Pizza from the scratch...

1. Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 4 Cups
Active Dry Yeast - 2 tbsp or 1 small sachet
Granulated Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp, as per taste
Olive oil - 1/2 Cup
Luke warm water - 1 Cup
Oregano/Basil/Parsley - 1 tsp
Thyme - 1 tsp
Minced garlic - 1-2 cloves
Chopped sun-dried tomatoes - 3 tsp

Method :

  1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in luke warm water in a bowl and set aside for 5 mins.

  2. In a large bowl, combine with hand the flour with salt, oregano/basil/parsley, thyme, sundried tomatoes and minced garlic.

  3. Stir in the yeast mix after it is a little bubbly and add the oil to the flour and keep mixing with hand till a dough forms.

  4. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough to stiffen for about 10 mins. The dough should not be sticky.

  5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth/plastic wrap and allow it to rise until double its size at room temperature for 40 mins to a maximum of 1 hour.

  6. Punch the dough down and scale into 4 equal pieces and form tight balls by rolling under your hand. At this stage, the dough can be frozen or refrigerated for use at a later time.

  7. Before making the pizza, punch the dough on a lightly floured work surface to form the crust with palms of your hand (or a rolling pin).

2. Sauce

Ingredients:

Tomato paste - 4 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves
Dried basil/oregano - 1 tsp
Cracked peppercorns - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - as per taste

Method :

  1. Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and fry it for 1 min.

  2. Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook for 2-3 mins.

  3. Add hot water to the pan and make into a smooth paste (of pouring consistency).

  4. Add a salt, pepper, dried basil or oregano to the sauce and let it boil for 5-10 mins.

Tips -- One can store the sauce in a glass jar in the refrigerator for 1 week.

3. Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough
Pizza Sauce
Mozerella and Cheddar cheese - grated
Olives (pitted and sliced)
Mushrooms (portobella) - sliced
Green Pepper (Capsicum) - sliced
Onions - sliced in rounds
Cherry Tomatoes - cut in halves

Method :

  1. Put the dough on a flat floured surface and if necessary knead the dough enough to make it easy to handle. Pound the dough flat and roll it flat to make the crust.

  2. Roll or press the dough to fit bottom and 1/2 inches up sides of a greased and lightly floured baking pan.

  3. Pour the sauce on the pizza base and spread it evenly.

  4. Sprinkle grated cheese and cover the sauce.

  5. Choose toppings as per taste (Capsicum+onion, mushroom+olives, tomato+onion) and put on top of the cheese.

  6. Preheat the oven for 10 mins and bake for 30 mins with both sides option.

Poonam Mehta Go to My Recipes Home