Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Pesto Pizza with Oat Wheat Crust

Oat and Oat flour are fast becoming my favorite resource in baking breads. Oats,  in addition to being ultra healthy, add such a wonderful texture to bread. Also unlike whole wheat flour, oat flour does not seem to make the bread too dense and makes it easier to make bread healthier without compromising on the lightness of the bread. 

After having experimented with oat flour in loaf bread a few times, I thought of trying oat flour in pizza crust. I have also been wanting to try the idea of adding a small amount of cornmeal to the pizza crust, since I read somewhere, that doing so,  makes the crust a little more crunchy. The verdict....the pizza crust turned out fantastic, we loved it even more than the whole wheat crust I regularly make. The crust was slightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, just the way I like  it:-)    Try this if you are looking for a healthier alternative to the all purpose flour crust but find the whole wheat a little too dense for  your liking.





Ingredients and method for the crust
1 1/4 cup oat flour (I powdered Rolled Oats in my spice jar of my blender to get flour)
1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 heaped tbsp cornmeal
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning (optional)
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk

For the pizza
2 tbsp pesto 
toppings according to choice (I used onions, mushrooms, bell pepper)
Crushed red pepper (according to taste) (Optional)
Shredded pizza blend cheese (a combination of cheddar and mozzarella) (according to taste) 

Mix the oat flour, wheat flour, all purpose flour, cornmeal, salt and Italian seasoning in a large bowl and keep aside

Place warm water in  a bowl add active dry yeast and sugar to it and mix well. Keep aside for about 5 to 10 minutes until it froths up.

Pour this water and warm milk as needed to knead into a soft pliable dough. Knead for about ten minutes.

Add olive oil to this and knead again for a few minutes.

Keep covered in a warm place for about an hour to an hour and a half. (I place this in my oven with the light on)

Remove, punch down gently and knead again for a minute or two and divide the dough into three parts and keep covered in a warm place to rise again.

Pre heat oven to 425 deg F

Roll the dough to required thickness and apply pesto sauce.

Top with toppings of choice and finally add grated cheese

Bake in oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese on top is melted and beginning to brown slightly.

Remove, cut into wedges and serve  hot.

This yielded me about 3 eight inch crusts of medium thickness.

Notes
You can use store bought oat flour instead of grinding rolled oats.

66 comments :

Mangala Bhat said...

wow ! What a healthy recipe ..Thanks soo much .It looks very tempting ..can i grab one ?!?

Deepa Hari said...

Wow...Pizza with oats...sounds great Usha and healthy too....i never tried making pizza at home...after seeing ur pizza feel like making one.

Manju said...

pizza and healthy?!! you just made that happen!!! looks very delicious!

FH said...

Pesto pizza. YUM YUM!

Pavani said...

healthy and delicious. Pesto pizza looks awesome.

Varsha Vipins said...

I have to try this..cos..same pitch..I too add oats in bread..loved this one..:)

Vishali said...

Wow Usha, what a nice pizza..my mouth is just watering..I am a big fan of pizzas :)

indosungod said...

Usha, you made pizza healthy, now I have no good reason to keep away from it. Looks delicious.

VG said...

My dear friend ~ a surprise awaits you at MY BLOG

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

hey this is nice...never heard of using oat flour in pizzas. a healthy option and great way to enjoy.

Cham said...

I always had thought my whole wheat bread is little dense. As u said I should try with oats which is my favorite too! The pizza is to try for!

Priyanka Agrawal said...

cool! You try lots of different things and they all look soo good...impressive!!

Beyond Curries said...

I also saw a recipe for oats crust recently. The crust you have made looks very rustic. I'm sure it would have been filling and satisfying.

Sara said...

I like the idea of the oat crust, I'm going to try this!

Shivali said...

Healthy pizza that too with oats.You rock gurl..Surely will give it a try.Who doesn't love pizza?:)

Anonymous said...

a guiltfree pizza I must say. I keep thinking i will make the dough at home, but haven't yet done it:-(

one of Our fav chinese is the schezuan fried rice!

karuna said...

I have found a love for pesto.....this pizza looks so yummy

Vidhya said...

sounds really healthy Pizza. looks yum too.

CurryLeaf said...

Love the pizza.Oats is very healthy and yes,Thanks to You,I too am exploring oats.Perfect pizza.

Anonymous said...

lovely recipe :)
oat flour in pizza - healthy and tasty... we can eat without feeling too guilty :)

Unknown said...

wow..thats a good idea of using oats flour for the pizza base..i wanted to try shilpa's base with wheat flour ..adding oats flour would be a healthy option..

Dershana said...

hey, this sounds good! I generally make whole wheat base following tarla dalal's recipe. If this one's crunchy, then i must try it!

Lavanya said...

hmm..i love pizzas!! but i have to avoid..otherwise i may become fat..but this sounds too gud and healthy..i can eat now :)

Priya Suresh said...

Pizza with oats crust, Omg Usha u r doing a great job dear, Hats Off!!!

