We love homemade pizza. And I especially love thin crust pizza. Not so much for the overall taste, but more for the reduction of carbs. Less dough, less carbs and calories. So, I decided to come up with a crust that I could pat out very, very thin. Just enough crust to support all the yummy topping ingredients. And while I was at it, I decided for the pizza I was building that evening, and because I had some fresh basil in the fridge that was quickly becoming tired, I would work up a pesto like sauce. So, you will find that recipe below too.

So, nothing more to say except I didn’t take a picture of the finished product. (Hard to take a picture of the bottom crust of a pizza after it’s been baked. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself sometime. But only if you plan to serve upside down pizza!)

As always, peace and love to all.  

1 c. warm water

½ tsp. granulated sugar

1 pkg. or 1 scant T. active dry yeast

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

½ c. whole wheat flour

1½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour, more or less

Combine the water, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add the salt, olive oil, whole wheat flour, and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour.

Using your dough hook, mix/knead until the dough is smooth and elastic using as much flour as required.   

Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes. Divide dough in half. (Dough can be used immediately or a portion frozen for later use.)

To bake your pizza on a pizza pan or baking sheet:

Lightly grease a 12-inch pizza pan. Sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal. Place one of the half pieces of dough on the prepared pizza pan and pat it with your fingers until it stretches over the whole pan. Make sure the edge is a bit thicker than the rest.

Place in a pre-heated 475-degree oven for about 8 minutes to set the crust. Remove from oven and spread with pizza sauce and toppings of your choice.

Return to the oven and continue baking for 10-20 minutes longer or until the crust is a nice golden color and the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting into slices.  

To bake your pizza on a pizza stone:

Pre-heat your oven and pizza stone to 475-degrees. (This takes longer than just heating your oven. So, you may want to start heating your oven at the same time you start making your dough. Rise time and all.)

Place a piece of parchment paper on top of a pizza peel or a baking sheet with only one edge. Pat one of the half pieces of dough out as thin as possible. Then, place your topping ingredients over the crust.

Transfer the pizza (parchment paper and all) off the pizza peel or baking sheet onto your pre-heated pizza stone and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven and wait 5 minutes before cutting. (I don’t have a pizza peel. I use a one-sided baking sheet. When the pizza is ready to come out of the oven, I just slide the pizza, parchment paper and all, back on to the baking sheet.)

BASIL PESTO PIZZA SAUCE  

2 garlic cloves

2 c. packed basil leaves

tiny pinch kosher salt

a couple grinds black pepper

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

½ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place all the ingredients in your food processor. Whirl until you reach desired consistency.

Slather the sauce on unbaked or partially baked crust. Use as much of the sauce as you want. That may be only half of the sauce, or every last bit scraped out of the food processor.