I don't usually worry about calories - as long as there's happiness bundled in. That's my only condition.. Each calorie I take in, must bring me happiness. If it doesn't it isn't worth it. This recipe brings you oodles of happy calories! :)
Ingredients:
Don't fuss about the ingredients too much, use whatever is easily available.
- Pizza base: Wheat, Refined, Multigrain, Herbed, Thin, Minis - anything works)
- Pizza Base Sauce: Any available, I used Dr. Oetker's Fun Foods)
- Grated Mozzarella Cheese: Very important
- Grated Processed or Cheddar Cheese: Experiment with your cheese, I used processed. I always like to use an additional variety of cheese apart from Mozzarella so I get more flavor.
- Toppings of choice: I used spring onions, baby corn, bell peppers, paneer, black olives and jalapenos
- Oregano or Pizza Seasoning Mix
- Red Chilli Flakes
- Salt to taste
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: For brushing the pizza base and baking tray
- A pinch of love! :)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil and put it into the oven while it preheats. I like to bake pizzas mostly at this temperature with the heat setting turned to top and bottom. When the pizza is almost done, I set the heat at the top and increase it to 220 degrees so the cheese can completely melt and get golden brown in places.
- Pierce the pizza base using a fork. While most pizza bases already come forked in, that is done before baking. This will make sure the flavors seep in deep and the pizza is nice and moist.
- Brush the base with some extra virgin olive oil.This will ensure a golden brown, crispy crust rather than dry and dusty.
- Generously spread pizza base sauce all over the base using a butter knife. Apply gentle pressure so some sauce gets soaked in. At this point, you may spread some of the cheese too - this will help your toppings stick to the pizza better. I didn't.
- Just as the way you slice/cut your toppings, the order in which you place the toppings on the base makes a big difference. The exact toppings layered in a different order will give you different taste. This is how I spread them - spring onions-bell peppers-baby corn-paneer-seasoning (salt, chilli flakes, oregano)-olives and japenos
- Finally add cheese - as much or as little as your conscience allows you to. I first added the processed cheese and then the mozzarella on top. This helps the mozzarella melt into that stretchy goodness and bring those precious golden-brown spots all over. The processed melted cheese on the other hand, melts and seeps down into the toppings ensuring an even consistent flavor.
- Right before you put the pizza in to bake, brush the aluminium foil on the baking tray with oil (any.. I used extra virgin olive since that was handy).
- Place the pizza in the centre of the baking tray and set the timer to 20 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, keep checking on your pizza to see how it's going. As I said before, this is an approximation - and this completely depends on the size and thickness of your base as well as your choice of toppings. When the pizza is almost done and the cheese has melted, turn the heat setting to top and increase the temperature to 220 degrees for the last 5 minutes or so.
- Serve with a side of the usual suspects - ketchup, mustard, pizza seasoning and oregano.
- Eat!
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I made pizza miniatures and a regular sized pizza today. The same heat settings worked perfectly on both of these.
Keep experimenting with your food, don't shy away from adding your own personal touch to your food. With experience comes the skill, over the years I have grown a lot as a cook and have acquired a better sense of what goes with what and what doesn't. But I am still an amateur and always looking for new recipes and better cooking techniques.
Happy Cooking!
Love,
Nidhi
