Home-made Pizza

For me and my family, no holiday is a holiday without pizza.  We love it, especially when it is home-made and the best part is the crust is homemade too.  I love to see my pizza dough rise and then topping it with my absolutely favorite veggies.  Looking the cheese melt is divine.  This recipe makes 3 large pizzas or 5 medium-small pizzas. Perfect for a perfect family!!

Ingredients

For pizza crust:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 ½ cups warm water

1 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoon salt

3 ½ cups all purpose or flour (for healthier version replace 1 ½ cups of flour with wheat flour)

2 tablespoons oil

For Sauce:

1 table spoon olive oil

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

3 spring onions

 ½ kgs tomatoes crushed

1 packet of ready-made tomato soup powder

¼ cup fresh basil leaves

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper

½ teaspoon oregano

For topping:

1 cup of your choice of veggies (onions, red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, olives, broccoli, corns, paneer, mushrooms, spinach)

2 cups shredded pizza cheese

Method

For crust:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast, sugar and salt in warm water. Let it stand for about 5 minutes till the yeast gets activated.
2. Add in oil and flour. Mix together to form a sticky dough.
3. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.
4. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.  Cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled for about an hour.
5. Punch it down. Divide the dough into 3 parts if making large pizza or else divide into 5 parts.
6. Roll each part into a circle. Transfer it into a well floured pan in which you want to bake your pizza.

For sauce:

1. In a pan, heat oil. Add garlic and onions, saute till transparent.
2. Add tomato puree and all the spices, along with soup powder.
3. Add 1 cup of water and let it simmer till a thick consistency is achieved for about 15-20 minutes.

For assembly of pizza:

1. Take the crust which is already in a well floured prepared pan. Top it with your pasta sauce enough to cover till corners.
2. Spread the veggies of your choice and as per taste.
3. Top it with cheese.
4. Preheat your oven at 425 degree C for 10 minutes. Bake your pizza for 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown from sides and toppings are lightly browned.

Your Home-made Pizza is ready to serve!!