kitchen ellegentsia: the secret to good spelt pizza

If you've ever baked with spelt before, you probably know that spelt retains moisture more than regular wheat flour. It's a quality that makes for great muffins, but often leads to soggy pizzas. After a few years of trial and errors, the knack to it is quite simple...

Pre-bake the pizza crust. When you're baking your pizza - I do mine at 375 degrees F - I pull and spread the spelt pizza dough first on an oiled pizza sheet or cornmeal strewn stone, and bake it until it puffs.

Pull the dough out, then layer it with your preferred sauce and toppings and continue to bake until your toppings are cooked through and cheese is melted.

In Ottawa, I buy spelt pizza dough at Harvest Loaf at 1323 Wellington W. Kingston's best spelt pizza dough is available at Fred's Bread. And in Toronto, spelt pizza dough is available at Whole Foods.

If you've got the time and the patience, here's a recipe for spelt pizza dough...

Ingredients

• 3 1/3 cups spelt flour; plus flour for kneading
• 1 ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 12 oz warm water (100°F or 38°C)
• 3 tbsp olive oil

1. Proof the yeast by pouring it into the water. It will foam after 10 minutes.

2. Whisk the dry ingredients together.

3. Slowly add the water to the dry ingredients, mix with wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.

4. Transfer to a clean lightly spelt floured surface; knead for 8 to 12 minutes, until dough is smooth and no longer sticky.

5. Leave it to rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 20 minutes, or until doubled in size.

6. Relieve work tension: punch down the dough, and cut in half.

7. Stretch each ball of dough gently.

8. Leave it to rise for about 5 minutes.

9. Bake in a 375°F oven for about 6 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, so you should watch it closely as it bakes.

10. Top with preferred toppings and return to oven to finish pizza.