pizza oven

Healthy and delicious: Smoked Salmon Pizza Recipe

smoked-salmon-pizza

One of the few pizzas, which incorporate fish meat instead of beef or chicken, a smoked salmon pizza consists of general toppings apart from the meat. Apart from the fish, the dill cream is also a specialty of the pizza. The cream is prepared out of mixing the dill with the sour cream. Keeping aside the dough preparation, this pizza does not take too much time to prepare. A treat for lovers of seafood, the Salmon could be hot or cold smoked, depending upon the likeness and taste of the person. Ideally it should be hot smoked, as it is firmer.

 

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour

 

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

For the dough:

  • 1 package of active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon of honey
  • 1 cup of warm water heated up to 115 degrees
  • 3 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

 

For the topping:

  • 1/4th cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 1/4th bunch of fresh dill, minced; 4 small springs for garnish
  • 1 cup of sour cream
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 16 ounces of smoked salmon
  • 4 tablespoons of domestic golden caviar
  • 4 teaspoons of black osetra caviar

 

PREPARATION:

  1. Take a small bowl and dissolve the yeast in 1/4th cup of warm water and honey.
  2. Take another bowl and combine the flour and the salt with it. Add oil, the rest of the 3/4th cup of warm water and the yeast mixture to it, and knead it using hands for about 5 minutes. It should be sticky once done.
  3. Transfer the dough onto a clean, floured surface and knead for 3 more minutes. Keep adding flour, so that it does not stick to the surface. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for about 15 to 20 minutes.
  4. When it rises to about twice its size, make 6 to 8 small pieces of dough, which are round in shape and let it rest for 15 – 20 minutes more.
  5. Preheat the oven at 500 degrees F. You can find great quality ovens at Californo.
  6. Dip the ball of dough in flour and shake off the excess flour from it. Stretch it by pressing from the centre to form 8-inch circles. One can use either hands or a rolling pin for this.
  7. Sprinkle olive oil on the pizza dough by leaving a 1-inch border. Add some red onions on it too.
  8. Put the pizza in the oven and heat it for about 8 to 12 minutes until the crust is golden brown in color.
  9. Prepare the dill cream by mixing the dill and sour cream along with freshly grounded pepper.
  10. Transfer the pizzas onto dinner plates and spread them with sour cream mixture. Divide the salmon and spread it evenly all over the pizza. Place a spoonful of golden caviar in the centre and the black caviar in the centre of the golden one.
  11. Slice each pizza into 4 pieces and serve hot.

 

Stay healthy while eating pizza with this delicious recipe

steak-blue-chees-onion-yoghurt-pizza

Steak & Blue Cheese Onion & Yogurt Pizza Recipe

A new twist to the regular steak and blue cheese pizza, the yogurt is what makes it special. It may not be available at regular pizza outlets, but can be found at experimental pizzerias, or places where there is an option of personalizing the pizza with toppings. Nevertheless, one can definitely make this one at home, quite easily, either in a regular oven, or even in a microwave. Refer to Californo for quality oven options.

 

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour 20 minutes

 

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

For the dough:

  • 825 grams – White Flour
  • 500 ML – Tepid Water
  • 2 teaspoons – Salt
  • 14 grams – Active Dry Yeast
  • 2 TBSP – Brown Sugar

 

For the topping:

  • Grilled Steak – 175 grams
  • Vegetable Oil – 15 ML
  • Salt and Pepper – ¼ TSP each
  • One small onion – chopped
  • Sun-dried tomato pesto – 125 ML
  • Arugula leaves – 125 ML
  • Canadian Blue Cheese – 90g

 

PREPARATION:

  1. Mix all dry ingredients of the dough in a bowl, and add tepid water. Mix with a wooden spoon, and then knead the mixture with your hands. You can choose to knead it even on a floured surface.
  2. Leave the dough for around 1 hour. It will start rising after around 30 minutes.
  3. Once the dough is ready, take the steak and sprinkle it with half the salt and pepper. Grill it on medium, for about 8 minutes, then tent with foil on the cutting board, and let it stand for 5 minutes. Slice it thinly after that.
  4. Then brush the onion with 1 tsp of oil, and sprinkle the leftover salt and pepper. Add to grill, and close the lid. Grill it for 5 minutes, and turn it once if needed. Chop and keep aside.
  5. Then roll out the dough on a floured surface, in a 16 x 12 inch rectangle. Transfer to baking tray or pizza peel, and brush with oil. Place inside the grill, with the oiled side down. Grill for 3-6 minutes, till bubbles start forming, and watch carefully to avoid burning.
  6. Then slide out the pizza peel, flip the base, and cook it for around 1 minute.
  7. Transfer again to lightly floured pizza peel or inverted baking sheet, and put the heat to medium-low. Spread the pesto, and add onion, steak and blue cheese.
  8. Put again in the grill, and cook for 3-8 minutes, depending on how the color changes, and how the cheese melts. Again, keep a close watch to avoid from burning.
  9. Sprinkle arugula on top. Slice up well, and serve hot.

