Healthy Pizza

Posted by Caley on August 3rd, 2009 at 07:48am

Who doesn’t love pizza? Pizza is just one of those universally loved foods, up there with ice cream and potato chips. Unlike ice cream and potato chips, you CAN make a healthy pizza and save yourself from the temptations of delivery. Remember, cooking at home actually helps you lose weight. The basic ingredients of a pizza, dough, tomato sauce and toppings can be healthy.

1. If you can, purchase whole-wheat pizza bases or packaged dough or make your own whole-wheat pizza dough. The easiest pizza dough can be made with Bisquick. You can also make quick pizza with a whole-wheat pita or a whole-wheat baguette sliced in half length-wise.
2. Buy a vegetable tomato sauce or make your own with a combination of fresh chopped tomatoes and passata (pureed tomatoes, not tomato paste). I like to add in garlic, shallots and fresh basil to my homemade tomato sauce. You can also make a pizza with pesto instead of tomato sauce, which is by made by pureeing fresh basil, olive oil, garlic and pinenuts or walnuts.
3. Skip the cheese or use a small amount of reduced fat mozzarella.
4. Load up your pizza with fresh vegetables instead of meat. I like to use whatever seasonal produce is on hand, such as peppers, squash, mushrooms and onions.  Give this healthy Artichoke Pizza a try or this Roasted Veggie Pizza. You can also include chicken slices for lean protein.
5. Bake your dough pizza at high temperature, 450 degrees F for around 12 minutes. Other kinds if pizza with cooked bases can be briefly placed under the broiler.
6. Fresh herbs are a great source of fat-free flavor. Try fresh basil, thyme, marjoram or oregano sprinkled on top after baking.

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Under Healthy Recipes Tags: pizza