Lycopene occurs naturally in tomatoes, and it has long been suggested to work as an anti-carcinogen. Recent studies that have questioned lycopene’s effectiveness in fighting prostate cancer, and other studies say that tomato’s cancer fighting qualities are due to a number of different compounds in tomatoes, rather than lycopene by itself.  But several other recent studies have shown that the tomato-derived carotenoid lycopene may in fact reduce the risk of several cancers by activating cancer preventative enzymes…  

So what should you do?  Eat pizza… regularly!  Okay, maybe not everyday, but with studies supporting the positive effect of tomatoes to fight cancer, and suggestions that tomato paste or stewed tomatoes might be more potent, pizza with tomato sauce might just fit the bill.  And pizza doesn’t have to be unhealthy either.  There are plenty of ways to create a healthy pizza dinner that is low in saturated fat and packed with your favorite vegetables and fruits.  We make pizza at our house a lot—I love to experiment with the dough, and Katie loves to put the toppings on. 

Buy low-fat mozzarella cheese and pick your favorite toppings to suit your diet. 
Here is my favorite recipe for the pizza dough—I do not buy the dough pre-made, it’s just too easy to do from home.  It’s also therapeutic, IMHO, to prepare any yummy dough!

 
Homemade Pizza Dough

1 envelope or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (run your tap as hot as it gets—110 degrees approx.)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
You can also add spices to your dough—garlic or other herbs…  I’ve also added parmesan cheese—nummy!

How easy is this?

In a large bowl mix the yeast and brown sugar with the water (110 degrees).  Allow the yeast to sit for 10 minutes.

Stir in the salt and oil. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.  Reserve one cup to knead in as you work…

Using a clean, floured surface knead in flour from reserve until the dough is no longer sticky. I usually knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.  Place the dough into an oiled bowl.  Lightly rub the ball of dough with olive oil as well, and cover it with a cloth. You will need to let the dough rise until its doubled, about 1 hour.

Next, punch down the dough and form a ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before forming your crust. You can roll it out, or you can form by hand.  I use corn meal on a lightly greased pizza pan—this helps to remove the crust when it’s done baking.  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let the dough rise for another 15 minutes before topping and baking it. Choose your favorite toppings and have fun!  (You can precook it a bit, but I’ve never done this and mine always turns out fine.)

Bake pizza in preheated oven until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

I usually just use an organic spaghetti sauce with extra herbs added for the pizza sauce, but you can also make this from scratch as well.

So much fun to do with the kiddos!

You can use just about anything for toppings...

Almost done...  Didn't she do great?

Now if you really want to get all crazy, you can grill your pizza! 
That is, if you live where it's warm--like me!  (in the 80s this week!)

How the heck do you grill pizza?

Using a covered grill with a large surface area is best so you can crisp one side of the crust then flip over onto indirect heat to warm the toppings and melt your cheese.

To cook pizzas on a charcoal grill, use coals at  medium-hot temp on one half of the grill—and transfer enough coals to the other side for melting toppings. If you use a gas grill with two burners, preheat one burner on high and then leave the other unlit till it’s time to melt toppings. For a single-burner gas grill, preheat on high and lower the flame to cook the second side of the pizza.

Form pizza dough into 8-inch circles and place on a floured surface.

Transfer 1 or 2 dough circles onto the hot side of the grill. Within 1 minute the dough will puff and the underside will firm. Using tongs, flip the crusts over and onto the cooler side of the grill.

Top your crusts. Cover the grill and cook.  You may want to rotate the pizzas a few times until toppings are heated, about 4-6 minutes.
 

Leave a Reply