Homemade Pizza, Lightened Up

Lately, I’ve taken to making homemade pizza.  I could probably make it even “lighter” by using pita bread, but I’ve been using the Boboli thin crust and it turns out perfectly.  I would never know this was a “light” option.

Ingredients

• 1 Boboli Thin Pizza Crust
• 18 slices of reduced-fat turkey pepperoni
• 1 cup of shredded Kraft 2% mozzarella cheese
• 1 sauce packet from Boboli (if you buy the Twin Value pack crusts, the sauce comes with it)
• 1 1/2 cups of mushrooms (I mixed white and cremini, sliced. I really like mushrooms.)
• 1/2 sliced white onion
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup of sliced black olives
• 1 medium tomato, sliced into 1/4 inch slices (you’ll get 4 to 5 good slices)
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat Feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

Instructions

Heat oven according to pizza crust package instructions.

Prepare crust by spreading the sauce and minced garlic evenly over the bottom.  Leave about a 3/4 inch space around the edge for you to hold the pizza.

Sprinkle about half the cheese around the bottom, and add your toppings in layers.  I put it in this order: sauce/garlic, cheese, feta cheese, mushrooms, onions (separated into rings), olives, pepperoni, then cilantro.  Then I top with the remaining cheese, sprinkle with the crushed red pepper and bake!

It takes all of 30 minutes to prepare and eat this pizza from preheat to consumption.  It’s really, really good and 2 slices run around 6 points, give or take a point or two.

If you’re kind of in a maintenance mode or looking for a splurge, this is a healthier alternative than full-fat pizza and tastes just as good, I swear.  I’m a whore for pizza, so if it wasn’t good, I just wouldn’t eat it.  Next time, I’m going to try switching out the pepperoni for grilled chicken pieces. 

Any leftover pizza, I put in zipper freezer bags in 2-slice servings and free for the next time I want pizza.  I got a tip from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to reheat your pizza in a skillet so you get a crisp crust instead of the microwave soggy. I find this to work, but it’s time-consuming, so I nuke for 1 minute until it’s almost cooked, then crisp it up in the skillet.  It’s faster than reheating in the oven, that’s for sure.

Calories: It’ll vary, depending on what you put on your pizza.
Points: my version is around 6 points for 2 slices (believe it or not!)