and horribly unhealhty too!
July 24th, 2009 at 10:46 amLove whole wheat dough- I much prefer it to regular white dough!! Great choice of toppings- especially the feta- mmmmm. Thanks for the info about calcium in almonds! Thank goodness I’ve been eating all that almond butter
July 24th, 2009 at 7:06 pmYummy! That looks so great! Thanks for being part of the carnival.
July 24th, 2009 at 8:03 pmYou are so right! Pizza can be so much healthier when you make it yourself! Your pizza looks so fabulous! :0)
July 25th, 2009 at 12:55 amThis pizza looks great. I have been making them a lot lately on tortillas. I am going to give yours a try though.
July 25th, 2009 at 10:03 amdelicious! greens with cheese on bread is always good in my book.
don’t worry, most places i have seen in NJ you can still get a plain slice for $1.25. and NJ pizza is delicious, but unhealthy. however, i am moving soon to California which i’m hoping will have fresher, healthier pizza.
July 25th, 2009 at 3:32 pmThis sounds awesome! Thanks for the easy recipe–I don’t have a kitchen aid, but I do have a food processor, so I’m always looking for a bread recipe that uses it
July 26th, 2009 at 4:12 pmOh that looks so great. I plan on starting to cook more and this is definitely on my list! I wish I wasn’t so lazy…
July 27th, 2009 at 10:09 amThanks everyone! I’m so glad this looks yummy and easy to you too.
Corrie – Domino’s reminds me of college…I still remember their phone number! Ha! You can do WAY better
Lauren – Good luck with the move!
Dori – Well, we all make time for the things we really want to do and I’m sure you aren’t lazy at all even if cooking isn’t your priority right now! Bloggers really aren’t lazy people, I’ve noticed
July 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pmI was so glad you stood up and spoke on sunday, I had been looking for you! What a great last class, amazing energy. Your success seems evident, I look forward to keeping up with your blog!
hannah
July 27th, 2009 at 2:59 pmMichelle,
July 27th, 2009 at 3:22 pmDid you throw the handful of basil and the ground pepper into the food processor of kneed it in?
Sounds delicious!!
Awesome job Michelle! This looks great. I’ve been looking for a good whole wheat pizza dough. Can’t wait to try it!
July 27th, 2009 at 5:29 pmLooks great. Pizza must be some kind of universal food. I used to teach English as a Second Language and found that people from anywhere on earth seem to like it!
July 28th, 2009 at 7:47 pmI usually order pizza. Even though I almost always have veggie pizza and eat it with a salad, it’s still so oily and salty. Your pizza looks great!
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