Food Friday- Fun Food for Kids, Fibre for Mom

Friday nights the kids often ask for fun food, which often means homemade pizza. The crust varies from homemade to using store bought Naan bread. Always looking for a way to up the nutritional component of our meals I was thrilled to find this recipe for pizza dough in yesterday's Calgary Herald, from the new cookbook by authors Julie Van Rosendaal and Sue Duncan. I intend to buy the cookbook.

Yes, there's another book helping me feel more at home in my new city after relocating.

Pizza Dough

1 cup (250 mL) rinsed and drained canned white beans (half a 19-oz/540-mL can)

1 cup (250 mL) water, divided

2 tsp (10 mL) active dry yeast (1 package)

1 tsp (5 mL) sugar

2 cups (625 mL) flour, either all-purpose or half whole wheat

1 tsp (5 mL)

2 tbsp (25 mL) olive or canola oil

Puree the beans with about cup (50 mL) of the water until completely smooth.

In a large bowl, stir together the remaining warm water, yeast and sugar. The mixture should get foamy after a few minutes (if it doesn’t it means the water was too hot and killed the yeast, or you need fresh yeast. Try again, or buy fresh yeast).

Add the pureed beans to the yeast mixture, along with 1 cup (250 mL) of flour. Mix thoroughly, then add another cup of flour, the salt and the oil. Again, mix thoroughly. Continue to add four by half-cups, and as soon as the batter is thick enough to make a kneadable dough, turn it out onto a floured counter. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding spoonsful of flour if needed, until the dough has lost most of its stickiness.

Wash out the bowl, dry it and add a small splash of oil. Return the dough to the bowl, turning it to coat with oil; cover with plastic wrap or a clean, damp tea towel.

Let the dough rise in a warm spot (the oven, turned off but with the light on is ideal), until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Or, make the dough in the morning and let it rise, covered, in the refrigerator during the day.

When you’re ready to proceed, divide the dough into 2 to 3 sections. Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).

Roll the dough out into a rough circle, oval or rectangle as this as you like (it will rise again in the oven). Transfer to a baking sheet or pizza pan sprinkled with flour or cornmeal. Top with your favourite toppings and bake about 20 minutes, until golden. Makes 2 to 3 10-inch (25-cm) pizzas.

If you are enjoying your fun food Friday and looking for some Halloween carving inspiration, check out the amazing photos from the world's largest pumpkin festival.

http://myexpatgermany.com/food-friday-pumpkin-carving-ideas