Pizza is the favorite food of young and old. You can personalize the pizza with ones choice of toppings. If you ask your children what they would like to have for dinner; the answer would be definitely pizza.

After several tries I came up with the perfect recipe for the pizza dough and baking.

Ingredients for the pizza dough

3 ½ cups All purpose flour/maida +1/2 cup for rolling

1 packet dry yeast(1/4 oz/7g)

¾ tea spoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup Luke warm water(water shouldn’t be hot, if it is hot it will ruin the yeast, it won’t foam, pizza dough will not double)

4 tablespoons olive oil

Toppings

 tomato basil sauce (either store bought or freshly made)

3 tomatoes cut into small pieces,

2 cloves garlic,

1 table spoon olive oil,

salt, pepper to taste,

2 teaspoon basil (fresh or dried)

Heat oil, add add minced garlic, sauté for a min  until golden, add tomatoes and rest of the ingredients and reduce to a thick sauce.(masher can be used to mash the tomatoes)

 

Italian flavored chicken(skip this if you want it to be vegetarian)

1 fillet boneless Chicken cut into small cubes and pan fried with 2 teaspoon butter, 1 clove garlic chopped fine, salt, pepper and Italian spices.(add 3 spoons of water, cover and cook after its sautéed)

 

red pepper cut into small pieces, sautéed

mushroom cut and sautéed

onion slices sautéed

red chilli flakes,

dried oregano

garlic powder

 

Method

1. In a bowl take Luke warm water, sugar and yeast. Leave it for ten minutes. Water will become frothy with yeast.
2. In a big bowl take the flour add salt and mix.
3. Add the yeast water and knead the dough
4. Add the oil and knead again.
5. If you have the stand mixer you can use that too.
6. Grease a bowl and leave the dough in it, Cover it and place it in a warm place to raise.
7. It will double in about 1 ½ hrs-2 hrs
8. On a lightly floured surface put the dough and knead it to bring together. Make 5 balls. Each ball was rolled into 9-inch pizza base.
9. Take a wide aluminum pan sprinkle some corn meal or rava (wheatlets), place the pizza base on the pan.
10. Heat oven to 400 degree and bake it for 8 -10 minutes. You need not bake it fully as it is going again into the oven with toppings. Remove the pizza from the oven and top it with your choice of toppings
11. . On the pizza, spread evenly tomato basil sauce(3 spoons), top it with sautéed red pepper /mushroom /chicken topping, oregano, red chilli flakes and mozzarella cheese. Always sprinkle some cheese after the toppings are placed.
12. Change the temperature of the oven to 375degree F. and bake it till the sides of the pizza are golden brown.

Notes:

I have tried baking the pizza directly with toppings, which was leaving the center soggy, and uncooked. Baking the pizza base first, gives crispy and perfect base.

I freeze the left over dough in a ziplock and thaw it in either in fridge overnight or place the packet in water for 1/2 an hour.

© Vinaya Pai 2018