Homemade Pizza

INGREDIENTS:

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Italian herbs - 1 tsp (optional)

Active Dry Yeast - 1 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 1/2 tsp
Warm Water - 3/4 cup

Topping:

Onion - 1/4, thinly sliced
Bell peppers - 1/4, green and yellow
Corn - 2 tsp
Olives - 6
Baby Spinach - 8 to 10 leaves
Cottage cheese - chopped into very small cubes
Cheese - shredded mozarella cheese

PROCEDURE:

Activate the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and sugar. It will bloom in about 10 to 15 mins.

Take all the ingredients above in a bowl. Add in the activated yeast mixture and the other half cup water (warm). Mix everything gently.

Mix the dough well in a food processor. Instructions provided below.

At this stage, the dough will appear sticky and greasy. This is the consistency it should have.

Grease a bowl with oil and place the dough in it. Allow it to rise for about 2 to 3 hours.

Then, punch the dough to release the air.

Knead the dough for about a minute. Sprinkle half a tsp of dry flour if required.

Place in the same bowl. Cover and allow it to rise again for another 2 hours.

Transfer the dough onto the kitchen counter and knead for a minute.

Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. This quantity can make 2 medium sized pizzas.

Then, pat it using your fingers to flatten it to the size of a roti or use a rolling pin.

Transfer this onto the pizza tray lined with aluminium foil.

Stretch it to the required size.  It should have 1/2 inch thickness. Then, try to pinch or fold the edges to create the crust.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 F for 13-14 mins. 

Spread the pizza sauce. Top it with the veggies you wish.

Bake the pizza at 450 F for 14 mins.

Garnish with oregano and red chilli flakes and enjoy!

Notes:

After adding all the ingredients into the food processor, first pulse the mixture for 4 to 5 times to allow the oil, salt and yeast to mix well.

Turn on the low mode until you see the mixture coming together. Don't turn off the food processor in between this process, else the dough will roll up the blade. This might take about a minute.

Turn off the food processor and transfer the dough into a bowl greased with oil.