Thin Crust Half-Wheat Pizza

This is our first blog post. And what better way to start than by paying homage and due drool to one of the most stupendous inventions of mankind (the Neopolitans, actually), the pizza!!
I am the sorts who can eat a cheesy, thin crusty, loaded or not so loaded pizza anytime, anywhere. Hawaiian, Mexican, Tandoori, Kadai, Pepperoni, Vegetarian, you name it, I'll eat it (though i do have my favorites.) So when we decided it was time, thin crust it was going to be. CHEESY it was goin to be (forgive the pun). MEATY it was going to be.
Making a pizza is fairly easy. A tad long, but easy. Here' how you go about making a Thin Crust Half-Wheat Pizza.

What stands between you and gluttony: 1 hour and thirty minutes and the following ingredients:
Pizza dough:
1 3/4 teaspoons of dry yeast

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

1 3/4 cup flour (i decided to get cocky and give my pizza a healthy, oxymoronic twist by making it a mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Procedure:

Combine the dry yeast, the sugar and the luke warm water. Careful, you do not want to over combine it. Let it sit for half an hour, or till it froths up.

Sift the salt with the flour.
Pour the water combination into the bowl and mix until ready to knead. Knead the dough and make a ball of sorts. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Leave it on for half an hour.

At this point, pre-heat your oven to around 220 degrees.

Roll out the dough with your rolling pin, or better still, flatten it out by grasping it lightly at the top of the edge. Start rotating the dough and go all the way around. Stretch it to form a 14" circle. (People who make chappatis will know what i am talking about.)
Beeeep!! Remember to prick your pizza with a fork around the centre of the base.
Pre-bake this base in the pre-heated oven for about 5-6 minutes.
Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool before loading it with the stuff your dreams are made of.
(If any dough remains, dont worry about it, you can freeze it and use it later).

Pizza sauce:
Blanch and blend 6-7 tomatoes. Finely chop two small sized onions and 4 pods of garlic and sauté it in extra virgin olive oil till transparent. Add seasoning. (By that, i mean, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and the italian 'erbs, or if you do not have that handy, the oregano stash that came along with the store bought pizzas last month should also do). Mix in the blended tomato pureé and about 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce if you can lay your hands on any.
Add a dash of red wine vinegar, just to feel like Jamie Oliver and to give the sauce a twist.
Let that simmer and cook for twelve to fifteen minutes at the end of which you will notice that the sauce has reduced.

Now, back to the base.
Brush your base with extra virgin olive oil followed by a generous coating of your pizza sauce.
Start layering your ingredients. It is purely left to your imagination, but the code prescribes: 'Cheese - Meat - More Cheese - More meat' (ok, and some veggies to complete the pretty picture and, you guessed it, more cheese). Grate mozzarella cheese (we also add some grated Amul cheese cubes... works wonders). Onion rings, diced peppers for the colours, black olives, corn, mushroom, grilled baby tomatoes et al are some options. If you are willing to experiment with the non-vegetarian version, try salami, cubed sausages, chunks of chicken, pieces of bacon, ham, pork pepperoni etc... (wicked, wicked smile). If you want to go easy on the conscience and adopt the middle path, you could try a combination of both.
Pop it back into the oven and bake at 180 degrees for fifteen-twenty minutes or till done. Remove from oven when the cheese has bubbled and the house emanates of fresh pizza.
and Viola!! Buon appetito!

P.S: Let the pizza cool before cutting and serving it.

From one baker to another: When you are rolling/flattening out your dough, make sure it's amply floured and non-sticky. That adds to the flavor and makes life a lot easier when you are removing your pizza from the oven and transferring it to the serving pan.

Stay tuned for more: We'll be doing the classic Devil' Food Cake with Ganache in our next post. Yaay!!