Pizza – one of the most loved fast food across the world. It is the perfect meal. A slice for lunch, some more for dinner, and left over slices for breakfast.
However if you ask me the where to find the perfect pizza, I can’t suggest one restaurant. One restaurant has pizza with the perfect sauce, another has my favorite combination of toppings, one has a good balance of both but the crust is too thick, and the other well it is just near home.
So my love for pizza and a failed attempts to find the perfect pizza made me make it at home . The first pizza was restaurant style – Refined flour dough, spicy sauce and my favorite toppings and there it was- my perfect pizza!!
So after that we started making pizzas at home, not only is it more hygienic and fresh but it is also like a picnic at home. We set up the oven in the living room itself, everyone takes turn assembling their own customized pizzas, and we all watch a movie while we wait for each pizza to take 15-20 minutes to bake. That’s a good 1-2 hours spent on having dinner. I also make the pizza slightly healthier by making the dough with a 50/50 mix of wheat flour/atta and refined flour/maida. But if you want the taste of restaurant style pizza then you can easily make it with refined flour only. Adding wheat flour is optional.
Restaurant style pizza dough only has salt in it – but since I am making it myself – I added chili flakes and herbs in the dough which really enhances the taste of the pizza (especially the crust bits). In this pizza I have used my favorite topping of vegetables but you should go ahead and experiment any way you like!
A few tips on toppings:
- Try grilling thicker vegetables a little bit before putting on the pizza. Broccoli / Broccolini, asparagus, Eggplant, portabello mushrooms, cauliflower work very well as toppings when grilled
- Use fresh Jalapenos instead of pickled/canned ones. They are a little expensive, but the difference in taste is unbelievable.
- Use canned pineapples instead of fresh pineapples. Fresh pineapples are unreliable in terms of sweetness.
- Marinade paneer in a mix of dry spices (methi, chili powder, chat masala, jeera powder, and oil) for a little bit before using as a topping
- Experiment! Below is a small list of ideas:
- Fresh Veggies: Tomatoes, capsicum, zucchini, roasted portobello mushrooms, roasted asparagus, corn, jalapenos, roasted cauliflower
- Preserved/Pickled Veggies: Sun dried tomatoes, black olives, kalamata olives, green olives, canned mushrooms
- Greens: Baby Spinach, Baby Kale, Baby Arugula, Fresh Basil, Cilantro
- Fruits: Canned pineapples, canned oranges, pears, pomegranate seeds (make sure they have enough pulp in them – don’t want it to get to crunchy/woody)
- Cheese: Feta Cheese (just a little bit), Cream Cheese, Gorgonzola, Cheddar, Shaved Provolone, Ricotta, Goat cheese, Any cheese blend (Monterey Jack/Colby etc)
- Sauces: Basil Pesto, Sour Cream, Hummus (mixed a little bit in the cheese itself), Barbecue Sauce, Hot Sauce, Balsamic Vinegar (as a drizzle)
- Others: Cooked black beans, cooked chickpeas, macaroni and cheese, spicy potatoes or french fries
- CourseBreads, Main Course, snacks/starters
- CuisineItalian cuisine
Servings Prep Time
6persons 2.5hours
Cook Time
30minutes
|
Servings
Prep Time
6persons 2.5hours |
Cook Time
30minutes |
- 3cup Refined Flour / Maida400 gms
- 2cup whole wheat flour/atta250 gms
- 3tsp Active dry yeast
- 1.5tbsp Sugar / Chini
- 1.5tsp Salt / Namak
- 3.5tbsp Olive Oil / Zeitoun Ka Tel
- 1tsp Oregano
- 1.5tsp Chili Flakes
- 2.5cups Water / Paaniapprox
- 2cups Bell Peppers / Capsicum / Shimla Mirchchopped
- 1.5cups Corn Kernels / Makai Danablanched
- 1.5cup Mushroomsliced
- 1/3cup Pickled Jalepenosliced
- 1.5Cup Black Olives / Kaale Zeitoun
- 12 Baby cornsliced lengthwise
- 1cup Pineapple / Annanassliced
- 450gm Mozrella cheesegrated
- 3tbsp Olive Oil / Zeitoun Ka Tel
- Take about 2 cups of Luke warm water in a bowl.
- Add 1 tsp sugar and yeast in it and mix well.
- Cover and keep aside for about 5-8 minutes or till it froth completely.
- In a big bowl add refined flour,wheat flour ,salt ,chili flakes, oregano,olive oil and sugar and mix well.
- Now add the yeast mixture in the refined flour mix and mix to make a soft dough.
- Can add some plain water if needed
- Knead the dough to make it soft.
- Cover the dough with cling film or with a lid and let it rest for about 2 hours or till it become double in volume .
- Punch down the fermented pizza dough and make equal size balls from the dough
- Roll the dough ball and make a thick roti ,the edges of the base should be slightly thicker
- Grease the pizza pan and dust with some refined flour.
- Arrange the rolled pizza base in the pizza pan OR directly transfer on the baking tray and prick it with a fork.
- Gently press and fold the sides of the pizza base.
- Apply some olive oil over the base and then apply pizza sauce over it.
- Spread some mozzarella cheese over the sauce layer.
- Now put the vegetables topping as per your choice.
- Sprinkle some salt ,chili flakes and oregano over the vegetables.
- Now put some cheese and drizzle few drops of olive oil over the pizza.
- Bake pizza in a preheated oven at 200 C in the middle rack with both rods on
- Bake it for about 20 -25 minutes or till cheese melts and side of the pizza base become golden brown.
- Take it out from the oven, wait for 2-3 minutes and then slice and serve.
Note-
- you can make pizza with refined flour only or can use multi grain atta,Wheat flour is added to make it healthy.
- left over dough can be easily refrigerated for 3 days.
- Addition of chili flakes and oregano is optional in the dough.
- Use lukewarm water to dissolve the yeast as hot water kills the yeast so if your yeast mixture is not frothing then either the temperature of water was high or the yeast is not of good quality.
- You can use dough maker or food processor to make the pizza dough .
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