One of my friends asked me if I am out of Konkani recipes because I am posting these non-Indian dishes continuously. No, don’t worry, I won’t run out of Indian recipes even if I write a post everyday for next 10 years(I am not exaggerating) and I am not even counting my experimental recipes. Many of my readers asked for this pizza recipe, so I thought of finally posting it.
Last few weeks, I have been experimenting a lot on pizzas. I tasted pizza for the first time at my aunt’s place in Belgaum. When I was studying in engineering college, I used to go to their house very frequently. One night, she had baked pizzas for dinner. That being my first time, I didn’t even know how to eat it. On the dining table, both my cousins(who are very younger to me), uncle and aunt were using their knives and forks to cleanly cut the pizza into small pieces. I was very nervous because I didn’t know how to use a knife :(. Then my cousin felt bad at my plight and he helped me. It was a “love at first bite” :).
After that we regularly started going to a bakery nearby our hostel to eat pizzas. After I moved to Bangalore, somehow I started hating them. The main reason was, I was working in a software company. Our first project needed all of us to work day and night (night literally meant, we used to work throughout night). On these days and on the weekends when we had to work (which was almost every weekend), people used to order pizzas for lunch & dinner. It continued till all the 30 people in the project had already eaten enough pizzas for one lifetime. If anyone suggested pizza, we would all get ready to attack that person :D.
So for almost 2 years, I never touched any pizza. Then one day, my cousin from Belgaum visited us. He wanted to eat in Pizza Corner. I was surprised that one large size pizza costed us 600Rs+. I vowed that day, never to keep my foot again in Pizza Corner :).
When I got married, I soon realized, hubby was a great fan of pizzas. Now we settled on Dominos. Somehow we always liked Dominos. When we came to USA, we are now back to Pizza Hut, but in Bangalore, we definitely prefer Dominos.
Initially when I started making pizzas at home, I always used ready made pizza base. But from last 1 year, I have not bought any base. I always made it at home. Initially I used to make the base with all purpose flour. But these days, I make wheat flour base for my pizzas. I also add few dried herbs which makes the base very tasty. I have experimented a lot with different toppings, different sauces etc. The one which I am posting below is my favorite one. Every time I bake a pizza, I make slight changes to it so that we don’t get bored of it.
Ingredients for Wheat base:
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 tea spn active dry yeast or 1 tea spn(5gms) fresh yeast
Water
1/2 tea spn sugar
1/2 tea spn salt
1/2 tea spn Italian seasoning (a mixture of different dried herbs)
Extra vergin olive oil
Method:
In about 1/4 cup of warm water, add sugar and salt. (I usually heat water for 10secs in my ancient microwave). Add the yeast, slightly give a shake to the bowl and leave it for about 5mins. By this time the yeast starts working and you can see a kind of froth.
Now add flour, Italian seasoning and make it into a dough (of about chapathi dough consistency). Add more water if necessary. Pour some olive oil and mix well.
Cover the dough with a damp muslin cloth. I usually leave it as it is without covering, in a warm place. I usually start the microwave for 10secs, stop it and leave the dough there just to keep the dough warm. Leave the dough for 10mins. The dough increases to about double the volume in this time. If the dough is of same size as you started, then there is something wrong and you might want to leave the dough in a warm place for a little more time.
Press the dough to remove air. Roll the dough into a round using a rolling pin or just spread with fingers.
Prick the base with a knife/fork at few places.
Drizzle a little olive oil on top. Bake it in a preheated(heated to 300F for 10mins) oven for about 5-8mins at 300 F. I bake the base just to make sure even baking.
Toppings:
1 and 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 tea spn finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup onion cut into thin slices
1/4 cup capsicum cut into thin slices
1 tea spn chopped fresh basil leaves or about 1/4 tea spn Italian seasoning
1/4 cup fresh/canned pineapple
2 tbl spn chopped olives
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Pepper
Salt
Method:
Preheat the oven at 450F for about 10mins.
Spread marinara sauce on the base. Spread all the vegetables on top.
Spread the mozzarella cheese on top.
Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Spread Italian seasoning or basil, garlic on top.
Bake it in oven at 450F till the cheese is melted.(about 12-15mins)
Serve hot.
Serves : 2
PS:
– I added ricotta cheese while taking above picture. I saw this in one of the Italian restaurants. I had this cheese with me, so added a little to the pizza. It tasted great.
– I like the fresh basil more than the dried herbs, it is very fragrant.
– Once I added crushed tomato on top instead of marinara sauce. I liked that taste too. I made marinara sauce at home once with Giada’s recipe, it tasted great. I sometimes buy ready made marinara sauce and use it when I am in hurry.
