How to Make Pizza with Calorie Cutting Tips

Pizza can be a nutritious snack or meal, but the tasty food often comes laden with fat and calories. The fat and calories can be cut by taking simple steps when making pizza at home.

Pizza often gets lumped in with junk food, but that does not have to be the case. Several years ago, I was recuperating from serious medical condition and the nurse recommended that I eat pizza because it was a high calorie, nutrient dense meal. At the time, the doctor was not worried about my calorie intake....that came later.

The ingredients in pizza can form a complete, nutritious meal. Cheese is high in protein and calcium, meats are high in protein and the tomato sauce and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals. When you make your own pizza, you can enhance the nutrition value and eliminate some of the fat and calories.

Like many people, I like to get a prepared carry out pizza occasionally. My second choice would be a frozen pizza that I can slip into the oven and bake, but I rarely do that. Chicago Style Pizza Compared to Pizza Pie in Naples, Italy

Since I worked at a pizza kitchen while attending school, I have experience making pizza. It is not hard to do, if you have the ingredients ready. Of course, it is easier yet in a restaurant kitchen, where the ingredients are pre-arranged. Making pizza with the family can be an enjoyable activity. Let the kids get creative with their toppings.

The most challenging part of making a homemade pizza is the crust. In a commercial pizza kitchen, the crust goes through a rolling machine to the desired thinness. If making crust and rolling the dough is difficult, or too time consuming, you can purchase a prepared crust in the freezer section, or refrigerator section, of the grocery story. If you make a crust from your own dough, roll the dough as thinly as possible. The crust contains carbohydrates and calories, so a thinner crust is less fattening.

Make a tomato sauce using tomato sauce, garlic and Italian seasonings. Start by sautéing the garlic, in Olive oil. You can also add peppers and onions to saute with the garlic. After a few minute, add tomato sauce and seasonings. The sauce can simmer gently while you prepare the crust and chop up the ingredients for topping. You can use the same recipe as you use for spaghetti sauce. A homemade sauce typically contains less sodium than a store-bought sauce, depending on how liberal you are with the salt shaker. If you prefer a store bought sauce, or do not have time to make a sauce, you can purchase the sauce of your choice.

The choice of toppings is up to you and is a matter of taste. Consider using turkey or chicken sausage instead of high calorie sausage or pepperoni. Saute the sausage ahead of time to fry off the fat and drain it. You can also top the pizza with cut up chicken, such as a broiled chicken breast, which is high in protein and low in fat.

Lay the flattened pizza dough on the baking pan, or pizza stone. Use a spoon or ladle to put the tomato sauce on top of the dough and spread it evenly. It works best to ladle the sauce onto the middle and spread the sauce, using a circular motion, moving outward to about an inch from the edge. Do not pull the sauce all the way to the edge because it can spill over the edge and burn.

Spread your toppings, including meats and vegetables, on top of the sauce. An assortment of your favorite vegetables add flavor and up the nutrition value of the pizza without adding fat and calories. Great vegetable toppings for pizza include green and red peppers, mushrooms, olives, onions, garlic, spinach, asparagus, artichokes and diced tomatoes.

Replace mozzarella cheese with flavorful Parmesan. Mozzarella cheese adds a lot of fat to the pizza, but if you just have to have mozzarella, use a very thin layer and add Parmesan for more cheese flavor. Parmesan is a flavorful cheese without as much fat as the other types of cheese. You can also add Romano cheese to add more cheesy flavor.

Sprinkle the top with Italian seasonings for garnish and additional flavor.

Bake the pizza in a pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes. The baking time will vary, depending upon the thickness of the crust and how long it takes to cook the toppings. The edge of the pizza and the cheese topping should also be golden brown.

Remove the pizza from the oven carefully, slice and serve!