Taste: Trend: Healthy Pizza

Whole wheat pies get thumbs up from Oprah, Weight Watchers and South Beach. See inside for the tastiest local picks.

Whole wheat pies get thumbs up from Oprah, Weight Watchers and South Beach, but when tried-and-true area pizzerias pile their signature stuff on healthier crust, you’ll forget all that pizza-as-health-food silliness. It’s not a diet; it’s just delicious. (Eater beware: Most places mix white and wheat flours to achieve a balance of flavors and textures, so your pie may not be as healthy as it appears.)

Paolo Pizzeria
1336 Pine Street; 215-545-2482
The ingredients are fresh and the sauce is bright, accentuating the crispy, sturdy, thin crust with a tested-and-approved ratio of 85 percent whole wheat flour to 15 percent white flour.

Scoogi’s
738 Bethlehem Pike, Flourtown, 215-233-1063; scoogis.com
This classic Italian spot updates its vegetarian pie with a whole wheat crust from Sam’s Italian Market in Willow Grove, which uses a formula of about 50/50. Scoogi’s then layers on grilled veggies and a drizzle of balsamic reduction.

Mama Palma’s
2229 Spruce Street; 215-735-7357
This 11-year-old institution guarantees a great-tasting 100-percent whole wheat pie. The secrets? A European brick oven, dough made fresh daily, and creative topping combinations like Peking duck and brie.