Delicious Veggie Pizza

Now doesn't that make your mouth water?

OOOOOHHHHHHH Pizza! The mere sound of it makes my mouth water! I LOVE pizza….can't explain to what degree and magnitude!

Me being the cook-from-scratch kind of gal, have been making the dough myself for sometime now, instead of the ‘Boboli ready made’ crust. In fact, I have never bought the ready made crust. I improve on the technique every time I make the dough at home. I am still learning.

The pizza dough recipe is pretty simple. Here is the recipe linked or here it is below (in case the link is broken).

Ingredients

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water- microwave a cup of water for a minute or so.
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, and 1 tbsp or more for dusting

In a big bowl (plastic or glass), combine water, sugar and yeast. Stir gently and let it sit for about 5 min, until foamy. DO NOT USE METAL objects like a stainless steel spoon or a bowl. Metal inhibits enzyme production. Yeast produces the enzyme Amylase, helping it rise.

Now add salt, olive oil, and about half of the flour and knead well. Now add the rest of the flour slowly and knead well into a ball. This dough should be elastic. Add some more olive oil if the dough is too dry or alternatively, add some flour if too wet. Knead for about 5 more minutes

Lightly oil the same bowl and place the dough in it. Turn the dough to coat it with oil. Slightly cover it with a damp (NOT wet) kitchen towel and let it sit for an hour, until it doubles in size. This is a basic pizza dough recipe.

Once the dough is ready, divide it into 4 equal balls and let it sit 15min while you chop the veggie toppings. I happen to have green pepper, eggplant, basil, green onion and cheddar/mozzarella cheese blend at home. You can use any combination of veggie and cheese to suit your taste buds.

Veggie Pizza

1.5 cup Marinara/Pizza sauce- home made or store bought

1 medium bell pepper, diced

A bunch of green onion, sliced (the white and the green stem)

½ Italian eggplant, diced

5-6 basil leaves- chiffonade (a fancy term for cut in ribbons)

Italian seasoning, as needed

All purpose flour, as needed

Veggie toppings

Pre heat oven to 400F.

On a clean working space, sprinkle 1 tbsp flour. Now, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is ¼” thick. Do not worry about the ‘roundness’ of the dough. It will come with practice. If you want a think crust pizza, like I do, thin it out a bit more. Take care not to tear the dough by over-working it.

Now spread 1-2 tbsp pizza sauce on the pizza. I like mine with plenty of sauce. Top it with the diced veggies, basil and cheese. Sprinkle with cheese on top, about 2 tbsp, depending on how much you love cheese.

Repeat the same with the other 3 dough balls. Top with veggies and cheese.

Before the pizza goes into the oven.

Bake for about 10-13min until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly and melted. Voila, veggie, pizza. NOW---DEVOUR!

Variation:

I sometimes saute a cup of chopped onion, carmelise (means cooking onions in oil with no salt unti it turns golden brown and sweet!) it and top it on the pizza. YUMMY!

I almost always use feta cheese with Greek-style toppings like olives, basil, cherry tomatoes, spinach. A Greek salad on the pizza! I also love goat cheese instead of mozarella.

Try spreading pesto or hummus for a true, unique Mediterranean feast!