As part of our weekend kitchen experiments, we at Slurrpy tried out Pizzas last weekend. Pizza making can be very lengthy and scientific if you also make the pizza base, but since we bought the readymade base, this one was easy and fun to make.
Homemade Pizza
Time taken: 30 min
Taste-o-meter: Savoury
Ingredients for the pizza sauce (sufficient for three pizza bases):
- Ripe tomatoes: 4-5
- Very small onion, peeled and chopped very finely: 1
- Cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed: 2
- Tomato ketchup: 1 tsp
- Sugar: 1/4 tsp
- Salt
- Oregano: 1/4 tsp
- A few basil leaves
- Olive oil: 1 tsp
- A pinch of red chilly flakes or red chilly pepper powder
Ingredients for the toppings:
- Large Green bell pepper, sliced into strips: 1
- Small onions: 2
- Tomatoes: 2-3
- Fresh button mushrooms (or used canned ones): 6-8
- Handful of olives
- Olive oil: 1 tsp
- A dash of salt
- Red chilly flakes to taste
- Oregano: 1/4 tsp
- A pinch of black pepper powder
- A generous amount of Mozzarella cheese: 3
- Pizza bread bases: 3
Method:
For the pizza sauce:
- Blanch Tomatoes for few seconds in hot water.
- Drain and immediately dump in cold or normal water so that it’s easier to peel them.
- Peel and grind into a puree.
- In a pan, add 1 tsp of olive oil, add crushed garlic, saute over medium heat.
Add chopped onion, saute again till they turn pink. - Add Rest all other ingredients listed under Tomato Sauce. Mix well and cook for a while.
- Add about a glass of water and let it simmer for some time, till a thick consistency of sauce is obtained. Do not leave it watery, as it will make the pizza soggy.
- Adjust the seasoning and keep it aside.
For toppings:
- In a pan, drizzle some olive oil. Add Mushrooms, saute it for a while, till a shade darker, add chunks of onion , saute again, add Capsicum slices, saute for few seconds , then olives and then finally add huge chunks of tomato.
- Take care not to over cook your veggies. The bell pepper should retain its colour and crispness, the onion should be just translucent , the tomatoes should be still juicy , bit soft but not cooked.
- Sprinkle some salt, pepper, oregano, chilly flakes and mix well.
- Take a ready made Pizza base , toast it in the oven, with the side that you are going to use for adding toppings, facing the heat.
- Now spread some pizza sauce, cheese spread, toppings, and shredded Cheese.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or till the cheese melts and browns a little.
- Serve hot.