Weekend cooking: fried dough and pizza

I love fried dough and pizza. I realize that these are not healthy food choices; therefore, I have tried to prepare homemade versions that do not include excess fat, fructose, and white flour. 

Recently, I experimented with a new dough recipe with whole wheat flour. It is suitable for both pizza and fried dough. I encourage you to try it, and bake your own healthy versions of pizza at home.

 
PIZZA/FRIED DOUGH RECIPE

You need: 
4 ½ cups whole wheat flour, 1 packet dry yeast, 2 ½ cups warm water, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, some olive oil, cooking oil (to fry), tomato sauce (from a can), cheese and herbs by choice.

Instructions:
Mix the yeast with 1 cup of the water and the sugar. While the yeast are re-hydrating, place the flour and salt in a large bowl and form a well in the dry mixture. Pour the yeast mixture and the rest of the water into the well, mix the dough by hand. The dough will be very soft. Sprinkle it with some olive oil on top, cover with Saran wrap and a towel. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for four to six hours.

After the dough rises, to prepare pizza, divide the dough into two balls, add more flour if needed, knead each ball separately and spread thinly over two oiled cookie sheets. Add tomato sauce, cheese, and herbs. I usually make the topping with feta cheese and tomato sauce from a can. To the tomato sauce, I add minced garlic, basil, winter savory, salt and hot pepper flakes. Alternatively, one can prepare cheese sticks by brushing the surface of the dough with some butter (or Smart Balance) and spreading grated cheese and minced garlic.  Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. 
 
To prepare fried dough, you may decrease the amount of ingredients (flour and water) by half, unless you are feeding a crowd. Once the dough has been left to rise for a few hours, divide the dough into balls of two inches in diameter. Heat cooking oil in a small, but deep saucepan (mine is 6 inches in diameter). The oil should be at least 3/4 inches deep. Stretch each ball thinly into a circle  and fry (turn on each side). Take out and drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Traditionally, fried dough is served with powdered sugar. However, at home I usually offer low sugar jams or unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon. I do not have a “sweet tooth”, so I eat my fried dough with feta cheese or a yogurt-cream cheese spread.