EASY TO MAKE PIZZA

I still vaguely remember the first time my mother made her first homemade pizza. She didn’t look up a recipe in a book, “nor surfed the Internet”. As always, she relied on her intuition and creativity, and she was brilliant at improvising in her kitchen.

The dough shouldn’t have caused any problems in the land of Man’oushe and Sfiha. As Pizza became popular in Lebanese homes in the 70s, mothers were very happy to surprise their children with an Italian “Man’oushe’. And they were even happier to be able to buy the dough at the bakery around the corner.

My mom, however, loved doing everything from scratch. She made her own dough and whipped her own delicious tomato sauce but never wrote a recipe. Years later I was able to create my own Pizza relying on my well-trained taste buds and on my memories of her cooking skills.

Dough with spelt Flour

I am sharing with you my new recipe of dough using spelt flour. Adapted to my original recipe of Man’oushe in my Cookbook, The Taste of Marjeyoun, this version is more rustic and healthier.

Why spelt? Popular in German homes and bakeries, spelt is an ancient cereal grain in the wheat family with a distinctive nutty and slightly sweet flavour. It is also an ideal alternative to wheat if you are allergic to the latter, more digestible, higher in protein and has fewer calories. Its protein complex though is different than wheat containing more Gliadin than glutenin. Gliadin gives the dough its stretchiness; glutenin makes it more elastic and gives it more shape. So don’t be surprised when your dough spreads more than it usually does with wheat flour.

Types of spelt flours

There are many types of Spelts in Germany. Starting with the whole grain, then type 1050, 812 and 630. The number indicates that the flour contains higher shells and mineral share from the whole grain. Type 630 is the closest to all-purpose flour as white flour, meaning that you can substitute wheat flour with white spelt almost in a 1:1 ratio; you only need to reduce the amount of liquids by a very little amount!

Pizza Topping

In this recipe I cook the tomato sauce with little chopped onions, crushed garlic and dried oregano. It is whipped easily together, and you can refrigerate for few days as well. But you can also mix crushed garlic and herbs in the sauce without cooking it.

The choice of different toppings makes pizza one of the most versatile foods ever. I had pizza in delicious variations, and I am sharing with you, my favorite. The ingredients of the topping in the recipe below are enough for two large trays. Lately, I have been using 30-cm round pizza trays. This dough recipe is enough for two such trays.

For a thin dough pizza I realized I had to make some calculations when the dough is ready. The result was to weigh 300 g dough for each round tray and have two perfect pizzas. The best out of all this is the rest of dough for a tiny zaatar man’oushe! As I end up with some tomato sauce rest when using the round trays, I reserve in the fridge for some improvised grilled sandwiches.

As for the cheese, I either use Emmental alone or a mix of Emmental and Mozzarella.

Dina Kohl

Easy to make Pizza

Pizza with spelt flour

Print Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Course: main dish

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the dough

• 250 g whole grain spelt
• 200 g spelt Type 1050
• 2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 45 ml olive oil
• 300 ml lukewarm water

For the sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 6 small garlic cloves sliced
• 500 ml tomato sauce
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

For the topping

• 200 g ham cut in cubes
• 50 g salami cut in cubes
• 1 red pepper rinsed and sliced
• 300 g champignons cleaned and sliced
• Pickled pepper optional
• 400 g Emmental cheese grated
• Green or black olives

Method

 

1. For the dough: Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil and water and mix well until the dough gathers into a ball, adding a little extra flour if it is sticky or a drizzle of water if dry. Knead for about 5 minutes until it becomes smooth and pliable. Lightly oil the bowl and turn the round dough over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
2. For the sauce: In a medium saucepan heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onions and garlic for 3-5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Mix in the oregano and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough in two equal parts. Roll out half of the dough on a lightly floured surface to 2 mm thickness. Carefully transfer onto the prepared sheet. Spread with half of the tomato sauce. Cover with half of the topping’s ingredients.
4. Preheat oven (220°C, 425°F). Bake for about 20 minutes.

Notes

All images and text © Dina Bayoud Kohl