Have you ever heard of Healthy Pizza ?

We enjoy the luscious, cheese dripping, mouth watering pizzas alongside our cheery friends & family at parties. Even while watching suspenseful cricket matches and when our tummy cries out with carves - Get me a Pizza ! 

However, Do we ever think 

How much or how much not healthy is a Pizza? 

Do we know the health properties of a Pizza? 

Do we know what is the origin of this food?

Have we ever thought to healthify this junk food? 

Do we know pizzas all around the globe? 

Come ! Lets dig into the answers to these questions! 

PIZZA! 

Pizza is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese and often various other ingredients such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushroom, onions, olives, vegetables, meat, ham, etc. It is then baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood fire. A small pizza is sometimes called a pizzeta. A person who makes pizza is known as a Pizzaiolo.

What is the History of Pizza? 

Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Napels. Italy, in the 18th or early 19th century.Before that time, flatbread was often topped with ingredients such as garlic, salt, lard, and cheese. It is uncertain when tomatoes were first added and there are many conflicting claims.Until about 1830, pizza was sold from open-air stands and out of pizza bakeries. 

DO YOU KNOW PIZZA CAN BE MADE HEALTHY TOO ? HOW ? 

Ingredients for Cauliflower Crust

• Cauliflower: You will need a large head of cauliflower. 
• Egg: Egg is part of “the glue” that holds cauliflower pizza dough together.
• Cheese: As cheese melts during baking, it helps to bind small pieces of cauliflower into a crust. Cheese is crucial!
• Spices: Simple dried herbs like oregano, basil or Italian mix plus salt and pepper add flavor to the crust. Cauliflower itself is pretty bland. Also you can add garlic powder. 

1. Separate Cauliflower Head into Florets

• Using cauliflower rice: Skip this step.
• Preheat oven: It is a good time to preheat oven to 375 degrees F. We first cook rice in it and after bake the crust, so it makes sense to keep the oven on.
• Separate cauliflower: Using a paring knife, remove outer leaves, rinse and cut off florets one by one.

2.Rice the cauliflower

• Food processor: Place cauliflower florets in a food processor and process until “rice” texture. Some coarse chunks are fine. You will be baking and then squeezing the cauliflower, so chunks do not matter.
• Using cauliflower rice: Skip this step.

3. Cook “the Rice”

• Dish: I spread rice on same baking sheet I will be using for baking or use pie plate for microwave.
• Oven: Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Or Microwave: For 8 minutes.

4. Let Cool a Bit

• Line large bowl with cheese cloth.You can also use linen tea towel. We will be folding and squeezing “rice” in this material.
• Transfer and cool: Then transfer cooked cauliflower “rice” to prepped bowl and let cool down until safe to the touch. We will touching the ball with hands to squeeze.

5. Squeeze All Water Out

• Fold, hold and squeeze: Holding by the four corners of a cheesecloth with one hand, squeeze out as much liquid as you can with another hand.
• How much to squeeze? Squeeze really well. Quite a few times. I mean it! Count it as an arm workout for the day. I squeezed and then moved the cauliflower around a bit, and squeezed again. If your arm is sore for a bit after, you did it well.
• Final product: You should be left with a cauliflower mash that is very-very dry

6. Form the Crust

• Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F: If you cooked “rice” in the oven, it is a good idea to keep it on. And now is a good time to crank up the temperature for baking the crust.
• Make pizza dough: Transfer squeezed cauliflower to a bowl. Add egg, oregano or basil, cheese, salt and pepper, and mix well.
• Prep baking sheet: Line rectangle or round baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and spray with cooking spray well. Can also use pizza stone but line and spray!
• Flatten the crust: Using your hands, flatten pizza dough. Make it smaller than in the video. I made it a bit too thin and edges burnt a bit, which is not the end of the world though.

7. Bake the Crust

• How long to bake? Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.
• Make crispy: Flip and bake for a few more minutes until crispy.
• Ready! Your healthy pizza crust is ready for topping. 

