"bit by bit, putting it together." "Healthier" pizza

Ragazzi, let's face some facts: pizza is NOT health food. You will see reports, which are accurate, which say that pizza is wholesome food, and it is: IN MODERATION. And if you make it yourself, you get the benefit of not using preservatives, knowing what has gone into your food, etc. But it is NOT a bowl of steamed broccoli, it is NOT a baked chicken breast, etc.

But it IS good. Annalena had a challenge put in front of her, some time ago, from Ms. Emily, which was to make it HEALTHY. Well, it has taken awhile, and Annalena's conclusion: you cannot make pizza healthy, but you can make it HEALTHIER. And that is just what we are going to do here.

Let Annalena explain what the specific challenge was. Ms. Emily asked if it were possible for Annalena to make her pizzas with whole wheat crust. And Annalena tried. The verdict: it IS possible, but here are the facts: to Annalena's taste, the crusts were heavy, somewhat too wet, and they did not puff and lighten, the way pizza crusts do. In retrospect, this is undertandable: whole wheat flour is heavier than white flour. It is also more absorbent, and it holds more water, longer. BUT... the major reason has to do with the reason we eat whole wheat: the bran.

If you look at bran under a microscope, as Annalena has done, it will probably remind you of a razor blade. With good reason. On the molecular level, the edges of bran are sharp. They are not sharp enough to cut you when you eat them, but on that micro level, they will cut the strands of gluten, which are what make breads, and other yeast products, stretch and rise. They do not do it to ALL of them, but the more bran in your recipe, the more likely this will be. If you do not mind bread which is not very high, and which is dense, proceed with all of your 100% whole wheat recipes.

But let us face it: in sandwiches, and in pizzas, we want a springy, light flavored thing to eat. And we notice it when we do not have it. Annalena DOES make 100% whole wheat bread. When she does, her sandwiches are of the "club" variety, because the bread does not rise very high, and the slices are smaller. Her whole wheat pizza crusts were tasty, but were more like crackers, than bread. (Incidentally, this is not so much a problem with things like pie crust, or the flat breads we all made together recently.

Where there is a will, however, there is a way. And we start this recipe, with the first component, a healthier pizza crust. Let us begin. You start by combining one tablespoon of yeast, and one teaspoon of salt, with a cup of water. Have an extra cup of water at hand. You will need some of it. The water should be cold, because hot water may very well kill your yeast. Stir it together. Add three tablespoons of olive oil. Then add 2 cups of white flour, and stir it together. Now add 1/3 cup of corn meal, and finally , 1 cup of whole wheat flour. Keep stirring. You will probably find this too dry, and that is why you start adding your water, 1/4 cup at a time, until you have a product that adheres. You will probably need from 1/2-3/4 cup of additional water.

Dump this out onto a clean surface, and begin kneading. How to knead? Well,here's how Annalena does it: Take the end of the dough furthest away from you, and fold 1/3 of it in, toward the center of your mass of dough. Press it down with the palms of your hands. You will get some bicep work here. Now, rotate the dough 90 degrees, and repeat. And keep on doing this. For anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Eventually, you will get a smooth, even mass. When you have that, put the thing in a bowl, cover it, and leave it for a full hour.

Now, we turn to the topping, a place where we can easily get distracted with lots of stuff that is very high in fat. Not the way to make pizza, ragazzi. "Pizza" comes from a root that means "bread" (think "pita" for example). Pizza is about the crust, so your 'condimenti' as we Italians call them, should be savory, and limited. We're going to make one that is rather low in the bad things: we're going to carmelize onions, and you're going to be astonished by this.

You need 2 pounds or so of red onions. Peel them, half them lengthwise, and then make half moon slices. Now get a big pan ready (non stick is better here, but you can make this work with any pan. MEASURE (do not eyeball), one - AND ONLY ONE - tablespoon of olive oil in that pan. Heat it at medium, and add the onion slices, with 1 teaspoon of salt. Leave them alone for about five minutes, then lower the heat, and stir them.

Keep on doing this, every couple of minutes. You're going to be doing this for a good 30-45 minutes, and you'll see water come off of the onions, and then they will begin to carmelize (did you know onions have more sugar in them than any vegetable? Betcha you didn't). While you're doing this slow saute', start preheating your oven, to 500 degrees.

Your two pounds of onions are going to shrink to a bout a scant 1.5 cups of very tasty onions. (You should think about making these generally and keeping them on hand). If, toward the end, they stick too much, add a tablespoon of water at a time, and stir until they release. And when they're done, put them aside.

Now, get a dozen olives. Olives are certainly rich in fat, but HEY, a dozen of them? Annalena prefers black ones. Smash them with the back part of your knife to remove the pits, and put them aside. They don't have to be perfect.

Ok, we have onions, cooked with one tablespoon of oil, olives, and of course , tomato sauce (there is a good recipe for sauce in this blog. Go for it). What are we lacking? One of the "evilities" of pizza: THE CHEESE. And yes, it is very easy to put tons and tons and tons of cheese on a pizza. It is easier to do so, if you are adding it in chunks.

If you watch pizzaioli (pizza makers), making pizza, you will see them work with shredded cheese. They are not doing this to make a healty pie. They are doing it to save money. Shredded cheese goes further. Now, you can buy godawful preshredded cheese in the supermarket, but you can do it yourself. And a way to make it easier to do, take a chunk of mozzarella, and put it in the freezer for ten-fifteen minutes before you want to use it. No low fat or non fast stuff, please. It is better used as a baseball. Then get out your three sided grater. You know what to do.

Now, let's put it together. Remember that dough? It will make two, large pizzas or three smaller ones. Let's work with half. Use a rolling pin, your hands, or whatever you like, to spread it out as thin as you like. Annalena likes it to be 12-14 inches in diameter, and if it's not perfectly round, who cares?

Move it to your baking surface. Most of you do not have pizza stones. Annalena suggests taking a baking sheet, putting a piece of parchment on the underside of it, and putting the crust on top of that. This will make it much easier to get off of the pan when you're ready to eat. Spread about half of your onions over it, and then a few tablespoons of tomato sauce. "Few" here, means no more than four or so. Spread it around with the back of your spoon. Now add the olives, spreading them out around the pie, evenly. Finally, the cheese. Maybe.

Let Annalena explain on that. Shredded cheese will brown, and burn, quickly. So if you are using a thick pizza crust, which will take longer to bake, do not put the cheese on yet. Rather, put the pie into the oven and bake for ten minutes, and then remove it, add the cheese, and bake for another ten or so. If you have a thin crust (Annalena's favorite), put the cheese onto the pie, and bake it for 15-17 minutes without taking it out.

And you're done. It is much easier to do than this recipe may sound, as you will find when you make it.

No, it is not "good for you." But you've put some whole wheat into your body, and you've used less cheese than you would normally use, and you've also gotten some low calorie vegetables on your pizza as a topping. And it is delicious. Think not? Try it. Annalena will send you a picture of the one she made if you like. But you show her yours too. It's only fair.

Live a little. Make a pizza. Make a healthier one. Ms E would approve, but only if you exercised first - and you should have.