Pizza fever
Ask anyone about their favourite fast food, and be prepared for one of two answers; burgers, or the mouth-wateringly genius creation that is the pizza. You want cheesy, spicy, veggie, tons of meat, you name it, and there is probably a pizza out there for it. This week, try out these extremely crowd favourite versions of our beloved pizza; let the feast commence.
CAJUN SPICE PIZZA
Ingredients
For the dough
3½ cup flour
1 cup or more water
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
For the Cajun spice
2 big onions
2 bulbs of garlic
1 large ginger
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp black pepper
For the sauce
¼ cup tomatoes, crushed
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp Cajun spice
½ tsp salt
For toppings
200gm chicken breast
1/3 bell peppers, chopped
¼ mushrooms
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 tsp Cajun spice
Method
For the dough
Make sure the water is lukewarm. You will know the water is just at the right temperature when you will dip your finger in and feel that the water is warm, but not hot. Then, put in the yeast and sugar and let it sit for 5 minutes. Make a pit in the flour and pour in the water, oil and salt. Then start kneading. Additional flour and water might be needed to bring the dough together. Cover the dough with oil and put cling film over the bowl and let it sit at a warm place for a couple of hours, or overnight for best results.
For Cajun spice
Chop the garlic, ginger and onion into tiny little pieces and let them dry in the sun for a few days, or just simply place them on top of your oven, heat your oven up to the highest setting and you will have dried onions, garlic and ginger in 2 hours. Then, take a blender/grinder/food processor and blitz all the dry ingredients into powder and your house will be filled with the tantalising aroma of spices. Sieve the powder a few times to get rid of the big chunks. To the fresh powder, add all the other ingredients and your Cajun spice is ready.
For sauce
Heat your saucepan to medium heat, and put all the ingredients in. Stir the sauce a few times and make adjustments if needed. Bring the sauce up to a boil. When the sauce gets quite thick, take it off the heat.
For toppings
Heat your oven up to highest heat, and knock the air out of the dough, and roll it out into your desired size. At first, put the sauce on, then a layer of mozzarella cheese. Since its a Cajun spice pizza, toss the chicken in Cajun spice, then put them on the pizza. After that, just go crazy with the ingredients and put them all on. You don't have to follow the measurements for toppings as you can be very generous with them. Just make sure to put the oregano and dried basil at the end. Bake the pizza for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how you like your pizza. I like mine when the cheese on top turns into a golden brown colour.
VEGETARIAN PIZZA
For the dough
3½ cup flour
1 cup or more water
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup oil
For the sauce
¼ cup tomatoes, crushed
1 tbsp tomato puree
½ tsp garlic paste
½ tsp ginger paste
½ tsp salt
For the toppings
2-3 baby corns
¼ cup mushrooms
Few rings of onion
Few black/green olives
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 tsp oregano
Method
For the dough
Make sure the water is lukewarm. You will know the water is just at the right temperature when you will dip your finger in and feel that the water is warm, but not hot. Then, put in the yeast and sugar and let it sit for 5 minutes. Make a pit in the flour and pour in the water, oil and salt. Then start kneading. Additional flour and water might be needed to bring the dough together. Cover the dough with oil and put cling film over the bowl and let it sit at a warm place for a couple of hours, or overnight for best results.
For the sauce
Heat your saucepan to medium heat, and put all the ingredients in. Stir the sauce a few times and make adjustments if needed. Bring the sauce up to a boil. When the sauce gets quite thick, take it off the heat.
For the toppings
Heat your oven up to highest heat and knock the air out of the dough and roll it out into your desired size. At first, put the sauce on, followed by a layer of mozzarella cheese. Then, place all the toppings one after another. Finish off by sprinkling some dried basil leaves and oregano. Bake the pizza for 15-20 minutes.
MEAT LOVERS PIZZA
Ingredients
For the dough
3½ cup flour
1 cup or more water
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup oil
For the sauce
¼ cup tomatoes, crushed
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp salt
For the toppings
200gm chicken breast
7 pieces or more beef pepperoni
2 chicken/beef sausages
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil leaves
Method
For the dough
Make sure the water is lukewarm. You will know the water is just at the right temperature when you will dip your finger in and feel that the water is warm, but not hot. Then, put in the yeast and sugar and let it sit for 5 minutes. Make a pit in the flour and pour in the water, oil and salt. Then start kneading. Additional flour and water might be needed to bring the dough together. Cover the dough with oil and put cling film over the bowl and let it sit at a warm place for a couple of hours, or overnight for best results.
For the sauce
Heat your saucepan to medium heat, and put all the ingredients in. Stir the sauce a few times and make adjustments if needed. Bring the sauce up to a boil. When the sauce gets quite thick, take it off the heat.
For the toppings
Heat your oven up to highest heat, and knock the air out of the fluffed up dough, and make sure to roll it out into shape. First off, put the sauce on, followed by a layer of mozzarella cheese. Then place all the toppings, one after another. Finish off by sprinkling some dried basil leaves and oregano. Bake the pizza for 15-20 minutes.
By Tanisha Tanzia
Photo: Tanisha Tanzia