A pizza pie that's amore!

Spelt pizza dough: it sounds far too healthy and tasteless, doesn't it? But not the case with the Grainharvest artisanal variety made on Lexington Avenue in Waterloo.

On Friday I constructed the most beautiful pizza pie - I mean one of those enormous gooey things you see in the window of a gourmet pizzeria. I know I sound boastful but hands down, I am the most baking challenged individual you know. Even though I found a tub of pre-made, no-brainer stuff at Pfenning's Organic and More in St. Agatha, I was still dubious. You would be too if you saw the "baked," ahem, "goods" that emerged from my oven in days gone by.

But Grainharvest Breadhouse made my job easy. I simply floured my work surface, rolled out the dough and carefully transferred it to a pizza stone. I turned in the edges, coated it with olive oil, tomato sauce and sauteed vegetables (I even sprinkled chopped Extreme Beans and what a delicious zing!) and an obscene amount of cheese, naturally, and baked on 425 for about 18-20 minutes. It was my weekend masterpiece - I just wish I took a moment to consider a photograph before diving in.

The bread was the show stopper; you can taste the quality baked right into the dough. Grainharvest says the key to artisan baking is using wholesome ingredients free of additives and preservatives, and slow fermentation, which gives enzymes enough time to break down complex carbohydrates therefore making the bread easier to digest. It creates lactic acid, contributing to better digestibility and unique flavour, and acetic acid, which acts as a natural preservative.

Grainharvest uses local ingredients such as Ontario eggs. Its spelt and kamut flour come from Saugeen, Ontario and the rice flour is from Scotland, Ontario.

There are few people I know who don't like pizza. Instead of buying the pre-made packaged stuff at the grocery store, often loaded with synthetic fillers to make it through the long truck ride, try something fresh, local and wholesome like Grainharvest. You too can transform into an artisanal breadmaking god or goddess in the time it takes to order delivery.