Posted on: Wednesday, January 12, 2005
RECIPE DOCTOR
Pesto offers alternative to tomato sauce on light pizza
By Elaine Magee
Q. My family adores pizza and I am looking for a unique pizza recipe I can make at home with a "better for you" crust that somehow doesn't use tomato sauce (my husband has acid reflux and this bothers him in the evenings). I hope this isn't too much to ask.
A. Not too much to ask at all! We are going to make our own pizza crust using half whole wheat flour, and we are enlisting the help of pesto sauce to replace the traditional tomato-based pizza sauce. You could use a lower-fat bottled Alfredo or white sauce too, if you would rather. I'm a pesto-lover so that's what I went with.
To make this pizza unique I'm using a shredded fontina cheese along with mozzarella (you could use smoked mozzarella if you wanted, too), and I'm topping the pizza with shredded chicken, artichoke hearts and green onions.
You can use whatever topping combination you want though, and my guess is it will still taste terrific.
I'll be honest though; tomato sauce is going to be your lowest fat, lowest calorie pizza sauce option. But at least the fat grams from pesto are usually the better fats (monounsaturated fat from olive oil). If someone wants to meet traditional pizza halfway they could use half tomato sauce and half pesto sauce.
If you aren't quite sure about that much whole wheat flour, you can try 1 cup of whole wheat and 2 cups of unbleached white flour.
CHICKEN PESTO PIZZA
Pizza dough:
Toppings:
Add pizza dough ingredients to bread machine pan in order listed (or in order recommended by the manufacturer) but ending by making a well in the center of the flour and pouring the yeast in. Set machine to DOUGH cycle and press START.
After dough is ready (about 1 hour and 40 minutes later) heat oven to 450 degrees. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Roll each ball into a pizza round as thin as possible using your hands and a rolling pin. Brush the edges of each crust with a teaspoon of olive oil, if desired.
Spread pesto sauce over the pizza crust (leaving the edges clean) and arrange chicken and artichoke heart pieces over the sauce. Sprinkle with the cheeses and green onions.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and the crust is lightly browned at the edges.
Makes 6 servings (about 2 slices each)
• Per serving: 487 calories, 33 g protein, 55 g carbohydrate, 15 g fat (6 g saturated fat, 6 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat), 66 mg cholesterol, 8 g fiber, 729 mg sodium. Omega-3 fatty acids 0.8 g. Omega-6 fatty acids 1.2 g. Weight Watchers Points: 5 per slice. Elaine Magee's book, "The Change of Life Diet and Cookbook," is available in bookstores. Readers may reach her through her Web site at www.recipedoctor.com. Personal responses can't be provided. This column is distributed by Knight Ridder News Service.
