I learned to make pizza by watching YouTube videos. The first time I made regular pizza with minimum toppings and it took about 2 hours. The pizza turned out good. Encouraged with the success, I started making it frequently and now I need an hour for the entire process.
First comes the ingredients (for dough, toppings and sauce) and then the methods (making base, sauce and finally pizza).
Ingredients for pizza dough-
* 2 cups maida or all-purpose flour
* 1 tea spoon dry east
* 1 tea spoon sugar
* 1 cup water (use as needed)
* 2 tea spoon olive oil
* Salt as per taste
Ingredients for pizza sauce -
* 1 large tomato
* 2-3 garlic cloves chopped finely
* 1 tsp red chilly flakes
* 1 tsp Italian herbs
* Salt as needed
* 4 tsp oil
* 2 tsp tomato ketchup
* 1 finally chopped onion (optional)
Ingredients for pizza toppings -
* Mozzarella cheese about 200 grams or as needed
* 1 cup cubed veggies (capsicum, onion, tomato, mushrooms, olives, etc)
* 1/2 tsp Italian herbs
* 1/2 tsp red chilly flakes (optional)
1. Add yeast and sugar to warm water and mix well, set aside for 15 mins and allow it to activate.
2. When the water turns frothy, add flour, salt and olive oil and mix a dough adding more water if needed.
3. Knead the dough very well until its very soft.
4. Then apply a thin layer of oil and cover it with wet cloth, keep it aside for 30 to 45 mins. Allow
the dough to rise and double in size.
Preparing pizza sauce -
I use a simple method to make pizza sauce.
1. Heat cooking oil in a small pan and saute garlic until it smells good.
2. Add red chilly flakes and then onion if you are using it. Saute until onion turns slightly golden.
3. Add finally chopped tomatoes (you can also use tomato puree instead) salt and mix it well.
4. Cook it until the tomato pieces turn into thin paste.
5. Add tomato ketchup and mix well
6. Set aside to cool.
Making the pizza -
1. Preheat the oven to 240°C for 15 mins.
2. Transfer the dough to work area.
3. Punch the dough to deflate it, and cut to 2 to 3 portions.
4. Gently shape it to a ball and flatten it.
5. Sprinkle some maida over the pizza tray.
6. Spread the pizza sauce as desired (don't apply on edge part).
7. Layer the veggies and then spread grated cheese.
8. Sprinkle Italian herbs and red chilly flakes.
9. Lastly apply some olive oil on edge part of pizza dough.
10. Place it the oven and bake it for 15 mins until the base is cooked and cheese turns slightly golden.
The baking part is crucial. Watch it until its completely done to avoid over-cooking. Once its done, take out the pizza along with the tray and allow it to cool for a minute and few seconds.
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| pizza base in oven tray |
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| applying auce to the base |
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| cheese sprinkled over the sauce |
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| toppings layered over cheese |
Slice and serve pizza hot.
Do share your comments / questions. I would love to hear back from you.
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