PIZZA BASE (WITH YEAST)

 

Since I got the doughnuts (with yeast) right, I have overcome my fear of using yeast and naturally proceeded to make pizza.

So simple to make! What else can I say.

While we were eating it, I wondered why I spent so much moolah ordering Pizzas from Dominos (pizza aficionados may stick your noses up in the air, Skip and I love pizzas from Dominos) when one could just bake them at home.

The base is crunchy and chewy. If you don’t have yeast at home, you can make the No-Yeast Pizza base and if you don’t have an oven at home, you could try these Whole Wheat, Stove-top Pizzas. The base with yeast does taste the best but the others are great alternatives too.

I made a 6 inch Margherita for Skip and a large veggie one for Sky and me.  

We had a few slices left over. We heated it and ate it the next day, it still tasted great.

This recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction.

 

PIZZA BASE (WITH YEAST) ( MAKES TWO 12 INCH BASES)

Ingredients:

Warm water – 1 1/3 cups (320 ml)

Instant yeast – 2 ¼ tsp

Granulated sugar – 1 tbsp

Oil – 2 tbsp

Salt – 3/4 tsp

All-purpose flour – 3 ½ cups (450 gms)

Cornmeal – for dusting the pan

 

Method:

 

1.     Add the warm water, yeast and sugar to a bowl and whisk it well. Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes.

2.     The liquid will appear frothy after 5 minutes.

3.     To this, add oil, salt and the flour and mix it with a spatula till it comes together.

4.  On a floured surface, knead the dough for about 5 minutes. ( The dough should remain soft).

5.    Grease a bowl and place the dough in it, covering it with the oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise.

6.     After 60-90 minutes , the dough would have doubled in size.

7.     Preheat oven to 250C for at least 15-20 mins.

8.  Shaping the dough : when  the dough has doubled up in size, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half (to make two pizza bases). Flour your work surface and flatten the dough with either a rolling pin or your hands. Pinch the edges of the base and poke holes in the base with a fork.

9.     Grease the baking dish and sprinkle cornmeal/semolina on it.

10. Place the base on the baking dish, brush the top lightly with oil and add your favourite toppings.

11. Bake the pizza for about 12-15 minutes until the bottom has browned.

12. Done.

 

Recipe Notes:

•      Preferable use Olive oil if you have it.
•       I didn’t have cornmeal so I used semolina for dusting.
•       Step 4: you know the dough is ready to rise when you poke it with your finger and it slowly bounces back. If it doesn’t, continue kneading. 
•      I tried using a rolling pin to shape the dough but found it easier using my hands to stretch the dough.

P.S: I still continue to order from Dominos. Let’s be honest here, it’s sometimes just easier  to order than cook at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NO MAIDA, NO YEAST, NO OVEN - CHEESE-BURST PIZZA

 

Or in concise words, the Chapathi Pizza 😊

I LOOOOOVE pizza and as long as the base is not rubbery or uncooked with the cheese sliding off it, I am not fussy. I will get back to the pizza in a bit.

Date: 02.11.2020, Time: 2130 hours

Operation Dragonfly 

(no creatures were hurt during this operation other than a tiny moth which died of 'natural' causes)

Sky was retiring to bed, Skip was watching the RCB vs DC match and I was typing out this post on pizza. My mouth felt dry and I got up to get a sip of water. I noticed the light in our Prayer room was still on. I walked towards the room, bowed my head and turned off the light when suddenly I heard a rapid fluttering of wings move in my direction. I let out a screech. (For those unaware, I have a severe phobia of flying creatures within the confines of four walls). Sky came running out, Skip jumped off the sofa.

It was a Dragonfly. Sky went back to the bedroom after asking us to shut the door. Skip, my little hero jumped to the rescue. While I stood frozen, he quickly turned on the lights in the dining hall where I stood. The Dragonfly flew towards this source of light, we ran to the adjoining drawing room. There was a sudden silence and as we stood wondering what to do next, we heard the fluttering near our feet. We ran to the bedroom and chalked out a plan.

We tried to turn on lights in succession and lead the Dragonfly out to the balcony but failed. It followed us to the corridor near our bedroom and lay there waiting  patiently. We kept staring at it and it looked like this stand-off was no closer to being resolved until one of us made the first move.

Another set of plans was made. Skip stealthily ran towards the balcony to retrieve his water gun while I kept an eye on the now, still dragonfly. On his way he turned off all the lights except the light on the corridor. With rapid hand movements, I communicated to Skip that I would turn on the lights in the drawing room and open the main door leading outside and turn on the light outside that door.

Mission accomplished, but the Dragonfly wasn’t budging. It was time to use the watergun. We took an oath not to hurt the Dragonfly. We shot out a spray of water 3.14 inches away from it. Easy as pie.

We stood with bated breath; fingers crossed. It began to fly again. It flew and hung from the drawing room light. It ate a tiny moth. We turned off the corridor light, I walked to the hall and instructed Skip to turn on the lights in the kitchen. The plan was to spray the water again and run towards the kitchen. We took turns and finally the Dragonfly was flying again. We ran to the kitchen and tried to follow its course of flight but lost sight of it.

Pin drop silence.

We waited for a bit and walked towards the hall and shut the main door. There was still no fluttering sound. I stood wondering what to do. Through the narrow slit of glass adjacent to the main door, we peeked out but couldn’t spot a living thing.

Skip asked me to move aside and cautiously opened the main door and peeked out. He stood still for 5 seconds, gently shut the door and flashed a thumbs up. The Dragonfly was out.

Skip and I are very excited. We hi-fied. 

He’s hoping a bee enters next. I had content for my blog.

