Today must be a good day because I have three awesome recipes to share with you. Lucky you! All three of them create one fabulous, healthy vegetarian pizza, but each recipe can be used on their own however you would like. I decided to do pizza recipes for the month of December because I know it can be a hectic month so I wanted to share something that can be a quick meal, but also something healthy. Pizza isn’t something that normally is associated with being healthy, but by making a whole wheat crust and choosing colorful veggies instead of greasy meats you will add fiber and other nutrients and will cut down on the fat and calories.

 

I’ll first start with the pizza sauce. This is so easy to make and the flavor is outstanding. It will make any homemade pizza taste like you brought it home from a restaurant. This recipe is enough for four pizzas, in other words, it makes a TON of sauce. You can cut the recipe in half if you want, but this sauce freezes well, so if you pour the extra into freezer containers you’ll have another quick meal on a different night.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

2 (15-ounces each) cans tomato sauce

1(12 ounces) can tomato paste

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed*

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together tomato sauce and paste. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cool.

*To crush the fennel seeds place on a cutting board and firmly roll a rolling pin over the top.

 

 

Next up is the pizza crust. To make things easier I make mine in my bread maker with the dough setting. I’ve added the directions to use if you don’t have a bread maker.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting

 

2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

 

3/4 teaspoon salt

 

1 cup warm water

 

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

 

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

• In a small bowl, combine yeast, water and 1 tsp sugar. Let sit for five minutes.
• In a food processor add the 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, proofed yeast, remaining sugar, oil and salt. Pulse processor to combine all ingredients. Then process until the dough forms a ball on the blade. Remove dough to a large lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour or until dough has doubled in bulk.
• Punch down dough and transfer to a floured board and knead briefly.
• Roll out into a circle of desired crust thickness and let rest about 10 minutes (at this time you can put on your desired toppings).
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place pizza in oven and bake about 10-15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are baked. Let pizza rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

 

 

Black Bean Veggie Pizza

Pizza Crust

1 cup pizza sauce

 1 can black beans; drained and rinsed

2 handfuls of spinach chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup red onion; thinly sliced

8 cherry tomatoes

1 zucchini; halved and sliced

1/2 of a red bell pepper; sliced

1/2 of a yellow pepper; sliced

3 tablespoons chopped basil

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees with your pizza stone in the oven. If you’re not cooking on a pizza stone, skip this step, and preheat your empty oven to around 400 degrees.

 

• If you are using a pizza stone, assemble your pizza on a pizza peel or something that allows you to quickly transfer the pizza into your oven and onto the pizza stone. Using cornmeal on the pizza peel helps transfer it to the pizza stone. Cutting the pizza recipe in half and making two smaller pizzas also helps. If you’re using a regular pan/baking sheet go ahead and assemble your pizza directly on it.

 

• Thinly slice all vegetables. Try to keep everything a relatively uniform thickness (they will cook evenly this way).

 

• Place ingredients on the pizza dough in the order listed.

• Once the oven is hot and the pizza is topped and ready to go transfer your pizza onto the hot stone in your oven as quickly as you can. If you are baking on a tray just pop the tray in the oven.

 

• Bake for 15-20 minutes. Since all ovens are a little different check pizza after 10 minutes and keep your eye on it to ensure you don’t over cook it, once you’ve made the pizza a few times you’ll get a good feel for how your oven will bake the pizza.

• Remove pizza from oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes before cutting.