A Lighter Pizza

OceanAnnie

I guess I have a thing against
Joined
May 5, 2004
Messages
17,394
I have been reading low calorie/low sodium/low (trans) fat cookbooks for awhile now. Making changes. In the past, we have pizza on Friday nights ordered out, but we gave it up, because we are trying to cut down on fatty foods. Today I decided I still want pizza, just lighter. We were missing pizza a lot!

I read a recipe in one of the cookbooks today. I couldn't tell you which one. :laughing: I didn't even remember all of the ingredients, but I remembered the main ones. So here is my version of a light pizza:

Pizza Lite

1 whole wheat Boboli Pizza crust
I used about 4-5 Tbsp of 1 jar of low sodium, low sugar pizza sauce (I used low sodium/low sugar spaghetti sauce because I couldn't find low anything pizza sauce)
about 4 tspns pesto sauce (I added this)
2 cups low moisture/part skim mozzarella cheese
(I don't know what I omitted, but that was it.)

Preheat oven to 450. Put pizza crust on a pizza stone. Spread pesto sauce evenly over all of the crust, then spread pizza sauce over that, top the pizza with sprinkled mozzarella all over the pie. Cook for 10 min.. It was so good and easy! And we were glad to have pizza again! DH said it was better than Papa John's! :laughing: (I thought so too!) Next time I might get adventuresome and change it some, maybe add Canadian bacon and pineapple. :)

How about you? Do you have any light pizza recipes, or light recipes in general to share?
 
I would do the same thing you did, but maybe try whole wheat English muffins, flatbread, pita bread, or maybe flour tortillas for the crust. I actually never tried the tortillas, but they seem like they would make a nice thin crust. Maybe?

Love Canadian bacon and pineapple..
 
I have the whole wheat english muffins, pita bread, and tortillas. And I have seen recipes using them too. I'm sure it would turn out fine. I really liked the consistency of the Boboli crust. It was close to the thickness of pizza crust. I might try another type of crust some other time, but I was pleased!
 
I make similar personal size pizzas.

Greek Pizza

Start with 6" whole wheat or multi-grain pitas, enough for everyone to have one pizza.
Spread each pita with no-salt tomato sauce.
Sprinkle with black or red pepper and Italian seasoning.
Add cut up onions, peppers, mushrooms, and sliced Kalamata olives.
Top with 1-2 tablespoons of crumbled feta cheese and a bit of shredded mozzarella.

Bake on a cookie sheet for about 8-10 min at 400 degrees.

Approx. 230 cals, 30gm carbs, 5gm fat, 11gm protein.


**We don't put meat on our pizzas because pepperoni and sausage are LOADED with fat. These little pizzas are just the right size and waaaaay healthier than any fast food out there( plus, it's pretty fast, too!) Put it with a little salad and you're good to go!
 

We tend to buy Kashi Frozen pizzas...they're really good and decent in terms of calories.

If you want to drop calories from pizza, reduce the crust, that's the easiest and quickest way to change what you're intaking.
 
I also make them on whole wheat pita bread. You can do individual size pizzas this way. It crisps up great as a crust.

Since the crust is so thin, you need less tomato sauce & less low-fat cheese. Or substitute out the mozzarella cheese with low-fat ricotta cheese. That's the cheese that is used on an all white pizza. Add veggies or fresh basil leaves. This way you can still have your pizza craving, in a more moderate proportion. :cool1:
 
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I also make them on whole wheat pita bread. You can do individual size pizzas this way. It crisps up great as a crust.

Since the crust is so thin, you need less tomato sauce & less low-fat cheese. Or substitute out the mozzarella cheese with low-fat ricotta cheese. That's the cheese that is used on an all white pizza. Add veggies or fresh basil leaves. This way you can still have your pizza craving, in a more moderate proportion. :cool1:

But that sounds so good, I might have to have TWO.:guilty::laughing:
 
We found a new favorite about 8 months ago: It's a frozen pizza under the Simply Enjoy brand (a store brand for Stop and Shop). It's sun-dried tomato pizza, I think, and about 750 calories per pizza, which my wife and I split in half. It is better than the organic, fresh made pizza at the ritzy pizza restaurant in town.
 
I make my pizza on portabella mushroom caps instead of crust -- tastes even better than the "real" thing, and it's healthier whether you're on the lower carb, the lower calorie, or the less "prepared" food side of the aisle (that's a 3 sided aisle, don't ask me how that' possible).
 
