Garlic Girl’s Whole Wheat Pizza Topped with Summer Salad

I’m not sure how I lived most of my life eating pizza from restaurants and totally missing out on homemade! My mom was (and still is) a great cook, but I don’t recall her ever making pizza. Stuffed artichokes, eggplant parmigiano, yes, but no pizza. That could be why it took me so long to start making homemade pizza as a regular meal. Or maybe it’s because I thought it would be too time consuming or too unhealthy…or that I needed a special oven. Whatever the case is, I didn’t start making it until a couple years ago. And it was only then that I realized how wrong I was. I happily discovered that making pizza is fast, as healthy as you want it to be, and that a simple oven works just fine! If you haven’t started making your own pizza, I hope you start because it’s so much fun and you will feel so proud of your delicious accomplishments!

Since I like to create healthy pizzas, I’m always experimenting with different whole wheat pizza crusts. The one I used for this pizza is a mixture of whole wheat and unbleached flour – so it’s a little chewier and lighter than the ones that are 100 percent whole wheat.

I love to pile arugula or baby spinach on top of hot homemade pizza, but I have to say that this mixed green combo with the baby endive along with the sweet tomatoes was a great way to top this white whole wheat pizza. It was just fabulous!

Garlic Girl’s Whole Wheat Pizza Topped with Summer Salad

Makes two medium pizzas

Ingredients
Pizza Dough
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1.5 cups unbleached flour
1 cup warm water
1 1/2  packets, active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt

Topping
2 (or more) cups baby mixed greens, cleaned and dried
1/2 cup sweet cherry tomatoes, whole or cut in half
a tiny bit of olive oil and splash of white balsamic or red wine vinegar
splash of fresh lemon juice (optional)
pinch of salt

Preparation

Pizza Dough
In one cup of luke warm water, add sugar and yeast and let dissolve until a little foamy. In large mixing bowl, add flours and salt. Add the olive oil to the water and yeast mixture. Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until everything comes together. Turn out onto dry and lightly floured surface.

Now the fun part. Knead the dough (by hand) for about 8-10 minutes. You will need to add a tiny bit of flour to your hands and the surface if it gets a little sticky.

Form a large ball and pull the sides under to make a tight ball, coat lightly with olive oil and let rise for about an hour in a olive oil coated bowl, covered with a towel. note: I always cover the ball of dough lightly with plastic wrap before you cover with a towel, but you don’t have to.

After it’s doubled in size, punch it down, cut it in half and knead a couple times. Let rise another 45 minutes and then they are ready to use.  If you’re not going to use right away, freeze or place in refrigerator. I just slip into ziplocs.

Pizza Preparation

Heat oven and pan (a pizza stone works best) to 500 degrees F.

On a floured surface, roll the dough out. I use my hands to stretch the dough in combination with a rolling pin. It about 10-12 inches in diameter. Make a little crust by pushing lightly from the middle toward the outside edges.  It will come out more evenly if you just roll up from the middle, turn the dough a couple inches and repeat until finished. Place the dough on pizza peel dusted in cornmeal.

Rub a little olive oil in your hands and then lightly coat the top of the pizza dough. Lightly sprinkle with Kosher salt. Spread the mozzarella cheese on the dough from the center until about an inch from the edges.

Using the peel, tilt the pizza and slide onto the hot pizza stone in the oven. I use a large spatula to help the pizza make it on to the hot pan. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese begins to bubble and toast and bit. Use the peel to remove the pizza from the stone and the oven.

 Now toss all the salad topping ingredients together. Pile desired amount of the salad on top of the pizza and then cut with a pizza cutter. Of course you can cut the pizza first, especially if someone doesn’t want the salad on top.

Serving Suggestion:
A little white wine and a couple plates and you’re all set! It really doesn’t need it, but if you want to sprinkle some grated parmigiano and crushed red pepper, it would be just fine!
Enjoy!