It’s been quite a while since I’ve been making pizzas from scratch. I’m kinda over the pizzas you get outside, except for of course Pizza Express, which I crave and love! Dominos has a floury crust, Pizza Hut’s is too oily and Smokin Joes is not a pizza! There are a few redeeming brands like Joey’s and Frisbees in Andheri West that have some superb toppings. I recently had the Popeye’s Olive Pizza at Frisbees and loved it! But, nothing is better than making your own pizza from scratch, right? So, I’m posting my version of homemade pizza.
Now, I cheat a bit – more because I’m a little afraid of bread making – and use a flatbread recipe from Saee’s My Jhola blog (which I follow quite religiously). I have finally got the hang of handling the dough and rolling it out thin and evenly. Also, it’s fast; the proofing and baking time is much less compared to a regular pizza dough; you can make it on a whim; and I have a screenshot of the recipe saved on my phone!
Before we go to the recipe, here are some pictures of the pizzas I’ve made from scratch using Saee’s recipe. (P.S. If you want to stay true to the original pizza recipe, she has one on her blog).
| Prep Time | 60 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 3 medium onions finely chopped
- 5 - 6 medium tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup or 1 tbsp paste with 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 large dried red chilli
- 3 - 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 - 5 sprigs basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 red bell pepper chopped into chunks
- 1 yellow bell pepper chopped into chunks
- salt to taste
- 7 - 8 sprigs fresh Italian basil
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce Base
Toppings
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- Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Put the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm water and let the yeast activate for 10 min. The water will turn frothy.
- Now, add the yeast mixture to the flour and knead to a soft dough.
- Once the dough has come together, add 2 tbsp oil and knead again to let the oil incorporate with the dough.
- Cover the bowl with a clingfilm and a tight lid and let it prove for 20-25 minutes in a warm, dry corner.
- In the meanwhile, prep your tomato sauce and toppings. And, preheat the oven to 200 C.
- For the tomato sauce: Put the oil in a pan and heat up.
- Add the chopped garlic and red chilli and saute till golden and aromatic.
- Now, add the onions and saute well on a medium flame till it comes together.
- Put in the ketchup or tomato paste and mix well.
- Now, add the fresh tomatoes and cook on a low flame till saucy.
- Add the basil and salt and pepper.
- For the Bellpepper and Basil topping, mix together the bell peppers and salt and keep aside.
- For assembly, you need Pizza Dough, Tomato Sauce, Cheese - as much as you like, Toppings
- Now, for the pizza dough: Once the dough is proved, with your palms oiled well, punch out the air and knead well in the remaining oil.
- Divide the dough into two and on a baking paper, roll out each ball to the thickness you like (remember, the dough will rise a bit in the oven.).
- Now, transfer the baking paper to the tray/stone in which you are going to bake it.
- Smear the base with the tomato sauce and grate over 1 cube of cheese.
- Now squeeze out excess water from the bell peppers and sprinkle generously over the top.
- Top again with grated cheese.
- Pop this into the oven for 10-15 minutes till the cheese is bubbling and the crust is golden.
- Take it out and garnish with fresh basil and serve warm.
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