Homemade Pizza

I don't care how many pumpkin recipes are already starting to show up, or how the leaves have already started changing colour, or how a select few grocery stores have already started pushing halloween...

... It's still summer!

As much as I love fall, I don't want to say goodbye to summer. Not just yet anyway. We've had some beautiful warm weather this week and I'm holding onto what's left of it. So today I'm tempting you with a pizza that is brimming with fresh summer flavour.

Homegrown tomatoes. Check.

Homegrown bell peppers. Check.

Homemade marinara sauce made with homegrown tomatoes. Double check!

The base of this pizza uses my recipe for 100% whole grain pizza dough, which can be thrown together in a matter of minutes and it only takes 30 minutes to rise. The real star of this meal is the homemade marinara sauce. I admit it takes a bit more work to make, but believe me it's worth it! Especially if you are using your own tomatoes grown from your backyard.

Spread it over your pizza dough, top with more summer fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, and dinner is served.

You can change the toppings to your own liking. The sky's the limit. But I personally like this combination of caramelized onions, roasted bell pepper, spinach and sliced tomatoes. Just remember the fresher the better!

Homemade Pizza with Homemade Marinara Sauce makes 2-14 inch pizza's

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Ingredients:

• 1 batch whole grain pizza dough
• 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup marinara sauce
• baby spinach
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted + peeled, thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, caramelized
• 1/4 cup goat cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• fresh basil to top

Directions:

1. Place a pizza stone or heavy baking sheet in oven. Preheat oven to 500˚ (keep pizza stone or baking sheet in oven as it preheats).
2. Cut the prepared pizza dough into 2 even pieces. Roll dough out to a 14-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Carefully remove pizza stone from oven. Evenly sprinkle about 1 tbsp cornmeal over pizza stone; place dough on pizza stone. Spread marinara sauce over dough leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top first with a thin layer of spinach leaves, 1/2 of the roasted peppers and onions. Then sprinkle 1/2 of the goat cheese on top of the veggies. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup of mozzarella. 
3. Bake at 500˚ for 12 minutes or until crust and cheese are browned. Top with a few leaves of chopped fresh basil. Cut pizza into 8 slices.

Now go make some pizza; fall is just around the corner.

Asparagus & Goat Cheese Quiche with Caramelized Onions

Confession #1: I have never made quiche.

Confession #2: I have never eaten quiche.

...until now!

It's not that I never wanted to try quiche. It's just that I always assumed it was one of those things that could never be healthy and still taste good. I never indulged in this savory treat before because of the copious amounts of eggs, butter and heavy cream. Eeek! That's a lot of fat. And besides the fact I'm one of those people that would rather save up their treat calories for a sweet dessert ;)

With a bit of experimentation and researching I was able to create this health-ed up recipe. I'm happy to say that a slice of this quiche will not go straight to your hips...and the smell of it in the oven while cooking is intoxicating!

Okay, okay. So how did I do it?

Well the first step was the crust. At first I was stumped. I'm usually good with making pastry but this isn't  pastry, it's more of a short crust, and anyway it needs to be healthy. Instead of all-purpose flour I used whole grain unrefined red fife flour, which works top notch in pie crusts. I used about 4 tbsp of unsalted butter (that's not very much fat when it comes down to a serving size) and my little secret, a pinch of nutmeg.

After making the pastry I put it in the fridge to set. Well I thought I mucked it up because it wouldn't roll out and it kept falling apart. While muttering a few expletives...ahem...I pieced the dough backed together in the dish and it turned out just fine! I realized this was to be expected with the type of crust it was, without all that fat to hold it together. Don't worry if this happens to you while rolling out the dough. If it splits just pinch the seams back together.

You should end up with it looking something like this:

Also note how I perforated the dough with a fork (or "docked" it). Can you see all the little holes? That's because we're going to be backing this crust before we add the filling. 

Now if you can believe it the filling only uses 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites, 1 cup of skim milk, and creamy goat cheese for its lower fat content.

Asparagus, onions, and spinach are sautéd and caramelized in a bit of olive oil for extra flavour.

Fill-er-up and bake!

Asparagus & Goat Cheese Quiche with Caramelized Onions

(serves 6)

Print the recipe here!

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 cup of red fife flour
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 3 tbsp ice cold water

For the filling:

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup asparagus, ends removed + chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cups of spinach, lightly packed
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• goat cheese

Directions:

1. Begin by combining the flour, salt and nutmeg in a food processor or mixing bowl. Mix the butter into the flour mixture until there are pea-sized pieces of butter. Gradually pour the water in, one tablespoon at a time with the mixer running. The dough should form into a dense ball. Place dough on lightly floured surface, and flour your rolling pin. Roll it out gently until it's about 1/4 inch thick and large enough for you pie pan. Dock the bottom of the crust with a fork to prevent it from bubbling up while it's cooking. Bake in a 400*F oven for 10 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and season with a pinch of pepper. Stir and spread out to cook until they start to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli, stir and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and asparagus and cook over medium heat until the asparagus is fork tender. Toss in the spinach and stir until slightly wilted. Remove pan from heat.
3. Whisk together eggs, egg white, milk, chives and nutmeg. Spread the vegetable mixture in the bottom of the prepared crust. Sprinkle goat cheese to taste. Pour egg mixture over top.
4. Bake at 350*F, uncovered until set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let quiche rest at room temperature for 10 minutes to settle; then serve.

Healthy, simple, and low in fat.

We enjoyed this for dinner with steamed broccoli on the side. It reheats really well for leftovers too!