Spelt and Rye Pizza for Company

This month’s Bread Baking Day is hosted by Ninive from Ninivepices – Music, Dreams and more. The theme for BBD #59 is Bread for Company – Brot als Begleitung. What a great theme!  I think almost any bread would be good for company, but one of my favorites is Pizza. It’s an easy, self-contained meal that’s a breeze to make and tastes so good. What’s not to like about that?

Spelt has become one of my favorite grains to work with and pizza is one of my favorite dishes so putting the two together seemed like the natural way to enjoy a tasty and healthy meal.

I made pizza for company twice this month. The first time was on Mother’s Day Weekend when I got together with my mom and sisters to celebrate. For this event, I made a Spelt-only version because my mom enjoys ancient grains.

I brought the dough (along with my pizza peel, cutter and baking stone) to my mom’s house and my sisters brought the toppings and salad ingredients. My oldest sister likes ground beef on her pizza, so we topped one pizza with ground beef and onions and lot’s of mozzarella and feta cheese. The other pizza was topped with green and red peppers, red onions and more cheese.  I didn’t take a photo but we enjoyed them both.

The second time I made this pizza, I changed it up a bit to include some rye flour. My oldest son and I enjoyed this version topped with pepperoni, onions, peppers, mozzarella and feta cheese. I rolled the pizza dough really thin because my first taste testers (mom and sisters), determined that this dough tastes better crispy and thin, sort of like a whole wheat cracker with yummy toppings on it.

 

Spelt and Rye Pizza Dough

Makes: 2 Pizzas

Adapted from: Spelt Healthy! by Marsha Cosentino, M.A.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon instant dry yeast *
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 – 2 1/4 cups Whole Grain Spelt flour, additional for sprinkling
• 3/4 cup Whole Grain Rye flour
• Scant teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Pizza sauce (I used Spicy Pizza Sauce)
• Your choice of toppings

* I used less yeast than the original recipe called for because I let it bulk ferment for a couple of hours instead of the original 30 to 40 minutes to develop the flavor.  1/2 tablespoon may still have been a bit much. I think 2 teaspoons would probably do the trick.

Directions:

1) Mixing the Dough

In a large bowl, whisk together the rye flour and 1/2 the spelt flour and yeast. Add the warm water and mix well using a Danish dough whisk or a large wooden spoon.  Add the oil, salt and the rest of the flour in 1/2 cup increments and work the dough until it is manageable.  You can use a stand mixer to mix the dough, just make sure you use the lowest setting with a dough hook and only mix for about 90 seconds.  With spelt, you want to make sure it’s not over mixed.

 

2) Kneading the Dough

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it gently to form a smooth dough. Sprinkle additional spelt flour over it as necessary.  Form the dough into a ball.  Place it in a clean bowl greased with olive oil.  I just washed out the same bowl and reused it.

 

3) Bulk Fermentation

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place, about 70–75 degrees F., for 2 –3 hours.  Or, if you’re short on time, let it proof in a draft-free place, at 80-85 degrees F. until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready by inserting a finger into to the top of the dough.  If an indentation remains when you remove your finger, the dough is ready to use.

 

4) Shaping the Pizzas

Gently deflate, then remove the dough from the bowl using a rubber spatula. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured or oiled surface and divide it into two pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball and place them onto separate pieces of parchment paper sprayed with olive oil. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 15 minutes while you get the toppings together.

 

5) Preparing the Pizzas for Baking

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. with a baking stone on the bottom rack. Let the stone preheat in the oven for at least 30 minutes.

Using greased fingers, spread out the dough into a round, oval or rectangular shape, depending on the size of your parchment paper and baking stone. I used my rectangular baking stone so I shaped my pizzas to fit it.

 

6) Baking the Pizzas

Brush the dough with olive oil and parbake each pizza for a minute or so before adding the toppings. This will keep it from getting soggy on the bottom. Add your favorite sauce and toppings, then bake the pizza until the cheese is melted.  I rolled my dough really thin so it burned in a couple of places, but it still tasted great.  We just broke off the burned spots.

 

7) Cool the Pizza, Slice and Enjoy!

Let the pizza cool for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy.

 

I enjoyed participating in Bread Baking Day #59 – Bread for Company.  Thanks to Ninive for hosting the event and for Zorro for creating this monthly baking

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy