I know, I know. This is Amber's Confections and lately I haven't posted any confections. It's not that I don't want to bake sweet, delicious treats and share them with you, it's just that I don't want to eat them. Along with everyone else who made a New Years resolution to lose weight, I'm trying to eat a little healthier and get back to the gym. So for the last week or so, I've curbed the baking (aside from a failed cookie attempt yesterday) and instead I'm loading up my plates with fruits, veggies and whole grains. I promise that next week I'll have something sweet to share. But in the meantime, here's a healthy pizza!
About a year ago, I got sucked into a free shipping sales event from King Arthur Flour. Anyone who has been to the King Arthur site knows that it's hard to stick to the necessities when shopping because there are things like maple flavored baking chips, red velvet flavoring extract and french toast scone mixes. I really only needed cinnamon baking chips, but I wanted to take advantage of the free shipping, so I filled my cart. Thirty dollars later, I had my cinnamon chips, a whole wheat pizza crust mix and cocoa nibs (everyone needs cocoa nibs, right? No? Oops.)
In an effort to eat a little healthier these days, I spied this pizza crust mix in the pantry and decided it was finally time to put it to good use. Though I normally prefer a thin crust, the chicken sausage, cheese and mushrooms were the perfect addition to this deep dish style pizza. The pizza was so filling I could have easily gotten away with eating only one slice (but of course, I had two anyway). To make a thinner crust, the dough could be divided to make two pizzas.
Whole Wheat Chicken Sausage and Mushroom Pizza
For the crust:
I used a whole wheat crust mix from King Arthur Flour, but you could use this recipe for Whole Wheat Pizza Crust from How Sweet It Is, or your own favorite recipe.
For the toppings:
2 cups marinara or pizza sauce
2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese2 links Italian seasoned chicken sausage, sliced (I used Johnsonville)
8 oz. mushrooms, sauteed*
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons oregano
*To saute the mushrooms, add two tablespoons olive oil to a saute pan over over medium heat. Add the mushrooms. Add freshly ground black pepper, a dash of salt and a clove of garlic. Saute until the mushrooms have reduced in size and are browned. Drain the excess oil and set aside.
Roll out your dough to fit a pizza pan or a cookie sheet. Top the dough with the marinara sauce and swirl it out to the edges of the pizza (leaving room for a crust). Top the marinara with the cheeses, sausage slices and mushrooms. Sprinkle the pizza with the red pepper flakes and oregano.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
