#2: Simple @ Home Pizza!

Let me guess, you're bored in Quarantine and want to make something fun for dinner but aren't the best chef? No worries! Same!

Ever since quarantine started, I've had a lot of time on my hands and I thought "why not take up some new hobbies and learn a few things?" And this is how my little cooking/baking/pretending I'm on Master Chef adventure started. I started off with some noodles at first, then went on to pasta, and then took a little detour to baking cakes and cupcakes of all sorts! So much fun! But I wanted to make something a little more... "fancy" if you will. So I thought, where better to start then PIZZA!

Most of us aren't allowed to go out and get some Pizza Hut or Dominos (sadly), but here's a simple yet DELICIOUS recipe you can use when you're in the mood for some cheesy, authentic, and most importantly DELICIOUS pizza!

(The following method I put together from Simply recipes , Bhavana's Kitchen & Living and

A's Cookbook )

So let's talk it through:

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

2 tsp of Rapid Rise Yeast

1 tbsp of Sugar

1 1/4 cup of WARM water

A pinch of salt (just for the taste)

3.5- 4 tbsp Oil (Extra Virgin Olive oil is recommended)

2 1/2- 3 cups of All Purpose Flour

Dry Italian herbs (optional)

Sauce: I just used store-bought pasta sauce

Toppings:

You can use anything you want, but here's what I used:

Mozzarella Cheese (as much as you want)

Green Bell Peppers ; thinly sliced

Jalapenos

Red onions ; thinly sliced

Paneer ; cut into small cubes

Fresh Spinach ; thinly sliced

Black Olives

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Making the Pizza Dough

1) Blooming the Yeast

Using a large mixing bowl, pour in 1 1/4 cup of WARM water and 2 tsp of Rapid Rise Yeast. You want to let it sit like that (with occasional mixing) for around 5-10 minutes to let the yeast bloom.

2) Making the Pizza Dough

Once the yeast has bloomed, add in 1 tbsp of Sugar, A pinch of salt ,Dry Italian herbs (optional), and your 3.5 tbsp of Oil. Give it all a quick stir and add in your 2 1/2- 3 cups of All Purpose Flour.

3) Prepping and Kneeing the Pizza Dough

Begin to mix all of the ingredients in and kneading the dough for about 7-10 minutes. The dough should feel a little sticky/tacky to the touch. If it seems too wet, then sprinkle a little flour over it.

Once you're done kneading the dough, spread some oil over the dough and the bowl. Next you'll want to let it rise and ferment for at least 1 1/2 hours. This will allow the dough to rise up to about 2x it's initial size. Make sure you cover the dough with plastic wrap.

While the dough is fermenting, start Preheating the Oven to 375 degrees F.

4) Laying out the Pizza

Once the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl and place it onto your surface. Make sure you lightly cover your surface and hands with dough BEFOREHAND.

Once you have covered your fresh dough in some flour, start pressing down on it to "deflate" it and flatten the dough out. Flatten it with your hands starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to about 1/2-inch thick.

Treat the dough gently!

Once the dough seems flat enough, gently place it onto your pizza pan and continue filling out the pan with the dough. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. Brush the top of the dough and around the are where the crust will form with some olive oil. I like to use a fork and gently make little holes around the dough just so it will bake nice and evenly in the oven. That's OPTIONAL.

4) Sauce & Toppings!

Once your dough seems ready and is in your pan, spoon on the tomato sauce and begin to spread it in a circular motion around the dough.

Next, you cant start adding on your toppings! Start with Mozzarella Cheese (as much as you want), and go from there.

5) Loading it in the Oven & Enjoy!

Once you're done with your toppings, you can start to load it into the oven. make sure you place it on the middle rack so that way the pizza can bake evenly on the bottom and top. Bake the pizza for about 20-25 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown) in the oven at 375 degrees F.

Once it's done, take it out of the oven using oven mitts (safety first!) and let it cool for about 5

minutes.

Time for the best part!

Dig in and enjoy!

Feel free to add some extra cheese or crushed pepper!

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Love,

Shriya

The following is method I put together from Simply recipes , Bhavana's Kitchen & Living and

A's Cookbook

These are a few other recipes using a similar recipe, but the above is what I use.

#food #pizza #diy #FunFriday #athomepizza