Healthy swap: homemade pizza recipe

Sensible swap...
Swap a calorie fuelled pizza for a healthier, homemade alternative.
Ingredients - for the base:
• 125g strong bread flour
• One 7g sachet of instant active yeast
• 1 tsp salt
Healthier base alternatives:
• Pita bread
• Portobello mushrooms - simply fill the mushroom cap with your chosen ingredients
Ingredients - for the tomato sauce:
• 4 shallots - finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves - crushed
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• 4 tbsp tomato purée
• A small handful of fresh basil - finely chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper
• A sprinkling of sea salt
What to do:
• Pop the flour into a large bowl and stir in the yeast and salt.
• Create a well in the middle of the mixture and fill with 75ml of warm water - mixing until it resembles a soft (fairly wet) dough.
• Use a lightly floured work surface to knead the dough until smooth - this should take no longer than 5 minutes.
• Dust the work surface with additional flour (very lightly) before using a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a circle - or a shape of your choice.
• Slide the dough onto a lined baking tray and set aside.
• Pop the shallots, garlic, oregano, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and the majority of the basil into a pan.
• Cook the ingredients over a medium-low heat for 25 minutes until they resemble a thick, spreadable sauce.
• Season with sea salt and black pepper before sprinkling over the remaining basil.
• Smear the tomato sauce over the dough (or the base of your choice) and add your chosen toppings - these should be as healthy as possible!
• Pop in the oven and leave to bake for 15-20 minutes - or until the pizza base is golden brown.
Top tip: a 30g portion of cheese - the equivalent to a small matchbox - accounts for 7% of our daily caloric intake. Always monitor the consumption of this particular food source and opt for naturally lower-fat cheeses such as feta, mozzarella and Camembert whilst taking into consideration that cheese also has a tendency to be high in salt and saturated fat - a portion of cheddar can contain more salt than a packet of crisps, where as certain types of Roquefort, halloumi and feta are saltier than seawater.

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