Diane’s Awesome Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I have been lucky to have a lot of really awesome women in my life and my good friend, Diane, is no exception. She saw me through two deployments and two babies in two years and has always been a role model for me on how to be a really great mom. In fact, a few months after we found out we were pregnant with Colwynn, Matt was chatting with Diane at a party. After talking to her he came up to me and said, “I want you to stay home with our kids if it means they would be even half as great as Diane’s.” I was more than happy to oblige :)


Another great thing about Diane is she cooks really great food. When I was first learning to change the way we ate I got a lot of tips and tricks from her. She also makes insanely good peppermint bark which is not healthy but totally worth all the fat and calories. But that’s a post for another day. Here’s the recipe for Diane’s awesome pizza crust. For those of you breadmaker lovers like me, the instructions are at the bottom ;)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of red/white wine
• ½ cup of warm water
• 1 Tbsp fresh yeast
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, divided (King Arthur White Whole Wheat would work too)

ONE: Mix together the wine, water, and yeast until the yeast is dissolved. Add the honey, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and salt. Mix together well.


TWO: Add 1 cup of flour and mix it up until well blended. Add 2 more cups of flour and, when it's too tough to mix by hand, knead for about 6-8 minutes.


THREE: Roll the dough into a ball and put it in a bowl coated with the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Let it rise for 1 ½ hours in dark place covered with a towel.


You can use it for one thick crust...or split it in half to make two thin crusts. You can let it rise more or just use it from there.


Rolling Out the Dough - 

ONE: Lightly dust your work surface with whole wheat flour. Place the dough ball onto the floured surface and, using your palms, flatten into a 6 to 8-inch circle, about ½-inch thick.


TWO: Using a floured rolling pin, flatten the dough in 1 direction, moving the rolling pin back and forth, to give you an oval shape.


THREE: Flip the dough over and rotate it clockwise a quarter turn so that it lays horizontally. Add flour to your work surface and the dough, as needed, to prevent sticking and tearing. Roll again, back and forth, to even dough into a circle.


FOUR: Repeat steps Two and Three until desired thickness and diameter are achieved – about ¼-inch thickness for a regular crust or about 1/8-inch for a thin crust. Using a fork, pierce the dough repeatedly about 1-inch apart over entire surface.


TO BAKE: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Roll out dough with a rolling pin and place it on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Cook the crust for about 12 minutes or until a little raised and brownish, then take it out, turn it over and put the sauce, cheese and whatever toppings on. Return it to the oven for about 8 more minutes.


The BEST way to enjoy this pizza is on the grill. We take it out, it cooks wicked fast like in a wood-fired oven, and tastes delicious! But in the winter in Germany, we cook it in the stove. I use as many organic ingredients as I can...but the wine you can play with. I use sweet, but you can test different ones. The red makes the crust pink, but it was really good anyway!

Thanks, Diane!!! Those of you who know me know I am physically incapable of kneading dough but you can totally make this in the breadmaker. Add all of the liquid ingredients to the pan followed by the salt and flour. Add the yeast on top of the flour and run your breadmaker on the dough setting.

:)