Healthy Deep Dish Pizza

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 (12 ounce) can italian tomatoes
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 ounces turkey pepperoni
• 1 green pepper, cut in large chunks
• 1 red onion, cut in large chunks
• mushroom, sliced
• 1 cup fat free mozzarella cheese

Recipe

• 1 for crust: stir water, sugar and yeast together until dissolved. add the olive oil and the salt. stir in the flour until well blended. let dough rise for an hour.
• 2 for sauce: mix tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, bay leaf and sugar in a saucepan. simmer for 30 minutes or longer.
• 3 pizza: preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• 4 spray pam or another cooking spray on a 9 inch round baking dish.
• 5 split whole-wheat dough into two sections, one section larger than the other. roll out larger (about 1/4 inch thick) section and place in round baking dish. leave about 1 inch hanging over the sides.
• 6 roll out smaller dough section (1/4 inch thick) and reserve for the top.
• 7 fill crust in dish with topping: green pepper, pepperoni, onion, mushrooms, and any other toppings desired. use enough toppings to fill the dish 3/4 the way full, leave room for the sauce. top with mozzarella cheese.
• 8 pour sauce over the top of vegetables. (depending on topping all the sauce may not fit in dish.).
• 9 place remaining crust over the sauce, cheese and topping mixture.
• 10 trim to fit the shape of the 9-inch dish. pinch sides together with bottom crust.
• 11 cut slits in top to create air vents.
• 12 cook covered with foil for 20 minutes. remove foil and cook the rest of the way till crust on top is brown and center is warm.
• 13 cut into pie piece shape and serve. (you may have remaining liquid at bottom from vegetables, just spoon out into sink to prevent the crust from getting soggy.).