“The belly rules the mind.”
Spanish Proverb
PIZZA FROM SCRATCH…
My battle with yeast is an old one…it never seemed to give me results that others proudly displayed. I was beginning to bear a personal grudge against it, when I bumped into Ben! Thankfully we concurred that both our strengths lay in baking powder…YES…and he too was in a yeast dilemma!! As with all battles, this one had to be won, one way or the other. Susan’s recipe from Food Blogga came to my rescue…& I can proudly say…this round was mine. I made a pizza from scratch & the daughter declared it was WAY better than Pizza Hut. I thought so too! All credit to Susan for posting such a fab recipe, step by step, & with bits of wisdom thrown in…there was no way I could have lost this one!
A delicious slice…baked like we like it!
Pizza has always been on my list of things to do, & I have tried in the past with somewhat disappointing results. This one was great…the dough rose like never before & thrice!! Once in the frdige as well…believe it or not. My only deviation from Susan’s pizza dough recipe was to substitute 1 cup of flour with whole-wheat flour, & I must confess, I let it sit for a second rising in all my excitement! I made the dough the previous day, rested it in the fridge overnight, & it worked great the next day. Thank you Susan. Hey Ben, there’s hope for us!!
The recipe as adapted from Susan’s blog…
Ingredients:
Pizza Dough:
Flour – 4 cups ( original has 5-6 cups)
Wholewheat flour – 1 cup
Instant yeast – 20gms / 2 tbsps
Warm water – 2 cups
Salt – 1 tbsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
Pizza sauce – 1 1/2 cups (of your choice; I made my own)
Olive oil, Mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, sweetcorn, brocolli, red & yellow bell peppers, green peppers, spring onions, oregano etc…whatever catches your fancy or is in the larder!!
Pizza sauce – 1 1/2 cups (of your choice; I made my own)
Olive oil, Mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, sweetcorn, brocolli, red & yellow bell peppers, green peppers, spring onions, oregano etc…whatever catches your fancy or is in the larder!!
Method:
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Dissolve 2 cups of warm water + yeast + sugar + salt in a bowl.
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Mix the 2 flours together & add the warm water + olive oil to it & knead to a dough.
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Transfer to a floured surface & knead well for 5-10 minutes till it forms a soft & silky dough.
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Place the dough in a large bowl greased with olive oil, & oil the top of the dough too. I covered the bowl with wrap. Let it rest in a warm/draught free place for at least 2-3 hours.
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Punch the dough down to release the air bubbles. (I let it rise for an hour again just to enjoy the action of yeast & then put it in the fridge after this to use the next day. Take it out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to use)
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Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface to roll out. You can let the rolled out dough rest for about 30 minutes; it will rise slightly and create a puffier crust. I got 3 big thin-crust pizza bases from this dough. Leftover dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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Brush the top with 1 tsp of olive oil. Top lightly with pizza sauce, grate some cheese over it, add the veggies/chicken/whatever, red chili flakes if you like, followed by some more cheese.
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Bake at 225 degrees C on a pizza sheet for 25-30 minutes / till done. Refer to Susan’s blog if you are lucky enough to own a pizza stone.
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ENJOY!!!
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Note: Do go across to Food Blogga here for hot tips on baking a great pizza!
YAY! At last you got over that Yeastophibia!!:D
Looks yum. Now you can bake my Herb Roll too. Just make sure Yeast is fresh and let the dough/batter rise in the warm place like inside the warm oven. It will work fine!:)
the pizza looks fresh and colourful for sure! Thank you, dear yeast for co-operating with Deeba;) I love the base in which the pizza is resting… where did you get that? was the pizza baked on that?
your pizza looks great, the crust looks so delish! i love all the fresh veggies.
Woo-hoo! I’m thrilled to hear (and see) that the dough came out so beautifully! It really is foolproof, isn’t it? And talk about a perfectly circular pie–wow! Thanks for all kind words, Deeba, and please tell your daughter I’m flattered.
She sounds like a smart cookie. 😉
Your pizza is so colorful, and I’m sure delicious!
what a feast for the eyes! and with such detailed recipe,you have given me the courage to try it on my own:)
I love making pizza from scratch. Yours looks amazing.
Yaaaaaayyyyyyy Deeba… see it wasn’t even half as difficult as you thought it would be 🙂 now there’s no stopping you!!!
wow!!pizza from start to finish …awesome one lady!!!
Deeba,
Wonderful pictures. Pizza from scratch sounds amazing. Great way of using leftovers, too.
Definitely Asha, with ‘yeastophobia’ finally conquered, yr herb roll is on!!
Thanks Latha, the pizza baking pan (donno what it’s called) is from Tescos in the UK. A dear friend got it for me…to feed my passion!!
Mimi, Meeso, VY…thanks for the great words! I love veggies in this form!
BIG THANKS Susan…u made it happen! Daughter’s flattered in turn, & sometimes is a smarter cookie than I would want her to be!!
Raaga…great to have you back.
Reshma…you can do it; its not a big deal, but was a great achievement for me!
Hi there Zlamushka…from scratch makes the difference; nothing like home-made base! :0)
Definitely Asha, with ‘yeastophobia’ finally conquered, yr herb roll is on!!
Thanks Latha, the pizza baking pan (donno what it’s called) is from Tescos in the UK. A dear friend got it for me…to feed my passion!!
Mimi, Meeso, VY…thanks for the great words! I love veggies in this form!
BIG THANKS Susan…u made it happen! Daughter’s flattered in turn, & sometimes is a smarter cookie than I would want her to be!!
Raaga…great to have you back.
Reshma…you can do it; its not a big deal, but was a great achievement for me!
Hi there Zlamushka…from scratch makes the difference; nothing like home-made base! :0)
I have an award waiting for you to pick up 🙂
pizza looks great, i will try it for sure.
can we also have piza sauce recipe, it looks so red, have u used colour?
I made pizza from scratch for the first time when I was 15 – with my father doing the kneading! Unfortunately that was the last time – I have been thinking of doing this for a long time now – and if YOU could have yeastophobia, then I surely can pass muster! Lovely looking pizza – and of course it was better than Pizza Hut!!!
Hi deeba, first time on your site. I was reffered here by my cousin. I saw that you made a wonderful pizza here:) I would lvoe to know a little more things you did while making this pizza. When i made pizza, its always had one or the other problem, the first time i made , the base didnt get cooked well, the second time, the dough was sooo thick i had to throw it away, the third time , the pizza rose like a big bread and it was like having pav bhaji (bun type) 🙁 i threw away that also, i love thincrust pizza, i dont have a poizza stone , only a silicon round baking dish, that can accomodate a medium size round chapathi (just fyi for the size). I think my mistake the third time was i rolled it too thick, please let me know if there are any suggestion:) one more thing , is the pizza crust like naan? i mean is it just the same way ?
deeba!!! I made pizza from scratch y’day – from your recipe – it was fantasmagoric! will post about it!!!! I am sooooo thrilled thanks for such a great recipe-and trust me I am really a first time baker and your instructions werepretty sufficient for me!!!!
hi deeba, my pizza is up on the blog – do visit!
Thanks for your blog on lovely evergreen pizza.Photos are extra ordinary and yummy!!!!!!
Heyy there ! tried pizza recipe yesterday , turned out okeyish….tried again with the same dough but baked the base first for 14 min then added toppings and it was tasty enough to curb the pizza craving . I didnt have good mozzrella , that was one setback . which brand of mozzrella did u use ? if possible pls share . Thanx for incredible recipes and experiences .