Whole Wheat Veggie Pizza

I made pizza at home from scratch for the first time ever! I vowed never to make something I can easily take out from a pizzeria. Having become more of a health and fitness freak of late, home made pizza seemed like a much healthier alternative to the oil dripping kind with unknown fat content. I followed the whole wheat pizza crust recipe below with some variations.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/amazing-whole-wheat-pizza-crust/Detail.aspx

I also went all out and made a basil tomato pesto sauce (recipe below), and topped it off with low fat mozzarella cheese and plenty of fresh veggies. The result was yummy and well worth the effort in my book.

My variations from the pizza crust recipe:

**3 cups of organic stone ground whole wheat flour (Red Mill brand), with more for dusting (no white flour).
**1 tsp each of dried basil, oregano and Italian herb seasonng
**1 tblsp honey in lieu of the sugar
**Garlic and red chilli infused olive oil (recipe below)
**Bake crust for 5 minutes on 475 degrees; reduce heat to 425; add the cheese and veggies; bake for maximum 10 more minutes
**Toss veggies with a tblsp of the flavored olive oil and put in the oven for a few minutes before topping off the crust (I used broccoli, red pepper and red onion cut into small pieces)

Garlic-red chilli olive oil:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp chopped garlic
4 dried red chillies, torn into pieces (with seeds)

Heat oil in a small pan. Add the chopped garlic; when it is turning light brown, add the chillies and remove from heat. Let the spices soak in the oil for an hour or two. Filter the oil into another containe or bottle.

Basil-Tomato pesto sauce:

2 medium tomatoes, quartered
1 big bunch basil leaves, washed and drained
1/2 - 1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp olive oil

Place all ingredients in a blender container and blend to a paste adding water sparingly. Simmer for a few minutes in a saucepan, until it reaches thick sauce consistency.