 

Make Your Own Low-Sodium Pizza

Delicious and Healthy Alternative Italian Favorite

 

The basics of a pizza are fairly simple, and generally are healthful ingredients. There’s the crust, the sauce, the meat, the cheese, and the seasonings. That’s where the “basics” end and the creative juices can begin flowing.

While you may have given up a weekly visit to Pizza Hut, California Pizza, Sbarro’s, or Domino’s, it is not the end of the world. You can put together a heart-healthy and fantastic tasting pizza that has half the sodium of the average cheese (no meat) pizza at any of these pizza parlors – and this recipe includes meat!

The Basic Pizza Ingredients and Their Sodium Content

  • Pizza Shell (one medium pizza for two people) – look for Mama Mary’s which has 186 mgs of sodium for 1/4 of 10″ crust. The average of other brands (i.e. Boboli) for 1/5 of crust (one slice) averages 330 mg of sodium.
  • Pizza-style tomato sauce – Ragu’s Pizza Sauce Homestyle has 260 mgs per 2.2 oz serving (compared to their Pizza Quick Traditional which has 380 mgs). Other brands may go as high as 780 to 800 mgs. of sodium.
  • Olive oil (extra-virgin) or canola oil – zero milligrams of sodium

Meat Toppings

  • Ground Beef – 90% lean, 85 mg sodium per 3 oz serving
  • Chicken – thigh meat, skinless, broiled, 46 mgs per thigh; white meat 3 oz. broiled, skinless, 64 mgs per serving
  • Italian sweet sausage – Perdue turkey sausage, grilled, 490 mgs per 3 oz serving (regular Italian sweet sausage may have up to 900 mgs per 3 oz serving.)
  • Pepperoni – hard to find a “low-sodium” brand, but Wegman’s Italian Classic deli Italian sausage is 480 mgs per 1 oz. serving. Use very sparingly, if you must!

Fruit and Vegetable Toppings

  • Onions – 0
  • Fresh tomatoes – 1 mg per thin small slice (.5 oz)
  • Mushrooms – 0
  • Artichoke hearts – 1/2 cup boiled, drained, no salt added, 80 mgs sodium
  • Pineapple – 0
  • Fresh basil – 0
  • Fresh spinach – 8 mg
  • Pesto – 1/4 cup, 720 mgs (may vary by brand, but is very salty.)
  • Pine nuts – 0

Cheeses

  • Provolone – Sargento, regular, full-fat, 1 slice (.7 oz) – 125 mgs sodium (reduced fat is 140 mgs) Alpine Lace Reduced Fat & Sodium – 190 mgs. (per 1 oz); shredded – Sargento Aged 1/4 cup – 240 mgs.
  • Mozzarella – fresh, 1 oz balls, 20 mgs. Kraft Natural Shredded, 2% Milkfat, 200mgs per 1 oz. Most part-skim mozzarella is between 175 and 200 mgs per oz.
  • Swiss Cheese – 1 oz. slice, 54 mgs; shredded, 1 cup (3.8 oz) 207 mgs
  • Parmesan – 1 tablespoon grated, 76 mgs (.2oz)

Toppings to be Avoided

  • Anchovies
  • Capers
  • Cheddar Cheese
  • Shaved Parmesan
  • Hot Italian sausage
  • deli meats like ham, bologna, salami, bacon

Recipe for Home-Made Low-Sodium Pizza

Prepare your pizza oven.

  1. Use one 10″ shell, brushed with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Spread half of a jar of pizza sauce (7 oz.) over entire crust.
  2. Slice fresh tomato thinly, approximately eight slices, and place four on each half/side of pizza. (Two per slice).
  3. Slice the onion thinly, and separate the ring sections individually; place around pizza evenly.
  4. Brown 1/3 pound (approx. 6 oz) hamburger, (or use one cooked chicken thigh or 1/2 cooked chicken breast, skinless). Drain and distribute the finely-broken up ground beef around the pizza surface.
  5. Top with broken-up pieces of one slice of provolone, 1/2 cup Swiss cheese, or 1 oz fresh mozzarella. A combination of any of these is okay if you are careful to measure and take into account all amounts of sodium.
  6. Pineapple chunks, mushrooms, fresh basil leaves, and Italian spices such as oregano, basil, and black pepper, may be added to taste.

Grill the pizza directly on the oven rack placed in the center of the oven. Set the temperature according to directions on the package (start at 450 degrees, to preheat the oven, turn down to 425 and cook for 7-10 minutes.) Cut into 6 slices, 2 slices per serving. Serves 2-3.

Sodium totals will vary depending on the toppings you choose. The basic combination of sauce, olive oil, ground beef, tomato, onion, and Swiss cheese will be approximately 1100 mgs of sodium for 2 slices. If your diet restricts you to 2000 mgs daily or less, this is the amount in half a day’s allowance. A half of a cheese pizza (no meat) at a pizza fast-food chain averages 2100 mgs of sodium.

The pleasure in making your own low-sodium pizza is in the variety of toppings you can add to add interest to your diet, while being in control of your sodium intake. You don’t have to deny yourself the yumminess of “real” pizza!