Unknown said...

wow.. totally new to me.. thxs for sharing.. looks yummy..

Anonymous said...

Wow Usha,thats a great experimentation..Oats makes it super healthy and the idea is valuable !!

suvi said...

gotta give it to you Usha...sounds absolutely great!

Deepthi Shankar said...

wow, that is such a healthy pizza .. I love what you have used there

Ashwini said...

wow healthy pizza..Adding oats is really new..Love all the ingredients used..

Pam said...

Now that's a pizza! It looks beautiful and tasty.

Preety said...

wow love the idea of using oat flour ..surely a healthy version..

Anonymous said...

Pesto and pizza, now that is a combo I LOVE, love, and LOVE!!!!

VBP said...

Very cool! I definitely need to try oats after your experiments. Oats are now on my grocery list this week. Thanks Usha!

Vani B

Archy said...

Ur a healthy chef with yummy dishes to introduce.. lovely way to make a healthy pizza.. !!
Hey, award waiting for u.. do pick it :)!!

Vaishali said...

Usha, I love oat flour too because of the tenderness it brings to baked goods, and the freshness it adds to the flavor. I love your healthy pizza which looks and sounds gorgeous.

AnuSriram said...

Thats a wonderful recipe usha.. Adding oat flour is a nice idea! I have soemthing for u in my blog.. Pls accept!

Sumathi said...

Such and healthy and delicious pizza.. Crust looks so perfect..

Bharti said...

One word- yummy.

Uma said...

that's one mouth-watering pizza Usha! Nice variation to a regular pizza!

Namrata Kini said...

Usha I am literally drooling over this pizza. I think you click great pictures. Pizza looks very yummy and oat and wheat flour makes it healthy too. Wonderful recipe.

KonkaniBlogger said...

Oh wow, that looks superb Usha!

Indian Khana said...

Now thats a healthy pizza....looks so yum

Purva Desai said...

This is one healthy version of pizza...will try this soon

Nithya Praveen said...

Pizza with oats...thats indeed a great idea.Wat a healthy way of eating junk food? Great one:)

eatme_delicious said...

Oh my this looks good! I'll have to save your dough recipe.

Laavanya said...

I love the texture of the crust as you've described it.. sounds fabulous and being the pesto fan I am.. this must've been one delicious pizza for sure.

Bindiya said...

this is one great keeper of a recipe!, will definitely try it out asap.

Anonymous said...

Beautifully decorated Pizza! Good one Usha!

Poornima Nair said...

Thats a healthy pizza...looks so tempting...

phanitha said...

wow...this looks yummm...

phanitha said...

wow...this looks yummm...

Cindy DG said...

This looks so yummy! I can't wait to try it!!
I really like the set up of your blog, I may be asking you some questions :)
Cindy
http://vegetarianmamma.blogspot.com

Supriya said...

I'm totally bowled over by this good-looking pizza Usha. I instantly added the ingredients to my weekly grocery list, but I have to admit I'm a bit scared to try it.

Alka said...

Hi Usha,
Like your Blog. Can you make this pizza dough in Bread machine?

Usha said...

Thanks Mangala !

Thanks Deepa.

Thanks Superchef :-)

Usha said...

Thanks Asha !

Thanks Pavani !

Thanks Varsha !

Usha said...

Vishali, I have never met a person yet that does not like pizzas :-) Glad you liked it....

Thanks Indo !

Thanks VG !

Thanks Mahimaa !

Usha said...

Thanks Cham, Food fanatic, Madhuram and Sara !

Usha said...

Ankita I agree, everyone seems to love pizza :-)

Soma, after making pizza dough at home I rarely buy pizza base from the store now :-)

Usha said...

Thanks Karuna and Vidhya !

Thanks Curry Leaf, the best part about oats is that it is so versatile, it seems to work in just about everything :-)

Indhu, Sowmya and Dershana, Thanks !

Usha said...

You sure can Lavanya :-)

Priya, Sripriya and Ann.... thanks so much I am glad you all liked this recipe so much !

Aqua and Deesha, thanks a lot :-)

Usha said...

Ashwini, Pam and Preety...thanks !

Girl Japan and Vani, thanks :-)

Usha said...

Archy, thanks for sharing your award with me :-)

Vaishali thanks !

Usha said...

Anu, Sumathi, Bharati and Uma, I am glad you liked this recipe. Thanks !

Thanks Namrata, Maya, Priti, Purva!

Nithya, Eatme and Laavanya, thanks!

Usha said...

Bindiya,Priya, Poornima, Phanitha and Cindy, Thanks a lot !

Thanks Supriya !

Usha said...

Hi Alka, thanks ! I have never used a bread machine, but if you can make other pizza bases in it, I don't see why you cannot make this one in it.

I have heard that for bread machines instant or rapid yeast is better.

So you may probably have to switch the active dry yeast with rapid dry yeast if you use the bread machine. Do check out the instructions in the manual for that.

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