Vegetable Loaded Pizza

I prefer to make my pizzas at home from the scratch. Firstly it is such an experience in itself and added to that is the fact that you can customize your base, your topping and experiment to suit your taste. Plus... it is piping hot, so you can enjoy it thoroughly

Here I am presenting two parts. Part I is the base, Part II is the sauce, Part III is putting together the pizza

PART I

The dough prepared using this method can be frozen and used whenever required. It has to be placed in the refrigerator compartment a day before you want to use it, and outside again to get to room temperature for about 2 hours. I use whole wheat flour instead of plain flour / maida. So this makes it more healthy.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 40 minutes
Rising Time for dough : 1 hour
Makes : 1 kg of dough

Ingredients

Wheat flour / Atta - 700gm
Salt - 1 tsp
Fresh Yeast / Active dry yeast / Fast Acting Yeast - 25 gm
Brown Sugar / Plain Sugar - 2 tbsp
Water - 400ml (250 ml cold, 150 ml boiling)
Oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure

1. Pre-heat oven to 220 C / 425 F / Gas Mark 7
2. Mix the yeast and sugar and pour in the 150ml  boiling water
3. Best vigourously until the yeast has dissolved
4. Leave in a warm place for 5 minutes / until the surface is frothy
5. Put the flour into a large bowl with salt and mix well.
6. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture into it.
7. Add the oil, rest of the water and stir with a wooden spoon.
8. Once the dough starts forming, start kneading it.
9. Tip it onto a surface and knead well for about 10 minutes
10. If you choose to use a food processor,this gets done in a minute
11. Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover with a damp cloth and keep in a warm place.
12. The dough has to double in size which takes approximately an hour.
13. Once the dough has doubled, tip it out, and knock it / punch it to release the gas . Knead again for 10 minutes
14.  Divide the dough proportional to the size of the base you desire.
15. Roll each dough gently with a rolling pin / use your hand to stretch and form the base (thin crust / regular).
16. Prick it evenly on the surface so that it rises evenly.
17. Leave to set for 20 minutes and then proceed to do your toppings / do a quick set bake for 10 minutes and then proceed to do the toppings.

PART II

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 30 minutes
Makes sauce for 4- 6 pizzas

Ingredients
Olive / Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp
Onions - 3 medium, chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves, crushed
Tomato Puree - 2 tbsp
Tomatoes - 4, blanched, peeled and chopped
Dry basil - 1 tsp
Dry Oregano - 1 tsp
Salt and pepper - to taste

Procedure

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the garlic, onions and fry to 10 -15 minutes without the onions turning brown
2. Add the tomato puree, tomatoes, herbs and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes till there is no water and the sauce thickens
3. The thick sauce should be ready

PART III

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 - 25 minutes

Ingredients / Toppings

Onions, Tomatoes (Fresh / Sun dried), Peppers (Red / Yellow / Green), Mushrooms, Baby Corn, Sweet Corn, Black / Green olives, Jalapeno, Capers, Zucchini, Cheese, Paneer
Mozarella Cheese -200 gm

Procedure

1. Take the fresh base / bake it for 10 minutes first and then use
2. Make an indent along the rim so that the toppings stay inside the base and don't fall off.
3. Spread a dollop of butter on the base
4. Spread a layer of sauce on the base.
5. Add any of the toppings you decide to add.
6. I normally, do a quick high flame stir fry of all the vegetables with some salt, that I intend to add as toppings and then spread them over the layer of sauce. If you decide to do this, make sure the watery vegetables, like mushrooms, tomatoes and added at the end and just tossed around.
7. Else you might have to end up cooking all the vegetables for longer.
8. The idea is to retain the colour of the vegetables which cooking might spoil.
9. After the vegetables / toppings are added, spread a layer of freshly grated mozzarella cheese
10. Here again, I prefer to use a combination of cheese like cheddar and mozzarella so that it doesn't get too heavy on the stomach. Mozzarella normally has a tendency to make you feel awkwardly full.
11. You can also add chilli flakes / oregano etc now and then bake with all this together.
12. Reduce oven temperature to 200 C Bake it in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or till the cheese is golden brown and the pizza is thoroughly heated through.
13. Serve hot

Notes

1. If you want to make the cheese filled pizza, while rolling the dough, add some mozzarella cheese in the center of the rolled dough, fold from the sides and pull and form the dough again. (Similar to making a stuffed paratha) / make a thin base, add some mozzarella, place another thin base and seal the edges.