Homemade Pizza + Pizza Sauce

Like many people, I also used to be intimidated by the thought of making yeast-doughs once. I will admit that making some yeasted doughs can be a little tricky, but pizza dough is one of the easiest ones out there. It has very simple ingredients and you don't even have to knead it too much. Sure, it will take a couple of hours for the dough to get ready, but it is so worth the wait. Homemade pizza is not only tastier than most store-bought pizzas, it is also healthier (or as healthy as you want it to be). This dough can also be stored easily in the freezer so that you can whip up a delicious pizza pie whenever you get a hankering for it. 

This dough recipe from Susan's Cooking School is really straightforward, but yields amazing results. The recipe for the pizza sauce is my own making - it is a very flavorful sauce with an Indian touch. The spices give it a nice zing, but it is not overpowering at all.

Also, if you're one of the people who want to make pizza but don't have an oven at home, don't worry - I got you :) Check out the steps at the bottom of this post to find out how to make pizza on stovetop.

Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

Sauce (makes enough for two 8 inch pizzas):

• 3 medium sized tomatoes, chopped roughly (or ground into a paste if you want a smoother sauce)
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped roughly (or ground into a paste)
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt as required

Pizza (makes two 8 inch pizzas):

• 1.75 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp oil (for greasing baking pan)
• 200 grams mozzarella, grated
• 1 tbsp parmesan, grated (optional)
• toppings of your choice (I have used sauteed mushrooms, sliced black olives, sliced red onions)

Method:
Sauce:

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Saute the onions until translucent. 
3. Add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.
4. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down.
5. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and cook until the tomatoes are mushy and about 95% of the water has evaporated.
6. Turn off the heat and squeeze in a little bit of lemon juice.
7. Allow to cool.

Pizza:

1.  Mix the sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to proof for 10 minutes or until the mixture is frothy. Make sure the water is just slightly warm. If it is too hot, the yeast will die and if it is too cold, the yeast won't get activated.
2. Once the yeast is proofed, add salt.
3. Add the flour little by little, mixing it well with a spatula before the next addition. 
4. Once the dough becomes too stiff to mix using a spatula, move it to a pastry sheet or work counter.
5. Knead the dough while adding the remaining flour. If the dough is too wet to knead, you can use a little bit of flour for dusting, but not more than a couple of tablespoons. You don't want to dry out the dough too much.
6. Stop kneading once the dough looks smooth and elastic. It will take roughly 10 minutes. The dough should be quite soft and just a little sticky. 
7. Form the dough into a ball. Grease a clean bowl with a little oil and roll the ball of dough in the bowl until is coated with oil. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and allow to rise for an hour.
8. Grease 2 baking trays generously. I used a tablespoon of oil each.
9. Dump the dough into one of the baking trays and separate it into two halves.
10. Move one half of the dough to the other baking tray. Cover both trays with a plastic wrap and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
11. Then use your fingers to gently spread each half of the dough into a disc that is about 8 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch in thickness. You can stretch it further if you like a thinner crust. Don't press too hard while stretching the dough, or your dough might tear or even stick to your pan while baking. If you are finding it difficult to stretch the dough, rest it for another 10 minutes and try again. Resting will relax the gluten strands and will make for easier handling.
12. Once the dough is shaped, spread the sauce on both the pizzas.
13. I added both parmesan and mozzarella because I love the flavor of parmesan. But you can add just mozzarella if you want.
14. Now, add any toppings that you want - be creative and have fun. There are no hard and fast rules to making pizza (although some people - *ahem* haters of pineapple pizza *ahem* - might not agree).
15. Bake your pizza in an oven that is pre-heated to 205 C. The baking time depends on how you like your pizza. If you want a crispy crust, bake for 20 minutes. If, like me, you like it softer, bake it for 15 minutes. If you rolled your crust thin, you might want to reduce the time even further. Experiment with the time and see what you like.
16. And that's it folks!

Steps for making pizza on stovetop:

1. After the first rise is done, separate the dough into 2 halves.
2. Grease a non-stick cooking pan with oil and spread the dough into an 8 inch disc.
3. Place the pan on the stove and cook the crust for a couple of minutes - until slightly browned on the bottom.
4. Flip the crust on the pan.
5. Add the tomato sauce, cheese and toppings.
6. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for a couple of minutes until the cheese is fully melted and the bottom is browned.