Kitchen Mania Monday: Celebrate American Heart Month with Whole Grain Bruschetta Pizza
February is American Heart Month, so it’s the perfect time to get your whole family on board with eating their way to a healthier heart. One of my favorite ways to do this is by taking “less healthy” foods that we all love and tweaking the recipe to make them meals that not only taste great, but are great for us as well.
Pizza is a huge family favorite in my house. However, traditional pizzeria pizza can be high in saturated fat from large amounts of cheese, loaded with sodium, and packed full of refined carbohydrates thanks to the white flour crust. This easy recipe for bruschetta pizza instead tastes just as good (I actually think it tastes better than take-out varieties), provides you with much less sodium, a good source of whole grains, and practically a full serving of vegetables in each slice. Here’s how to make it:
Ingredients:
½ cup tomato sauce (homemade or your favorite store variety)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
16 ounces 100% whole-wheat pizza dough
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
2 cups fresh bruschetta
1 small red onion, sliced
2 Tbs parmesan cheese, grated
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Using a rolling pin, create a 16-inch diameter pizza from the whole-wheat dough (or you can make the dough into fun shapes like this heart pizza I made for my family).
3. Spread the tomato sauce and garlic evenly over the dough, and then place the fresh mozzarella slices evenly over the sauce. Top the mozzarella with the bruschetta and onion. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
4. Place the pizza on a pizza stone or round pan. Place in the oven, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the edges brown slightly. Slice with a pizza cutter even slices and serve warm.
Thanks to @Welchs for sending me the the great heart shaped plates! These are perfect for serving up my favorite heart healthy foods!
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