Spelt Crust Pizza with Homemade Pizza Sauce
This recipe for homemade spelt crust pizza was first published on The Culinary Jumble.
In my last post, I proclaimed loudly that I was sick of food and that for the foreseeable future, the recipes on the blog would veer heavily towards healthier alternatives. So, you might be wondering why you are looking at a pizza?
And at first glance, I can see why people might think it didn’t take me long to slip back onto the path of less than nutritious food. However, this recipe is not as unhealthy as you may imagine.
Yes, it’s pizza. No fooling you lot. But it is made with a homemade spelt flour dough and a pizza sauce made from scratch. There’s also tons of veggies on top and only a smattering of cheese. So really, rather than unhealthy, we have ourselves a fairly balanced meal. Don’t you think?
I am not the pizza sauce maker in our house; I leave that to the chef (and yes, he really is a chef), but it is simple to make (he says).
The really great thing about making your own is that you can whip up a huge batch and freeze it in individual bags. Then, you can just slather it over a healthier pizza whenever you fancy one.
Pizza is just so adaptable and you can literally top it with anything you like. This was made between Christmas and New Year and I threw on fridge huggers that needed using up.
Making dough can be a little time-consuming. However, my bread machine makes mine in less than two hours. I just sit back and wait for the hard work to be done for me.
As mentioned, the dough is made with spelt flour and to be honest, I rarely use regular flour these days.
Although spelt is still a grain and is not gluten free, I find it easier on our stomachs. There is certainly much less bread bloat going on. If you’re unfamiliar with spelt, check out this informative piece from The Spelt Bakers.
If you have a bread maker, check out my other bread machine recipes.
From Scratch Spelt Crust Pizza with Homemade Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
Dough - see note 1
- 250ml (1 cup) milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 40g (⅛ cup) butter (chopped)
- 400-450g (3⅓ - 3¾ cups) spelt flour (see note 2)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 7g (2 tsp) dried yeast (see note 3)
Sauce - see note 4
- 3 x 400g (42¼ oz) tinned tomatoes
- 2 medium-sized onions (finely chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Toppings - see note 5
- cherry tomatoes
- green pepper
- onion
- green and yellow chillies
- cheddar and parmesan cheese
Instructions
DOUGH
Bread Machine:
- Add the milk, egg, olive oil and butter to your bread machine pan. Then add 400g (3⅓ cups) of flour, and the remaining dough ingredients, taking care to keep the yeast and salt separate as much as possible. Set your machine to make dough.
- On a very well-floured surface (the dough will be very sticky) work in just as much flour as you need to make a soft, pliable, but still a little tacky, dough.
Stand Mixer:
- Add the milk, egg, olive oil and butter to your stand mixer, and mix together. If the butter is straight out of the fridge, it won't combine with the other wet ingredients too much, but that's okay.
- Add 450g (3¾ cups) of flour, and the remaining ingredients. The dough should be sticky, but if you need more flour, just add a little at a time. Be careful: too much flour will result in dry bread.
- Switch to a dough hook (if you have one) and allow the mixer to knead the dough for around 10 minutes, just until soft. The dough will still feel a little tacky to the touch, but will be able to slowly drop off the hook.
- Cover the dough and leave to proof (until it has doubled in size - usually about an hour).
- When the dough is ready, knock it back, and on a floured surface, form into a rough ball.
SAUCE
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add the onions and garlic. Fry until softened.
- Stir in the tomatoes, and then add salt, pepper and sugar.
- Let simmer for about 45 minutes, and then taste – adjust seasoning and sugar if necessary. Add the remaining two tablespoons of oil.
- Blitz in a food processor until smooth, and then leave to cool.
ASSEMBLY
- Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF).
- Grease two pizza tins and press the dough down with your fingers until it covers the whole tin. Alternatively, place the dough on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper and roll out using a rolling pin until it is the required thickness.
- Spread over the pizza sauce (if using a pizza tin and you have a raised edge, only spread on the bottom surface and not up the sides). For the sauce you have left, freeze in small individual bags.
- Cover the tomatoes with cheese, top with whatever vegetables or toppings you are using, then add a final touch of cheese.
- Bake for around 20 minutes until the outer crust is a dark brown and the cheese is bubbling. Remove, slice and eat immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- I have made the dough using both a stand mixer and bread machine with identical results. I have not made the dough by hand, but I see no reason why you couldn't do so! There is enough dough to make two pizzas.
- You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
- In Sweden we have something called dried yeast. It is used both in warm liquid and allowed to proof, and it is also added directly to flour. I am aware that the US has two options for dried yeast, and I believe dry active yeast is the most similar to our dried yeast.
- This is a large batch of pizza sauce, and you won't need it all for this pizza. If you don't want to make as much, just halve or quarter it.
- I haven't included any measurements for the toppings. Pizza is different for everyone, so just add whatever you like!
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