Homemade Wholemeal and Lentil Pizzas

My children were home from school as it was closed to due industrial action and wanted to make homemade pizzas for lunch.  In an effort to keep them fuller for longer and increase the fibre and protein content of the pizzas I kneaded a well drained tin of lentils into the dough after proving.  

My plan worked and there wasn't the usual request for an afternoon snack, and I was able to freeze a couple of pizza bases as we didn't need to use all the dough.  The trick is to roll the bases really thin so that they are crispy rather than stodgy and less pizza base and more vegetable topping is healthier as well.

Homemade Wholemeal and Lentil Pizzas

400g wholemeal bread flour
7g sachet instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tblsp oil
250ml lukewarm water, approximately

Measure all the ingredients into a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until a dough forms, adding a little extra water if necessary.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.  Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to prove until doubled in size

Drain 400g tin of lentils and rinse well.  Set aside to drain very well, you want the lentils to be as dry as possible to avoid adding excess moisture to the dough.  

Once the dough has proved knock it back and knead through the lentils.  Divide the dough into portions for each pizza base.  We used 100g - 150g of dough per base which was enough for each person to make a decent sized pizza.

Preheat your oven to 220C/200C Fan and line several oven trays with non-stick baking paper.

Roll out the pizza dough thinly on a well floured surface, transfer to a lined oven tray and then top with your choice of toppings.  Our toppings were: homemade 7 vegetable tomato sauce, courgette, pepper, sweetcorn, spring onions, ham and grated cheese.

Bake the pizzas for 15 - 20 minutes until cooked through and the cheese is bubbling.  Serve with a salad.