Hand Tossed Thin Crust Pizza

“I never met a pizza like you
before”

I decided to bake a pizza today…its T20 world cup and Team India in semi finals so this called for some yum finger food…nothing could have been better than a pizza as I was craving for something cheesy . I had exotic veggies, mozzarella lying in my refrigerator waiting for them to be used. The pizza base had to be thin crust which is my preference and now the most important thing remained and it was pizza sauce…should I buy one from store or should I make it at home, but nothing better than homemade where I know my ingredients and the quality. My family deserves nothing but the best. So here was my most delicious, crunchy, beautifully golden thin crust pizza with gorgeous toppings…it was just delicious.

My house is smelling just wow as this pizza is getting baked….once out of the oven this beautiful bread with some gorgeous topping, looked simply irresistible. When I called kids to the dining table they got pretty excited…I should bake pizza more often isn’t it?? The thrill and satisfaction of baking a pizza from starch cannot beat anything, trust me. I think pizza is a good way to feed the veggies to kids right but I am lucky enough as my kids eat all kinds of vegetables.

The best part of pizza was the sauce, perfect in its texture and flavor. Celery, basil, parsley and some Italian seasoning gave a unique flavor to it. My family pizza requirements are very different from each other and needs to be custom made for all, my little girl like margherita pizza, my son love it with his vegetables and more cheese, VK and me settle for more of olives, jalapenos and less of cheese…as far as the crust goes we love our crust to be thin.

The next day I had dough for two pizzas left, so I decided to bake some for my friends and in no time it was all gone….once it was finished they said it was the best pizza they had eaten so far…much more better than Dominos or may be Pizza hut…hey that’s a great compliment isn’t it. Feels great when people outside love your food.

The key to a really good pizza is the crust and with constant practice it has started coming out really well. Kneading the dough hardly takes time, rising takes about 45 minutes…so in 1.5 hours time you have a very yummy pizza in front of you. Hey, you can prepare the dough well in advance and refrigerate, in that way you can have a great meal on a busy weeknight in no time. Planning in advance saves a lot if effort and time and you have the best thin crust pizza ever which will earn you lots of compliments. Leave apart the compliments; at least you have that satisfaction of everything being homemade. This crust has a nice, crunch yet can be folded from the centre. Now coming to the sauce, homemade one it had the perfect balance from the spices, honey, celery, basil made it yum. It was a perfect balanced sauce. I saw the recipe for this Marinara sauce on “Binjals Veg Kitchen”, the recipe was good and the presentation was just wow. I tweaked it according to my own taste and it turned out just delicious.

Sharing the recipe :

Ingredients:

For the pizza dough

·
2 cups all purpose flour

·
1 teaspoon active dry yeast

·
1 teaspoon sugar

·
1 teaspoon salt

·
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 – 115 degrees C)

·
2 tablespoon olive oil

For the toppings

·
Tomatoes

·
Baby corn

·
Red and yellow bell pepper

·
Olives

·
Jalapenos

·
Onions (chop the veggies as desired)

·
Mozzarella Cheese

For the marinara sauce

·
I kg tomatoes (750 grams pureed and 250 grams diced)

·
1 medium sized onions finely chopped

·
5 – 6 pods of garlic minced fine

·
1/4 cup olive oil

·
1 teaspoon dried oregano

·
½ teaspoon black pepper powder

·
1 teaspoon chilli flakes

·
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

·
¼ cup fresh basil leaves chopped

·
1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped

·
2 stalks celery finely chopped

·
1 teaspoon honey

·
Salt to taste

Directions for the sauce

Heat olive oil in a pan, to this add minced garlic, finely chopped onion and sauté till brown. To this add celery and sauté till soft.

2. To the above add tomato puree, diced tomatoes, oregano, black pepper, chilli flakes, Italian seasoning, honey, salt.

3. Cook on medium flame till thick, it will take around 40 – 45 minutes.

4. Once it starts to thicken add the basil and parsley and continue to cook for about 5 min. Check seasoning and adjust according to taste.

5. Once everything is blended well and reached the desired sauce consistency, remove
from heat and allow it to cool.

6. Once cool keep refrigerated for about 1 week in an air tight container.

For the pizza dough

1. In a bowl add yeast, sugar and warm water, mix with a spoon till the sugar dissolves. Let it stand for 10 minutes.

2. Add oil and salt to the above.

3. Add the flour and mix till a soft dough forms.

4. Remove from the bowl and turn it onto a floured surface. Knead u till smooth and
elastic say about 2 – 3 minutes.

5. Transfer the dough to a grease proof bowl. Keep covered in a warm place for about 45 minutes until double in size.

6. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

7. Once the dough has risen, punch it back. Divide it into small balls and roll it into as thin as possible.

8. Since I wanted thin crust got 5 pizza base (7 inch each)

9. Using a fork prick the base and slide the base into baking tray and bake for 3 – 4 minutes.
Remove and keep aside.

Assembling the pizza

1. To the prebaked base, spread a generous layer of Marinara sauce.

2. Next spread grated cheese.

3. Add the vegetable or whatever you prefer of your choice

4. Sprinkle a little black pepper

5. Add more cheese

6. Bake for about 15 min and there you have crunchy and a very delicious pizza ready.

7. Cut into desired slices and enjoy.

Love,