Ladies and gentlemen, meet my new favorite pizza!
And to think I was ambivalent about the idea of pairing tomato sauce, pineapple, ham, and cheese when John suggested I make a Hawaiian pizza.
Me, the girl who adores pairing sweet and savory ingredients; me, the girl who will eat pretty much anything covered in melted cheese.
Well, my friends, I owe the hubs an apology for doubting – even for a second – that this pizza would be anything but phenomenal. A crisp whole wheat crust is the vehicle for gooey mozzarella, spicy jalapeno cheddar, juicy pineapple, and sweet ham. Just a touch of unseasoned tomato sauce keeps the pie savory without adding any conflicting flavors.
I snapped these two photos on my iPhone (I really have to figure out how to adequately use my camera in artificial light) before digging in… and I’m pretty sure I didn’t come up for air until after an entire slice was obliterated.
With so many pizza ingredient combinations out there, I don’t often repeat the same recipe – but you can be damn sure that this pie will be made over and over again!
Hawaiian Pizza
yield: 1 pizza; 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 lb whole wheat pizza dough (I buy mine from the frozen sections of Whole Foods), at room temperature
- flour
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup unseasoned canned tomato sauce
- 1 cup freshly grated low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup freshly grated 50% reduced fat jalapeno cheddar cheese (Cabot makes a great version)
- 3/4 cup drained pineapple tidbits canned in pineapple juice, (be sure to drain the excess juice)
- 1 cup chopped thickly cut fully cooked ham steak (I bought mine pre-packaged from Whole Foods)
- garlic powder, optional (<– John’s suggestion)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Lightly flour a clean flat surface and roll out the pizza dough to desired thickness (I aim for about 1/4 inch).
- Very lightly oil a rimless baking sheet with a tiny bit of olive oil; transfer rolled out dough onto prepared baking sheet.
- Evenly spread the tomato sauce over the rolled out pizza dough. Top with both shredded cheeses, pineapple tidbits, and chopped ham.
- Bake pizza for 8 minutes. Carefully remove the baking sheet from underneath the pizza and continue to bake the pizza, directly on the oven rack, for an additional 2 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese has melted.
- Serve sprinkled with garlic powder, if desired.
Nutritional Information Per Slice:
226.8 calories, 7.4 grams fat, 3.5 grams saturated fat, 4.3 grams fiber, 2.9 grams sugar, 10.4 grams protein
