Thin-Crust Pizza

It’s hard to go wrong with savory dough, succulent cheese and spicy sauce. Pizza has everything – all the food groups, a delicious history, and tons of calories. But not all pizza has to make you feel guilty enough to run a marathon on your day off.

It’s almost natural for us to love pizza – it’s been around nearly as long as bread. Pizza’s predecessor dates back to at least the Neolithic era, when the ancient Greeks added herbs and oils to bread to make it more flavorful. Yet some believe pizza, as we know it, was invented in the U.S. by Italian immigrants during the late 18^th century. Pizza remained a tasty specialty limited to cities with large Italian communities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco, until the 1940s, but the trend caught on, as pizza parlours popped up in almost every North American city.

But oiled bread and creamy cheeses pile considerable calories into a few bites. Some of the calories come from toppings like sausage and full-fat mozzarella, but the crust is also a calorie culprit. A deep-dish pizza has three times the fat, carbohydrates and calories of thin-crust pizza. In the past decade, stuffing cheese into the crust and creating multi-topping layered, deep-dish mutations has packed a full day’s energy intake into three slices.

As people pay more attention to their calorie counts, pizza crust is going back to its roots. Re-enter the original format – thin-crust – to save pizza’s reputation as a junk food. Now available as an option at many restaurants, thin-crust pizzas can be a healthy, completely balanced meal when served with the right ingredients, not to mention delectable.

As a runner, you need carbohydrates, but you don’t need the extra calories in a thick crust. With 10-15 grams of carbohydrate in each thin slice, three or four slices of thin-crust pizza have an acceptable dose of carbs for a pre-run glycogen filler, and enough protein at 5-10 g per slice to serve as a muscle-rebuilding, post-run recovery food. A slice from a medium 14-inch thin-crust pizza has only 150 calories – half that of a deep-dish, and 100 calories fewer than a traditional hand-tossed pizza.

To keep the calories low, use part-skim mozzarella with 15-17 per cent milk fat, and skip the sausage. Roast vegetables before putting them on the pie to avoid a soggy crust. If you want to pay homage to Italy’s pizza perspective, serve your next pizza with just spices: oregano, dried red chile pepper and grated Parmiggiano. Fresh basil, sweet tomato sauce and a little mozzarella also make tasty toppings.

RECIPE

Diana Coutu’s Spinach, Asparagus, Red Pepper and Chicken Pizza on a Whole Wheat Crust

Diana Coutu is to pizza what an Olympic marathoner is to running. “I can tell you just by the look and touch if it’s been made properly and with quality ingredients” she says. Her skills as a pizzaiolo (pizza maker) garnered her a finalist position at the 2007 World Pizza Olympic Games in Salsomaggiore, and Pizza Today magazine named her Canada’s Best Pizza Chef at the same event in 2008. Coutu and her husband Pierre run Diana’s Gourmet Pizza in Winnipeg ( www.onegreatpizza.ca ) which provides both fully baked and frozen gourmet pizzas.

Spinach, Asparagus, Red Pepper and Chicken Pizza on a Whole Wheat Crust

Whole Wheat Dough

Makes enough for four 13oz patties or eight 9 oz patties (use 13 oz for medium style crust, 9 oz for thin crust)

• Six cups whole wheat flour (fine grind)
• 2.5 cups water
• 2 tsp Sea Salt
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 16 g yeast (two packages)

Dissolve salt and sugar in warm water (95 F – 105 F).  Add flour to water and mix on low speed for two minutes.  Let sit for 30 minutes to hydrate the wheat. Add oil and yeast and mix on low speed for two minutes, then high speed for another two minutes. Dough should be tacky but not wet. Divide into four 13 oz pieces for medium crust 12” pizzas, or eight 9oz pieces for thin crust  12” pizzas. Roll into balls but don’t overwork and toughen the dough. Cover and proof in fridge overnight. Don’t proof extra balls. Wrap spares in plastic and freeze for up to six months in zip-lock bags. Defrost at room temperature for three hours or in the refrigerator overnight.

Pizza

• One medium (13 oz) or one small (9 oz) whole-wheat dough patty, depending on desired crust thickness
• 4 oz thick marinara pasta sauce with low sodium
• 2 oz chicken breast – fully cooked, diced
• One-eighth package frozen spinach (1 lb size) – slightly thawed, drained
• 4 asparagus spears cut into bite size pieces
• 1 red pepper, sliced into quarter-inch rings
• Half-cup sundried tomatoes, sliced julienne style
• Pinch of herbs (oregano, basil, sea salt, pepper and minced garlic)
• Splash of extra virgin olive oil
• 5 oz low-fat mozzarella cheese – look for 15-19 per cent milk fat

Rinse sundried tomatoes for five minutes and soak for at least an hour before slicing.  This removes much of the salt, brings out the natural sweetness of the tomatoes and prevents them from burning. Toss sliced raw chicken breast with a splash of olive oil and herbs. Bake chicken breast in a preheated oven at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Cool and dice into bite-size pieces. Hand stretch or use a rolling pin to shape a dough patty into a 12-incb crust. For best results, use a baking stone, but a cookie sheet or parchment paper will also work well. Spread marinara sauce evenly. Cover with mozzarella cheese. Using the rule of “a little in every bite,” top pizza with seasoned chicken, red peppers, spinach (squeeze out excess water before topping), asparagus and sundried tomatoes. Preheat oven to 450 F and bake for seven to nine minutes or until the crust and cheese are golden brown. Finish with broiler if required.