I try to eat less gluten, and when I do eat them, I try to eat whole grains.
I have always been a bit wary of using yeast in my baking, but pizza dough seems easy enough, even for me hehehe
So today I forayed into making whole meal pizza dough.
Ingredients
1 envelope instant yeast (you can use active dried yeast, just need to rest it longer)
1 tsp sugar
1 1/3 cup warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
1- 2 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey (optional)
3 1/2 cups whole meal flour plus extra for kneading
Corn meal, to dust the baking tray/sheet/stone
Method
(I chose to add the yeast into the water and sugar even though I used instant yeast.)
In a mixing bowl, add the yeast, warm water and sugar. Give it a stir and let it sit for a few minutes to activate. It will foam a little
Add in the olive oil and honey and salt. Stir to mix
Add in the flour. At this point you can either mix it with a spatula, a big spoon or with your hands. Or use the dough hook (use a slow - medium speed) on the stand mixer if you are using a mixer.
Mix/knead for 10 minutes. The dough should be less sticky at this point. If it's still wet-ish and sticky, add a bit more flour (a tbsp at a time) and knead. Do not add in too much flour, else your pizza base will turn out really hard and dry. If on the other hand, the dough is dry and flaky, add in water a tbsp at a time and knead.
Once the dough is smooth and soft, and will slowly "bounce" back if you prod it, it's ready for proofing. Otherwise, continue kneading a bit more.
Apply a thin layer of olive oil on the walls of a BIG bowl and plop the dough in, gently cover the whole ball of dough in a thin film of olive oil. Use cling film and cover the bowl well. Let it rest in a warm place for the yeast to work its magic. The dough should double the size. It can take from 1- 2 hours, depending on yeast amount, temperature, etc etc.
Preheat the oven to 235 C. Let it preheat for a good 30 mins. We need the oven to be really hot when we put the pizza in.
Once it has risen nicely, cut and divide the dough into 4. Dust a working surface with flour and gently pull, roll and shape the dough into a disc shape. Roll the dough thinner if you want a thin crust, and leave it thicker if you want a chewier crust. You get the idea.
Some like to "pinch" and shape the edges into a lip to sort of "hold" the toppings, I prefer it to be kinda flat.
Apply a good coat of olive oil on the pizza. Now, I like to bake the base for 5 minutes to kinda "set" it. This is a optional step. Some will put the topping and bake the pizza at a go.
Add the topping and bake for about 15 minutes, depending on how thick your pizza base is.
Enjoy!!