Love pizza but hate the guilt? (Please, drop the guilt and just enjoy the pizza…)
Then you, my friend, will love this post.
Once a week for the past decade we have CELEBRATED pizza night in our household. And we’re not talking just any old run-of-the-mill pizza. Nope. This is a seriously fabulous GOURMET-LEVEL PIZZA EXPERIENCE.
It’s all homemade and we thoroughly enjoy the experience of both the making and the eating!
Pizza becomes elevated from greasy junk food to a healthful meal to celebrate when you:
- use the freshest seasonal ingredients for the toppings,
- make the thin crust from organic wholemeal flour and healthy olive oil, or use a cauliflower crust,
- top with only the amount of cheese necessary, and
- share a large plate of fresh veg as an appetiser.
Pizza night can be a delicious, deep learning experience!
It’s taken years of experimentation and refinement to land on the crust we love, to develop the perfect sauce, to come up with the right cheese blend, the correct oven temperature for each of the adjustments we’ve tinkered with.
We’ve conducted trials on pre-baking the crust and pre-heating the pizza stone.
The crowning achievement has been coming up with topping combinations that level-up our pizza experience from great to EPIC.
Now, your tastes may differ from ours. But all it takes is a little tinkering when something isn’t quite to your liking.
Out of this experience come a couple of interrelated, fabulous life lessons that can be demonstrated to your kids, or used as a timely reminder for yourself:
- If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
- Through failure comes learning and growth.
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Who knew making pizza could be such a deep teaching/learning/personal growth experience?!?
Without further ado, here are our recipes!
The Sauce
Make ahead in a big batch and freeze in glass jars for less work on pizza night. I usually do 3x this recipe in a very large pot.
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large brown onion, skinned and quartered
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 kg Roma tomatoes
2 bay leaves
Fresh or dried oregano, rosemary, thyme, & basil (1-2 TBSP each fresh, finely minced, or 1-2 tsp each dry)
2-4 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar (or red wine)
½-1 Tbsp Maple syrup or brown sugar
Salt & freshly ground pepper
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, add the olive oil and gently heat. Dice onion in a food processor or by hand and add to the pot. Cook, stirring often, until onions translucent. Add a splash of water if starting to stick to the bottom. Add in garlic and cook a few minutes more.
While the onions are cooking, dice tomatoes in the food processor, or by hand. Add to the onion and garlic mixture. Add in the bay leaves, fresh or dried herbs (start with the lower amount for everything and add in more later, if needed), Balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup or brown sugar. Bring to a low simmer and let cook for 30 minutes or so, no lid, to let flavours develop and sauce to thicken.
Add in a bit of salt and pepper. Taste. If bland, add more herbs, Balsamic, sweetener, salt and pepper, as needed. Simmer for another 5-15 minutes, as required, to develop flavours and thicken up some more so it’s not very thin and runny. This is up to your preference.
Taste and adjust again, if required.
The sauce is best on pizza if blended smooth. Either let it cool until able to safely transfer to a blender or food processor, or use a hand blender in the pot.
The Crust
Makes 1 baking tray- or pizza stone-sized thin crust. If you don’t eat grains, substitute your favourite cauliflower pizza crust recipe.
200g organic wholemeal spelt flour (use the flour of your choice)
⅓ tsp salt
½ tsp yeast, activated in 110 mL warm water
¼-½ TBSP extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
Combine the ingredients in a stand mixer with a dough hook, or in a medium bowl by hand. Knead for 10 minutes on a lightly-oiled surface. Add more flour or water as required to have the dough become easily workable and smooth. Place in a lightly-oiled medium bowl, cover with a beeswax wrap or damp tea towel, and set aside in a warm spot to rise for an hour.
Roll out on a lightly-oiled surface (or use a light dusting of flour, if you prefer) until approximately the size you want. Ensure it doesn’t stick to the surface.
Carefully transfer to the pizza sheet or stone.
The Topping Combinations
We came up with these over years of trial and error and WE LOVE THEM! If they’re not to your taste, change it up as you like! No amounts are given. Just experiment! At current count, our list contains 20 of our specialty combinations. Here are a few.
FRESH SPRINGTIME ASPARAGUS DELIGHT: We only make this in the springtime, when Australian asparagus is in season.
- Asparagus, shaved thinly with a vegetable peeler, tossed in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and finely-grated fresh parmesan cheese.
- Pizza cheese combo: grated extra tasty/cheddar, followed by grated or thinly sliced good-quality mozzarella.
- Topped with dollops of (fresh, homemade, if you have it) ricotta.
ROAST MEDITERRANEAN VEG: Mostly a summer/autumn experience, when eggplant and zucchini are in season and at their best.
- Eggplant and zucchini, thinly sliced, lightly brushed with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted at 180 ºC on a baking tray, or on the BBQ, until softened and developing some light colouring.
- Thinly sliced garlic.
- Good quality oil-packed semi-dried tomatoes, minced.
- Either haloumi, very thinly sliced and crumbled, or feta, crumbled.
- Pizza cheese combo: grated extra tasty/cheddar, followed by grated or thinly sliced good-quality mozzarella.
- Arugula (rocket) heaped on top, after pizza out of the oven and still hot.
PUMPKIN & SAGE: An autumn & winter delight, when pumpkin is ripening in gardens and fields, and oh-so-sweet and wonderful.
- Pumpkin of your choice (butternut, Kent, tromboncino….), thinly sliced, brushed with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted at 180 ºC on a baking tray until softened and developing some light colouring.
- Fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced.
- Feta, crumbled.
- Pizza cheese combo: grated extra tasty/cheddar, followed by grated or thinly sliced good-quality mozzarella.
- +/- Arugula (rocket) heaped on top, after pizza out of the oven and still hot.
MUSHROOM & EGG, +/- BACON: Like breakfast on a pizza. A killer combo that is totally satisfying.
- Fresh, firm button mushrooms, very thinly sliced.
- +/- Nitrate-free, free-range, sow-stall-free bacon, cut into small pieces
- Pizza cheese combo: grated extra tasty/cheddar, followed by grated or thinly sliced good-quality mozzarella.
- Fry eggs sunny side up in a frying pan until yolks still runny, but whites cooked.
- When the pizza comes out of the oven, put the eggs on top, sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Break open the yolks to let the goodness spread. Then cut the pizza.
Need help implementing do-able strategies to make healthier eating a consistent part of your life, for your health and that of your family? Private Personal Training is the way to go.
Private Sessions and programming dedicated to exactly what YOU require, will allow you to MAKE QUICK PROGRESS and MOVE BEYOND YOUR CHALLENGES. You’ll be able to TAKE YOUR HEALTH and WELLBEING, FITNESS and MOVEMENT TO NEW LEVELS.
Unsure? Book a 15 Minute Discovery Call to talk to me about your aspirations and goals.