Happy New Year 2016 to all my readers and fellow bloggers. May all your wishes come true this year..
2015 was an awesome year for me as we got the most precious gift from God this year.. our bundle of joy.. Watching him grow everyday makes me forget all the pain of sleep deprivation for the last 7-8 months.. He has already started crawling and very eager to taste everything from his toys to mobiles and ipads.. Thank you God for this.. Hope 2016 will be another wonderful year for me ahead as my baby starts to walk for the first time and start calling me Mamma..Can’t wait for this.
Now coming to my blog, I am back again with another pizza recipe. This time I have tried to make a vegetarian version of my earlier pizza recipe and it turned out to be awesome. This time I have used Paneer/Cottage cheese as I was not having any non veg topping at home. Mostly when we eat out we prefer pizza with chicken or sausage but thankfully I tried this, and it changed my perception about veg pizzas. Thought of sharing this recipe for my vegetarian friends. Try and let me know…
Preparation time : 2 hrs
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: Makes 1, 12-inch pizza.
Pizza dough is a yeast ed dough which requires active dry yeast. Make sure the check the expiration date on the yeast package.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup – 1 cup warm water as required
- 1 /2teaspoons of active dry yeast
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Pizza Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Tomato sauce (smooth, or puréed)
- Mozzarella cheese, grated
- Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
- Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, cut into squares
- Cottage cheese cubes
- Onions cut into squares
- Tomato cut into suares
Special equipment required
- A round pizza pan(specially if you want a crispy crust)
- A pizza wheel for cutting the pizza, not required, but easier to deal with.
Method
Making the Pizza Dough
1. Place the warm water in a large bowl (just as much warm so that if you dip your finger in the water it can be tolerated). Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and add the sugar to it and let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. After 5 minutes stir if the yeast hasn’t dissolved completely. The yeast should begin to foam, which indicates that it is still active and alive.
2. Mix in the flour, salt and olive oil.Knead the pizza dough until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle it with a little more flour.
3. Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the inside of a large bowl. Place the pizza dough in the bowl and turn it around so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, at least 1 to 1 1/2 hours. You can let it sit for several hours if you want. The longer rise will improve the flavor of the pizza crust. If you don’t have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven and then turn off the oven. Let the oven cool till it is just a little warm, then place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.
Preparing the Pizzas
1. Place the baking rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 230°C for at least 30 minutes.
2. Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Form round ball of dough
3. Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza.
4. Take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter – 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form an edge.
5. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.
6.Lightly sprinkle your flat baking sheet with rawa. Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the sheet. If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.
7. Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.
8. Place the baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven. Bake pizza until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese. Your pizza is ready!
Tista's Yummy Kitchen 