– Toppings can be used according to your choice. I don’t add mushrooms because my hubby is not very fond of them. But they taste great too. I sometimes slightly fry the onions and capsicums in olive oil before adding them to pizza.
– I add the garlic and herbs on top to give extra flavor to the pizza.
All said and done, please keep in mind, this is how I do veggie pizzas and in noway I am saying this is the ‘real’ and final version of it. There might be hundreds of different varieties people make and they may all taste great and be called the ‘real veggie pizzas’. I shall keep on improving and experimenting even with this version that I’ve posted and hope to get to the ‘real’, if there is one. Hope you all give this version a try and see if you like it.
Shilpa, that looks delish. I bet your house smells yummy too, when this pizza is in the oven!
Shilpa: Yes, the smell that comes of oven when pizza is baking is something amazing. I love it :).
Hi Shilpa,
Looks wonderful. My husband also makes pizza but the dough is brought from Trader Joe’s. Your whole wheat flour dough is really healthy. I will try making it.
Shilpa: Meera, try making the dough at home sometime. It turns out great because it is so fresh and you can control the taste of it.
Looks very tasty. And I never ever eat pizza with knife and fork. That such spoils the toppings:)
Shilpa: hahaha..I tried to use knife and fork few times Swpna. After that I gave up on them, even though I can use them very efficiently now, I don’t like to use them. I like to use natural forks 😉
Home made pizza sounds delicious….i not that kinda pizza lover…still like to have smetime….my hubby too loves it…thanku for sharing…..
Shilpa: Remya, try this recipe and I am sure you will love it :).
Delicious-looking pizza Shilpa, and what a ROUND crust!! The Italians would be jealous… 😉
I make a very similar pizza at home now and then- I had a friend who, like you, loved pineapple on pizza, but me? Just lots of green chiles! 🙂
Shilpa: ThankU thankU :). Chilies?? are you sure you won’t pur peanut chutney powder on pizza 😉 ?
Thanks a ton Shilpa, for posting the pizza dough recipe. My elder son is a pizza freek and can have it forever. What is marinara sauce. Is it used only for pizza. I have got bottles of sauce for pasta’s.
I used to make pizza’s at home in Mumbai but the base was different. Never tried the Italian base.
Meera Subbarao – Thanks for mentioning abt Trader Joe having pizza dough. I go to that store at least once a week, but never saw it there. Will check next time.
Shilpa: Aruna, Marinara sauce is the one that is served with breadsticks in most of the pizzahuts. You can use it to dip breadsticks, garlic bread etc too. Soon I am going to post a very delicious soup made of marinara sauce. I like to buy the store bought one instead of making at home because it saves a lot of time. But you can make it at home if you have time. I have given a link to Giada’s marinara sauce recipe in the above post (under PS). Its pretty easy to make but takes a long time. You can make the base without Italian herbs also. I just happen to like the herb taste in base. You can also make the base with half wheat flour and half all purpose flour. I have used the pasta sauce on the pizza sometimes. I liked that taste too.
Great that you make your own pizza dough. Here in Sweden, they eat hamburger with knife and fork. How rude I think to myself, you never get to enjoy that giant bite into a slice of pizza or hamburger as much as when you use just your hands…
Shilpa: Burgers with knife and fork??? Ohh thats so strange :)).
yummy step-by-step pictures, Shilpa! I miss the paneer based pizza that we get in India. Now you’re inspiring me to try it out at home:) Do you also make the sauce at home?
Shilpa: Latha, I normally buy the sauce because it saves time. But if you want to make it, I have mentioned a link to Giada’s marinara sauce in above post(under PS). Have a look. Homemade one tastes great too but just time consuming.
What a delicious pizza! I love them in all forms and especially those with a home made base, thx for the recipe.
Shilpa: Bindiya, do let me know if you try it :).
This is as real as it would get for me, Shilpa. I am inviting myself over :).”Love at first bite indeed”! I use Giada’s recipe too :).
Shilpa: Do you know that I love the part of hostess?? I will be happy if you would come over :).
Shilpa,
Wow..lovely pizza –Shilpa’s Hut/Corner or Simply Shilpa’s..howz the idea?? 😉 .u reminded me of those days when a close family friend used to make pizza (it used to be a pizza party with guys in other room and we wives in the kitchen admiring how pizza is being made! garlic bread too used to be easy with french loaf!!) I shall try it some time in future! Tks for posting!
Shilpa: Hahaha :). I am starting to think to include pizza also in my bakery menu ;). No, I don’t have a bakery, but I keep telling my family that I will start a bakery one day 😀 and they all laugh at me. They say “tey ek karche baaki asa tuve” :)). Let me know if you try this.
