It seems to be the unanimous decision at group gatherings. Having a few people over? Why, we’ll just order a pizza.
To be honest, we love pizza, but if we were to invite our deliciously cheesy friend to the party every weekend, we’d find it hard to keep our fit about us.
So, in order to have our pizza and eat it too, we did what any MNB girl would do… We created our own mini pizzas!
Making your own dough from scratch might seem daunting at first, but it is a truly fun exercise and really quite simple.
Our LJ Active Chef Rhiannon Mack is the queen of putting a healthy spin on your traditional (naughty) dishes. To get you party ready for summer, she created these cute as a button DIY mini pizzas, complete with nutritious pesto and toppings.
Pizza Dough & Pesto
Pizza Party? Try Our DIY Pizza & Pesto Recipe
Preparation Time:
2 hours minutes
Total Time: 2 hours minutes
Servings: Serves 4
- pizza base: ¼ cup warm water
- 4g dry yeast (approx. ½ sachet)
- 1 tsp. rapadura sugar
- 2 cups spelt flour
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- ½ cup cold water
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- pesto: ½ large bunch silverbeet, destemmed
- 1 cup walnuts, roasted
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- Juice from ½ lemon
- ½ cup basil leaves
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- Add the ¼ cup of warm water to a drinking glass. The temperature of the water should be just above our body temperature (37°C) – too hot and it will kill the yeast. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar into the glass, stir with a fork, and sit it aside for 5 minutes. After being activated by the warm water, the yeast will start to froth.
- In a mixing bowl, sift in the flour and add salt.
- Using a dough attachment, start to mix the flour, slowly pouring in the warm water with the activated yeast. Then add the cold water. The cold water prevents the dough from overheating (killing the yeast) while it is being mixed.
- The ½ cup cold water should be enough to combine the flour into a dough. Stop the mixer, and knead the dough with your hands.
- Cling wrap it and place it in the fridge to cold ferment for 1 hour (if you want a lighter, fluffier dough, leave it to cold ferment overnight or for 24 hours).
- Take the dough out of the fridge and set it aside to warm for 15-30 minutes.
- In the same mixer bowl, place the dough and 2 tbsp. oil. Again, mix the dough using the dough hook, until the oil has combined into the dough. You may need to knead it with your hands to get to this stage.
- Roll out the dough on an oiled surface, with an oiled rolling pin.
- Cut out the mini pizza bases or shape it into one or two larger ones.
- Cook on a lined baking tray in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10 -12 minutes.
- pesto: Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.
- taste to see if the pesto needs more seasoning or lemon
As seen in MORE of the Fit Woman’s Secrets, this pesto is the BEST! We simply cannot get enough of it, plus it makes for the perfect pizza topping.
Topping Ideas
You can top these bases with whatever you wish. We found the most success by sticking to 3 key ingredients:
- Asparagus, rocket and caramelised onion
- Roast beetroot, pesto and chèvre
- Cherry tomato and pesto, with zucchini and basil
Enjoy the recipes, and make sure to leave us a comment if you have any pizza or pesto questions!
MNB
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