Homemade Pizza

I had been planning on a post for home made pizza from scratch ever since I started this blog.I am big fan of pizza and  we often have it delivered for dinner when I m short of time or just feel like eating it.I started baking my own pizza once I got m oven and every time I would keep changing and tweaking he recipe here and there and change the toppings too.Recently I baked pizza when my sister was here and we had a hearty pizza night.I made two pizzas one with thin crust and the other with spongy deep crusted pizza with loads of cheese.Do I need to we loved the later most :). Key for a great pizza is a great pizza sauce.Nothing can beat the taste and flavor of freshly made home made sauce with freshest of veggies and herbs.This is my keeper recipe for pizza and I always follow this with few changes according to the availability of ingredients.Next important thing is the type of yeast you use and the way you keep it for proofing.Use good quality yeast,and make it turns frothy well.I actually wanted to use whole wheat but some how last minute I changed my mind and used maida :) .I am veggie lover and never miss a chance to add loads and loads of veggies to any dish I cook.So here also I added all possible veggies and topped it more,more and more cheese(this was for my sister). Pizza turned out to be super hit and my husband who was first not interested to have it ended up eating more than his share :). Here is my version of home made vegetable pizza please try out and lemme know.Recipe adapted from here.

Homemade pizza recipe
Star ingredients:All purpose flour,cheese and veggies
Time:2 hours(including resting time)
Yield:2 round 9" pizza

Pizza sauce:
Ingredients:
3 large ripe firm tomatoes chopped fine
1 large onion chopped fine
1 large carrot grated
1/4 cup thick stalk of cilantro chopped fine
2 teaspoons tomato sauce
2 dried red chiilies
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil or sesame oil
Method:
1.Heat oil in a kadai and add dried red chillies.Next add the sugar and mix well.Add the chopped onion and mix well.
2.Add the chopped tomatoes,carrot and saute for 5 minutes.Add the cilantro stalks and mix well.
3.Mash the vegetables well using a potato masher and saute well.

4.Add salt and saute for 10 minutes till the vegetables get cooked well.Add pepper powder or crushed pepper and mix well.Allow to cool.

Pizza dough.
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
1 1/4 cup luke warm water
Method:
1.Take luke warm water in a wide bowl and add sugar to it.Once the sugar is dissolved sprinkleyeast over it and let it rest for 10 minutes.The yeast should bubble well and turn frothy.
2.Next take the flour in a mixing bowl,add salt and oil to it.Mix well. Next add the yeast water and mix slowly.
3. Bring everything together and knead to a smooth dough.
4.Covert it with a damp cloth and let it rest in a warm place for 30-60  minutes or until it rises twice in volume.

For Making Pizza:

Ingredients:
Prepared pizza sauce
Dough
Topping:
Tomato,onion cubes
Different colored bell peppers
Sweet corn
Baby corn etc
Grated mozzarella or pizza cheese 
Mixed herbs and chilli flakes
Method:
1.Take the rice dough and punch it back. Knead well once again and divided into two equal portions.Preheat oven at 180C.
2.Take one portion of dough on a clean surface and spread it into a circle, you can make it thin or thick crusted as per your wish but do not it very thin like chapathi.Transfer the rolled circle to a pizza plate or stone and prick the base here and there with a fork.

3.Now spread the prepared sauce on it evenly.Now add some grated cheese and arrange the toppings.Add some more grated cheese as much as required.
4.Bake the arranged pizza for 12-17 minutes or until the crust turns light golden.
5.Allow to cool for 5 minutes and cut into wedges.
6.Serve with more herbs and chilli flakes.
 Notes:
1.You can add paneer cubes along with vegetables as topping.
2.Spreading cheese after applying sauce is optional step,it gives a very nice texture to pizza
3.I always prefer to use mozzerella cheese for pizza as it melts and spreads very well.
4.You can mix little salt to the cut vegetables
5.Grease and dust the pizza plate well before transferring the dough.