8.Add toppings and bake

• Load it up in this order: Add pizza sauce, toppings, cheese and bake again until cheese is melted.
• Not too much: Do not overload the crust with heavy toppings as you won’t be able to hold the slice then

Tada! Your healthy cauliflower crust pizza is ready! Tempting isn't it!? 

★ PIZZA'S AROUND THE WORLD 🌏!! 

Sfincione pizza, Sicily, Italy

The Sfincione is known as a thick-crust Sicilian pie in America. In Sicily, the thick, spongy crust is topped with bread crumbs, onions, and caciocavallo (a dry, crumbly cheese).

Adjaruli Khachapuri, Georgia

This baked cheese-and-egg-stuffed bread resembles a pizza boat. The cheese is usually a blend of mozzarella and feta or a more traditional imeruli and sulguni cheese.

Zapiekanka, Poland

This baguette like pizza, is sort ot like an open-faced sandwich, and topped with cheese, mushrooms, and a drizzle of Polish ketchup

Plain slice, New York City

This just might be the style of pizza we're most familiar with: A thin, crispy triangular slice topped with melted mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and sometimes other toppings. 

Deep-dish pizza, Chicago

Originating with Uno Pizzeria in 1943, Chicago style deep dish, is an extra-thick pie cooked in a pan with high sides, stuffed with cheese, and topped with a tangy layer of tomato sauce.

 
Margherita pizza, Naples, Italy

Also known as Neapolitan pizza, this Italian style is flash-baked in a wood oven for about 90 seconds, and topped with sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, sparse gobs of fresh Buffalo mozzarella, basil, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Okonomiyaki, Japan

Comparable to savory Japanese pancake, Okonomiyaki is made with cabbage and piled high with traditional seafood toppings and savory sauces like octopus, shrimp, pork, yam, and kimchi.

Pissaladiere, France

This Provençal dish is usually served as an appetizer or a light lunch and made with caramelized onions, anchovies, onions, and herbs. 

Coca, Spain

Coca means pizza in Spanish . It starts with an olive oil-soaked flaky crust, and can be topped with any manner of sweet or savory toppings including mushrooms, spinach, anchovies, olives, pine nuts, and citrus rind. 

Banana pizza, Iceland

Banana is a popular pizza topping in Iceland, where concoctions like bananas and blue cheese, or banana and pineapple are common

 Tips to make your pizza healthy! 

Pizza is not only delicious but can also be a healthy meal choice when thought is put into its preparation.

Pizza can go either way: quintessential greasy junk food or healthy combo of fresh ingredients. Which one sounds better to you? Here's how to build a pie with a healthier profile.

1)    Give it a Whole-Grain Crust

You can make your own also using cauliflower.  Each satisfying slice will have extra fiber and protein.

2)    Use Lighter Cheeses

Go for big flavor and fewer calories by using a combination of part-skim mozzarella, sharp provolone and naturally lower-fat Parmesan.

3)    Load Up On Veggies

Pizza night is a great way to use up what's in the fridge. There are no rules--whatever you've got, toss it on.

4)    Mind Your Portions

Pizza is one of those foods that folks mindlessly shovel, so it's worth paying attention to portions (do you really need that third or fourth slice?!) 

5)    Go for Healthier Topppers

Instead of gobs of cheese, opt for hearty, healthy pizza toppers like roasted squash and meaty mushrooms.

6)    Choose Leaner Meats

Meat lovers don't have to lose out. Swap out fatty meats like pepperoni and pork sausage for thinly sliced (leaner) cuts of salami, turkey bacon and chicken sausage.

7)    Serve with Salad

Instead of simply eating less pizza, serve it up with a large salad.

Last but not the least, friends do not forget our Shastra teachings

अति सर्वत्र वर्जयेत् |

‘Ati Sarvatra Varjayet, 'Excess of Everything is bad’ contains a wholesome meaning and it explains that we should live our life in moderation and keep our desires and wants in control.

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