Whole-wheat chorizo pesto pizza - somewhat healthy pizza option?
I can't recall I ever had whole-wheat pizza. It sounds rather un-Italian but I want to experiment a little and see how the whole-wheat pizza would turn out. It would be great if it works so that we can, at least, claim that it's wholegrain pizza and somewhat a healthy choice, even though it is fully loaded with cheeses, chorizo, and etc, lol.
I used pizza base recipe from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker Apprentice and replaced 70% of bread flour with whole wheat flour.
Instead of tomato sauce, I spread the pizza base with basil pesto (I got three big jars from CostCo that will last for so many pizzas and pastas) and topped it with mozzarella cheese, onion and chorizo (spicy Spanish sausage). The cooked pizza then topped with baby rocket leaves (arugula). Chorizo is something I love to cook with. It has such an intense well-rounded flavour that complements any dishes really well.
The whole wheat pizza crust works quite well. It is not as moist and soft as the one made with white flour. The crumb is also not as open but it is tasty nonetheless. I also feel that the whole-wheat base is crispier than the white flour base.
For more details and recipes, you can visit the blog => http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com/2010/11/chorizo-pesto-pizza-with-whole-wheat.html
Sue
Comments
I always bake with 50% White wholwheat for pizzas or more.. Nice Pizza , Sue!
Well done, Sue. I do the identical topping combo quite often. Love rocket on pizzas. We finish off with some cut fresh chillies in extra-virgin olive oil. Gives pizzas a lovely zing...shame about the calories.
Haven't tried making a pizza with as much WW content as yours, but I always add a little rye to my SD pizza dough, just to add that little touch of extra flavour.
Cheers!
R
Chillie and olive oil sounds like a good combination too, as well as SD pizza crust.
I also tried reducing the cheese topping by half. I only sprinkle cheese sparingly on top and it also worked quite well. It is still tasty from the olive oil in the pesto with just a little amount of cheese.
Sue
http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com/
Your pizza looks really delicious!
I want to say something about the health aspect of different flours (or food in general): Although it is a popular belief that whole grain is more healthy - probably because on paper whole grain has more minerals and vitamins - there never have been any irrefutable proof for this. There are even a lot of signs that the contrary is the case: A lot of people, including myself, have problems with properly digesting whole wheat, resulting in certain physical issues (stomache ache, feeling bloated, etc.).
Although whole wheat contains more minerals than white flour, it also contains a lot of substances from the outer layers of the grain which can hinder the disgestion of those minerals or cause health problems. There are good reasons why our ancestors tried to build tools for getting rid of the wheat bran. We are humans, not birds, so we can't really digest grain in general. So we had to find ways to manipulate the grain to make it fit to our own digestive system. This includes seperating the bran, milling, making a dough, fermenting (yeast/sourdough), heating (baking).
Of course people and their body functions are very individual. There are of course people who have absolutely no problem with eating whole wheat. So if you find it delicious and always feel good when eating it, then of course there is nothing to say against it. Just keep doing it. If, however, you absolutely don't like whole wheat and get digestive problems from eating it, then please don't try to use it just because some self-called "expert" claimed that white flour was unhealthy and would lead to arteriosclerosis or whatever. In this case you could actually risk doing harm to your own body when using whole wheat.
I can even see it in my own environment: Those people (including myself) who just eat what they like and in the amounts they like, never have any serious weight problems. Then I know several people who only eat about half or even just a third of calories a day compared to what I consume a day. They always count calories, try new diets once in a while, eat mostly things that are considered "healthy" although they don't really like it ("light" products, whole weat bread, raw food, etc.), eat food that is considered "unhealthy" (chocolate, white bread, fries, whatever) only secretly in their room or with bad conscience. And those are the ones who have the weight problems.
So please don't let the "experts" influence you too much. Rather trust your own body. So if you enjoy fatty pizza with white flour and lots of oil and cheese: Just keep doing it because your body tells you that it is good for you. Enjoy it to the maximum, do it with a good conscious and just be thankful for this great moment.
I beg to differ, Vogel!
firstly, Nowaday's so called "common wheat" is a wheat breed which causes gluten related allergies. The bran, also does not contain the same vitamins and minerals that ancient version of wheat contained. Being non-organic, is an addition to the drawbacks. Spelt, which is an ancient type of wheat, does not cause allergies, and is higher in nutritional vaue than common wheat.
Secondly, Whole Wheat flours shuld be soaked first (as in a soaker dough) to reduce phytic acid, which is the main causer of many digestive allergies, such as what you are experiencing.
So, wholewheat, still beats an all white flour for nutritional values.
I think both of Vogel and Khalid made some good points.
Yes, healthy should be tasty as well, not only healthy for healhty's sake. It all comes down to sensible eating. If one can include heathier options in their diet without doing one's body any harm. I say do it.
I still believe that wholegrain provide higher nutritional values than their white flour counterpart.
Sue
http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com/
Yes, that is what I wanted to say. I didn't want to start a fight or anything, but just wanted to say that you cannot set any strict rules which apply to everyone in a way like "X is healty, Y is unhealthy". It is very individual.
Certainly you won't die from not eating whole grain. That's the good thing about nature: Nutritions are never exclusive to only one product, so you can choose where you want them to come from.
I still don't believe that whole wheat flour is healthier than white flour, even with good fermentation, but that's just me :).