I loved the colors on the uncooked pizza before putting the cheese. Thanks for the recipe. I was looking fo rone pizza recipe these days.
Shilpa, I will definitely try your recipe for the dough. It is exactly like chapthi dough, expect that you add yeast, am I correct?
Aruna, they have whole wheat dough, Herb dough and the normal one. Each one of them is for just 99 cents. We buy all 3 varieties every week.
Shenga chatni pitto on pizza is a good idea…but then I would bake the crust plain first, then spread it with cream cheese/hung yoghurt cheese and then the powder…actually, I admit to making toasted-bread sandwiches like this! 😀
Thanks Shilpa…I saw your link to marinara sauce. I will check in Trader Joe’s or Costco, else will try myself at home. My son loves pizza very much.
YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Silpa,
This is the first time Iam posting a comment on your site.Iam a regular visitor to your site.
Your site is different. It makes me feel like I have come home. Its radiating so much warmth and love. The description that you gives for each post is great!
Your Pizza post looks great.Will try that soon.!
Shilpa,
Is it compulsary to use olive oil or any other oil will also do? please clarify. this one i definitely want to give a try.
Shilpa: Gauri, in Italian cooking, usually olive oil is used. It is also very good for health, so whenever suggested, I used olive oil. But if you don’t have it, may be you can try using some other oil. But do not use any strong oils like coconut oil which might over power the taste. I have used vegetable oil or peanut oil in dough when I was not having olive oil.
its look nice i will try this thanks for recipe
Shilpa, your pizza looks delish! We are posting ours, inspired by u’r post. Let us know what u think.
Hi Shilpa,
Can you please tell me what is this “active dry yeast” and from where I can get it or any alternative of this in. First and last time I tried pizza base I put baking powder in the maida but it doesn’t increase in size even though i kept it in open for 10 hrs.It will be really beneficial for me if you can explain the mode in the microwave also like when to use convection mode and when to use micro mode and give me the step by step deyail.
Thanks in advance,
Dilpreet
Shilpa: Dilpreet, yeast is available in any supermarkets/grocery stores in baking food isle. If you are in India, it is available in super markets like food world etc. If dry yeast is not available, use fresh yeast. 1 tea spn dry yeast = 2 tea spns of fresh one.
Microwave option is used for reheating and cooking any food. Convention option is used for baking cakes, breads etc. For more details, use the manual that comes with microwave, each microwave is different, so I cannot give you any more details.
Hi shilpa,
Can i make this pizza in the microven pls let me know. If so let me know how many minutes i have to bake it.
Thanks,
Gita
Shilpa: Sorry Gita, I never tried baking pizza in microwave.
My name is abhi and i m a shef in Chandigarh. I like your this recipe of Pizza so much. It is so much easy to make.
Thank you for giving us easy and simple way to make pizza……
Hi shilpa,
Can i use steamed wheat flour for this?
Shilpa: Sorry, I haven’t tried it. You need to try it out.
Shilpa this looks yummy! My son loves Pizzza and I’ve always used store bought bases … am definitely going to try this recipe, especially for the home made base.
Hey this site is great……i have food problems i like only pizzas and stuff so i convinced my mom to make this…..lets see how it turns out……the spicy potato starter was great!……..lets try to keep this forum active!
hi
i hv been lookin ard for a pizza base recipe for sum time nw…n i just wanna say thnx for this recipe…im gonna try it out 2day itself ..il let u know hw it turns out…wish me luck 🙂
one doubt..is wheat flour same as maida?or all purpose flour?
Shilpa: Wheat flour(atta) is different from maida or all purpose flour.
hi shilpa,
thnx for the info…..but since i dint hv any wheat flour at home i tried ur recipe vit all purpose flour and it came out grt!!! my hubby luved it…thnx for ur recipe…this one is getting bookmarked!!:D
hi,just now saw the recipe of pizza,….yummy ,seems to be very tasty… but a doubt ,baking at 350 F for how many minutes…after baked immediately can we remove from the oven,or not.just clarify our doubts..
Shilpa: Kanthi, I recently found out that, baking pizza at 500F for 10mins gives best results(I was experimenting with different temperatures for last few months). I forgot to update this post. Will do it now.
hallo shilpa,
thank u very much for a very prompt reply.one more thing to ask….i have microwave in india, can we prepare in this…or else,if we can prepare on gas stove like uthappam is it possible for those who dont have ovens …just clarifying…
Dear,
Actually I want to make pizza at home only. But I couldn’t understand your recipe properly perhaps it is in English language so please if possible forward me your recipe in Hindi language only for pizza.
Many thanks in advance.