I make my pizza on portabella mushroom caps instead of crust -- tastes even better than the "real" thing, and it's healthier whether you're on the lower carb, the lower calorie, or the less "prepared" food side of the aisle (that's a 3 sided aisle, don't ask me how that' possible).

How do you make these? Wouldn't the bottom be kind of soggy?

I always look at portobellos in the store, but I never know how to make anything with them. :confused3
 
I like those really thin crust 'california' pizzas. They have a lot fewer carbs and if you choose a veggie/margherita style, the fat is reduced quite a bit as well.
 
How do you make these? Wouldn't the bottom be kind of soggy?

I always look at portobellos in the store, but I never know how to make anything with them. :confused3

I stuff my Portobello caps and sometimes we use red sauce and parm/mozzerella with chopped onions and a bit of bazil.

We've had good luck with shredded and dried zuccini mixed with egg and pressed into an oiled lasagna pan lightly baked and then topped like pizza, back into the broiler. Very low carb and lower fat if you do not use meat.
 
I was making personal pizzas using Flatout flat bread and they were surprisingly good. I put the bread in the oven for a few minutes to crisp it up a bit before putting toppings on it, but I used Ragu pizza sauce (just enough to cover it), low fat mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperoni and some chopped veggies. They were actually really good and the rest of my non dieting family loved them too.
 
A lot of great tips! Thanks everyone! :) I'll be incorporating the tips and looking into some pizza brands too. I'm just so glad to have pizza again. I have lost 10 lbs. since Dec.. I'm satisfied most of the time. I want to lighten the old favorites before I'm tempted to fall off of the wagon and go crazy.

I've been cutting down of sugar, sodium, and fats (especially trans fats).
 
We love to do homemade pizzas too. Sometimes we do Boboli crusts, sometimes we make our own crust, sometimes we do those "Jiffy" mixes, and roll them really thin. We use pie pans, and make individual-sized pizzas - everyone gets to make their own.

We do lots of different toppings, lots of veggies; peppers, fresh tomatoes, baby spinach leaves, different kinds of mushrooms, black or green olives, and artichoke hearts.

Meats; canadian bacon or pepperoni (yeah I know, that stuff's bad for you - but hey - its PIZZA) or grilled, shredded chicken.

Like you, I use low-salt, low sugar, usually all-natural organic spaghetti sauce and low fat mozzarella. I also have a parmesan/herb/garlic seasoning blend that I like to sprinkle on top.

My two favorite pizzas are 1) a good, old-fashioned Hawaiian - Canadian bacon and pineapple - sometime, try also adding a few well-drained mandarin oranges - surprisingly good! Or 2) Shredded chicken, torn baby spinach leaves, sliced green olives, marinated artichoke hearts, and diced fresh tomatoes. YUM!

Now I am craving it....
 
I would do the same thing you did, but maybe try whole wheat English muffins, flatbread, pita bread, or maybe flour tortillas for the crust. I actually never tried the tortillas, but they seem like they would make a nice thin crust. Maybe?

Love Canadian bacon and pineapple..

I've used tortillas for light pizza crusts before--they work very well! If you want to make the crust a tiny bit thicker, the original recipe I read said to use one tortilla and then top it with a thin layer of sauce and another tortilla, then top with sauce and toppings. Loved it!
 
Oh, and if you want quick "light" pizza in a hurry, DiGiorno has 200-calorie portions in the freezer section alongside "normal" pizza. I've only tried the cheese and tomato one, but it was quite tasty.
 
I was inspired by a recipe in the April 2010 Family Circle magazine, Cherry Tomato & Prosciutto Focaccia on page 146.

Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust, thin style
1 cup baby spinach, chopped
1 cup, about 8-10 cherry tomatoes, sliced
12-15 slices turkey pepperoni
1 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tbs olive oil
1 tsp Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic
1 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Pampered Chef's Italian Seasoning

Pre-bake the crust according to package directions, on 15 inch baking sheet. Meanwhile, chop spinach and slice tomatoes. In a small bowl toss the cherry tomato slices with the Italian Seasoning. In another small bowl (ramekin) stir Garlic Garlic and Parmesan cheese in the olive oil.

Brush olive oil mixture on pre-baked pizza crust with pastry brush. Top with spinach, tomatoes, cheese and pepperoni. Bake 10 minutes. Cut in rectangular or square slices.
 













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