Back to the pizza 😊

Yes, you do get a very mild taste of the chapathi but it is mostly camouflaged by the cheese and toppings. But hey, no maida, no yeast and no oven and so simple and quick to make.

Skip and I loved it. It’s a perfect last minute meal when you have chapathis and veggies but crave for something more exotic or a perfect way to use those leftover chapathis and stir fry. Top it with veggies or sandwich it and call it a Quesadilla instead.

For more such simple recipes, please do follow me on Facebook @Lucidlucent and Instagram @lucidlucent.

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR , CHEESE BURST PIZZA (makes 1)

Ingredients:

Uncooked Chapathis – 2

Cheese slice - 2-3

Mozarella Cheese – lots of it

Pizza sauce

Toppings of your choice

Method:

1.     Cook one chapathi on both sides. Spread pizza sauce on one side and set aside.

2.     Cook the other chapathi well on one side and partially on the other. Set aside.

3.     I used peas, paneer and mushrooms as topping, I sautéed these in a pan with salt and oregano.

4.      Place the partially cooked side down on a Tawa (flat frying pan). Places 2-3 cheese slices on it. Place the well cooked chapathi on it with the side slathered with pizza sauce facing the top.

5.     Add your toppings.

6.     Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

7.   Turn on the heat, cover the pizza with a lid and cook on low flame for about 10 minutes until the base has slightly browned. (it will appear like the bottom of a regular pizza base)

8.     Turn off the heat and leave the “pizza” covered on the pan for another 5 minutes until the cheese on top has fully melted,

9.     Sprinkle red chilli flakes and slice it.

10. Done

 

       Recipe Notes:

·       You can use any cheese of your choice. I used Cheese slices for the stuffing and mozzarella for the topping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NO-YEAST PIZZA BASE

Who doesn't love a pizza? All you need is a base, the pizza sauce and some cheese. You can add whatever your heart desires as topping, pineapple too.(yes I love pineapple on my pizza).

The pizza is beautiful in any shape or size. It can be a perfect round, an unshapely oval or a haphazard rectangle. It could be thin or deep dish or thin in the middle and thick around the edges. You don't judge a pizza for its shape! Top it with calorie inducing bucket loads of gooey, stretchy cheese or a handful of rocket leaves. Crusty, cheesy , saucy , bland or fiery, we all love Pizza! 

I love Pizza so much that some of my friends call me Pijja.  I like my pizza best with a thin crust, lots of cheese and an overload of toppings. (Ohhhh, Pepperoni, I miss you so much).

We were all craving for a pizza so I got busy searching for a recipe that didn't require yeast. I have to be honest, I haven't even made an attempt to look for yeast. I hear it's been flying off the shelves but I have an aversion to yeast ever since I failed at making pretty looking buns with it years ago. (keep an eye out on our blog, we'll be posting the recipe of a no-yeast bread soon) 

 

I knead when I want! 

I haven't kneaded dough since ages and found the whole process quite therapeutic. Skip too had fun punching, pounding and stretching the dough. I wasn't sure how large the base would be and that explains the extra toppings on the base. 

I had just enough pizza sauce for this pizza. The next time I bake pizza , I will make the sauce at home and post the recipe. 

As I took the baked Pizza out of the oven , I looked at it fondly. It smelled gorgeous. For the first time in my life, I didn't have the heart to slice and gobble up that pizza. I walked around the house carrying the tray lovingly in my arms, admiring what I had created. Skip tagged along with a big smile on his face. The pictures do no justice to what the pizza really looked like. 

More importantly, it tasted lovely. Do bookmark this recipe. It's a fool proof recipe that requires no yeast which means no proofing, no waiting patiently for the dough to rise. 

NO-YEAST PIZZA BASE (makes a 14*10 inch pizza) -serves 3

Ingredients: 

All-purpose flour (maida) - 2 cups 

Curd - ½ cup 

Baking powder - 1tsp

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1tsp

Salt - 1 tsp 

Oil - 1 tbsp 

Water - enough to make a dough 

Method 

1.Preheat oven at 200 degree Celsius.

2.Mix all ingredients other than water and oil. 

3. Add water, a few tablespoons at a time and knead into a dough.

4.Add oil and knead the dough( for about 10 mins) until it's firm and smooth. 

5. Set aside, covered in a moist cloth. 

6.Prepare the toppings. I have used paneer sauteed in a curd sauce, sauteed mushrooms, raw onion, capsicum and fenugreek and mustard leaves. 

7.After letting the dough rest for a while, knead it again for 5 mins. 

8.Roll the dough flat and transfer to the baking tray.  Poke holes with a fork. Spread the pizza sauce. Sprinkle the cheese. Add the toppings. 

9.Bake for 10-15 mins till the base browns. 

10.Done

Recipe notes: 

• Most recipes on the net used only baking powder and not soda. You can do the same, just proportionately increase the quantity of the baking powder. 

• I sprinkled semolina (rawa) on the baking dish and then rolled out the dough on it. It makes the base crunchy. 

• I rolled the dough directly on the baking dish. It was easier to flatten it with my hands than with the rolling pin. I also added a little oil on the tray as the dough was sticking to it when I was flattening it.  

• I would recommend a thin base. A thick base may taste chewy. 

• Goes without saying that Mozarella and Cheddar work best with pizzas. I didn't have either. I grated two cubes of Amul Cheese and shredded a Nandini cheese slice.

Have you all been craving for some dish that you currently don't have access to? Drop a comment and we will collectively drool and if we happen to have the ingredients for that dish, we will share the recipe with you. 

Skip currently enjoys watching Amul advertisements on TV and can often be heard singing "Anjali Banjali delicious Amul".