Cathy Katin-Grazzini
Cathy's Kitchen Prescription LLC
www.cathyskitchenprescription.com
Artisanal Pizza and Bread Twists
A chewy airy crust with your favorite veggie toppings and yummy plant-based mozzarella, this pizza is full of flavor but low fat and bursting with phytonutrients! Whole grain, vegan, no dairy/nuts /oils, it's bursting with flavor, kind to the waistline, and leaves you feeling great!
Makes 2 individual 9” pies
Prep time minimum 4 hrs - maximum 2 days
Cooking time 8-12 minutes
Dough
300 grams (c. 2 1/8 cups) organic whole wheat flour
Up to 2 cups non-chlorinated water, warmed to body temp
1 teaspoon active dry yeast for 1-3 day cold fermentation OR 2 tsp for 3-4 hour quick, warm rise
Toppings
1 full cup good quality organic tomatoes, puréed
1-2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ cup of kalamata, gaeta or Lebanese black olives, rinsed, pitted, halved
1/3 cup capers, rinsed and drained
2 cups mixed grape/cherry tomatoes, halved
2 red onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves or 4-6 fresh sprigs
Light sprinkle of dehydrated miso* to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Easy-cheesy sauce (see recipe)
Spinach-basil pesto (see recipe)
* Miso is a good salt alternative that helps to lower heart rate and does not raise blood pressure (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5313421/#:~:text=Miso%2C%20which%20is%20made%20from,%2C%20including%20salt%2Dsensitive%20hypertension).
Helpful tools: pizza peel, pizza stone. If you don't have these, assemble and bake on a parchment-lined flat-edged baking sheet.
Options: Topping variations are infinite. Mix it up with no-oil sautéed mushrooms, raw salad greens, artichoke hearts, grilled or roasted peppers or asparagus. Swap the tomato purée for more cheesy sauce for a white pizza.
Veggie prepping
Halve cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle with thyme. Roast cut side up on parchment at 350°F/175°C for 30 minutes to sweeten and concentrate flavor. Dry sauté onion. Set both aside.
Prepare pesto. Prepare cheesy sauce (see recipes).
Instructions for dough Preheat your oven to max (550F°/290°C . Preheat pizza stone for 1 hour)
Add 1 cup of the warmed water to large mixing bowl and sprinkle on the yeast. Wait 5 minutes for yeast to dissolve. Mix in the flour with a spoon, spatula or your hand, adding more water to create a soft, lightly sticky dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes in the bowl or on a floured board. Stretch, fold in thirds, turn 90°. Repeat 4 times. Place back in the bowl (dough will double in size), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24-48 hours. You could go a little longer to deepen the flavor and enhance the texture, but by 4-5 days the yeast will have begun to deteriorate and develop “off” flavor notes. Remove from frig and allow 4-5 hours at room temp before shaping. The cold ferment in the fridge yields a more complex-tasting dough with better structure, but in a pinch, you can still make awfully good pizzas, allowing the dough to ferment and rise on your counter or a warm corner for 3-4 hours.
Remove dough. Stretch, fold, turn a few times, adding flour if it adheres to the board. To shape your pizza, divide dough in half and cover one with wrap to prevent drying. Move the other to a floured board, flour it on top and bottom, gently shape into a disc or oblong, using finger tips to stretch, spread and thin the dough, leaving a raised border. Move to a floured peel and continue to prod it gently to stretch it into a thin crust with a raised border.
Very lightly dust the surface with flour and decorate with your toppings. Working quickly, apply tomato purée lightly. Keep all wet ingredients to a minimum. Spoon on pesto and cheesy sauce. Sprinkle oregano, freshly ground pepper and a dehydrated miso to taste. Shake the peel periodically to ensure the dough moves freely on the peel.
Transfer onto the pizza stone. Bake for 6-12 minutes, depending on pizza size and oven temp, or until crust has darkened in places and cheese is beginning to brown. Place on a rack to cool slightly. Slice up and dig in!
For Bread Twists
On your work surface, dusted with flour, roll out dough as thinly and evenly to c. 1/16”. Cut into 1 by 4” strips. On half the strips spread on sauce and/or pesto. Top with cheesy sauce. Cover with another strip, twist several turns, press to seal ends. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, oregano and bake at 550°F/290 °oven for 5-8 minutes or until golden and lightly toasted. Serve with more tomato purée or spinach-basil pesto for dipping.