This recipe is very good. I will try it once.
hi shilpa,
…accidentally bumped into your site…was looking for a batata wada recipe..found it will try it. I was browsing through you site ..the posted comments brought back memories …of amchi mumbai….
The pizza looks yummy. The advantage with a home baked pizza is that you can add the veggies of your choice and add as much cheese as required. Would like to know if I can substitute pizza flour for wheat flour? If yes, do I have to add baking powder and yeast to the pizza flour, and how much?
Shilpa: I normally replace all purpose flour with same amount of wheat flour. Nothing extra added. But wheat makes it more dense.
I keep trying ure recipes very often since i came across ure website. ure just awesome. AWESOME RECIPES< AWESOME U. Thank u for sharing.
Do you have anymore pizza recipees.
If you do please send a few to my email id.
Thanks ATHREYA
Hi Shilpa,
I had tried this Pizza the other day. The crust came out perfect. Only problem was with the yeast used. Though it was not expired it had some weird smell. But otherwise the dough rose well and it came out great too. I have to try with fresh yeast next time
tugil hai pizza recipe bare asa!!!! its really great of you .. now its seems that I don’t need to spend any more money for buying those expensive pizzas but can try our own pizza at home..
thank you very much!!!
hi shilpa,
yesterday i made pizzas for the first time,it came out excellent..my husband liked it too.. thanks for sharing the recipe
great recipe. I love pizzas. I want the recipe for rice pizza. I had it a small village in gujrat. Rice and vegetables on a thick crust pizza. Delicious. Thankyou.
Hey Shilpa… I made pizza yesterday for a picnic and it was a big hit! Thanks for sharing this recipe.. its wonderful 🙂
I’ve been cooking just from thepast 6 months…..i tried this pizza today…..it was delicious just like from pizza hut……Thanks shilpa……i’m becoming a very confident cook becoz of your recipies
Is that whole wheat flour?
Shilpa: Use any wheat flour
hi shilpa,
long back i tried this in US it came delicious but now iam syaying in india .we didn’t have oven can i do pizza in microoven.is it possible.
thanks
Shilpa: Yes
This is looking very nice and yummy.
Thankes Shilpa
Hello Shilpa,
I frequently go through your cooking blog.. and I love all you recipes. Have tried a few of them myself too..
This pizza base recipe looks great.. I am looking forward to try it. I always used to buy pizza base from Giant ..and have tried a few nonveg toppings .. and my husband is a great fan of those inidanized piizaas.. I always make chicken kheema pizza (my mother-in-law used to make long ago) .. and recently i tried Tandoori chocken pizza ..both come out wonderfully well.. I will now make bas eat home. If u need to ask me anything abt these non-veg pizzas do mail me..
Hey Shilpa,
I want to know which whole wheat flour you use for the recipe. Is it the regular chapati flour or do you get the whole wheat flour used especially for baking?
Please let me know if possible. Thanks !!!
I used chapati flour
Hey Shilpa,
Lovely recipes….
I am big fan of pizza.. and I want to try this particular recipe… I had one quick question- Can you mention the brand of Italian seasoning u used. Or can I use any brand? I have one brand at home but it kind of tastes wierd very strong…
Thanks,
Swarada.
You can use any brand of Italian seasoning.
THIS RECEPIE IS AMAZING
Hi Shilpa,
Fantastic blog. Love your recipes, your explanations and the photographs. One question about the pizza… if I were to double the wheat flour how much yeast would I have to use?
Please let me know.
I don’t know much about baking. So I usually double all the ingredients when I want to make double the quantity
Hmm yummy. Vegetable Pizza is my favorite Meal. Thanks for introducing it. I will try it.
Hi Shilpa,
When you bake the pizza in the oven, do you put it on a foil or directly put it on the grill????
When I buy frozen pizzas I directly put it on the grill but I would prefer a foil so could you please clarify.
Thanks
Jigna
I keep it on pizza stone or on cookie sheet.
actully i don’t know how to make pizza,that’s why i open this wsite……..thanx to showing my racipe of pizza……becoz of u i can learn……….but i want to ask one qns i have to sperd cheez firstly or last??????/
I normally put it last as shown in pictures
its excellent madame… i have jus now returned frm france and your pizzas are really in french taste….
your website for cooking is awesome,people who doesn’t know cooking can also do the cooking,because of the picture provide step by step which is really helpful!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you also provide a recipe for candied ginger and gooseberries Please ??.
is wheat flour same as whole wheat flour
You can use any kind of wheat flour for this
hai dear,
can u tel me how can i bake dis pizza in microwave?pls
I followed the recipe and made pizza for my family today. It came out very nice. Thank you for sharing with us .