Whole Wheat Bread Sandwich Pizza

Whole Wheat Bread Sandwich Pizza 

Ingredients 

1. Whole wheat bread slices 4

2. Garlic 5-6

3. Oil 4 tbsp 

4. Parsley 2 tbsp 

5. Mozzarella cheese shredded 3 tbsp plus 4 tbsp(2 tbsp on each sandwich)

6. 4 tbsp cream cheese or mayonnaise 

7. 1/2 tsp chilli garlic sauce or salsa

8. 1 cup finely chopped vegetables of your choice(I added onions, yellow capsicum & pineapple)

9. Sliced jalapeno for topping 8 slices

10. Salt to taste 

11. Black pepper powder 1/4 tsp 

12. Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp

13. Pizza sauce 4 tsp

14. Red chilli flakes for sprinkling

15. Parchment paper/butter paper

Method Of Preparation 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F

2. In a blender add garlic, oil & parsley & salt & blend everything together to make a puree & keep it aside in a bowl.

3. Take 4 bread slices & smear the puree on one side of all the four slices & place one bread on top of the other(like a sandwich) & make 2 sandwiches.

4. Take a baking tray & line it with parchment paper/butter paper.

5. Place the sandwich on the bread & put it in the oven for 6-7 minutes until the bottom becomes light brown & crisp. Do not burn the bottom. If your using white bread, you might want to keep it only for less than 5 minutes. Before putting the sandwich into the oven, smear some puree on top of both the sandwiches.

6. In the meantime, in a bowl, add mayonnaise or cream cheese, Italian seasoning, black pepper powder, salsa or chilli garlic sauce, salt, 3 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese & the finely chopped vegetables & mix everything together & set it aside.

7. Take the sandwich out of the oven after 5 minutes & on the top, smear the pizza sauce first & then add the mayonnaise- vegetable mixture & top it with 4 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese(2 tbsp on each sandwich) & place 4 jalapeno slices on the top of each sandwich.

8. Put it back in the oven & bake it for 5 more minutes or until the cheese on top completely melts.

9. Take it out of the oven & sprinkle red chilli flakes & slice each sandwich into two halves & serve it hot.

Notes 

1. Do not add water while blending the garlic, oil & parsley. 

2. You can replace the puree with pesto sauce or green chutney. 

3. You can adjust the quantity of mayonnaise & shredded cheese & other spices as per your choice. You may increase the quantity of cream cheese or mayo & reduce the quantity of veggies.

4. If there is left over mayonnaise & vegetable mixture, you can use it to make pizza paratha or sandwich.

5. Be careful while adding salt to the mixture as cheese already has salt in it.

Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza

Ingredients 

1. For The Dough

A. All Purpose Flour 31/2 cups

B. Active Dry Yeast 21/4 tsp

C. Water 1 cup plus 51/2 tbsp

D. Salt 3/4 tsp

E. Sugar 1 tbsp

F. Olive Oil 3 tbsp plus 1 tbsp 

G. Corn meal for dusting 

2. For The Toppings

A. Veggies Of Your Choice( I added pineapple chunks, mushrooms, spinach, bell peppers & jalapeños)

B. Olive Oil for brushing 

C. Pizza Sauce 

D. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Method Of Preparation 

1. In a bowl, add sugar & yeast. To it, add lukewarm water. Give it a stir & then leave it aside in a warm place, preferably, your microwave for about 10 minutes for proofing the yeast. 

2. When you take it out of the oven after 10 minutes, the yeast should have frothed. If you don't see any froth & if the yeast isn't dissolved in the water, then you will have to discard it & start all over again. 

3. While the yeast is proofing, you may add flour, salt & oil into a large bowl. Once you take the yeast mixture out of the oven, add it to the flour & mix everything together & form a dough.

4. Put this dough on ur countertop & knead it really well for 15 minutes. You know your dough is ready when you poke it with your finger & it bounces back. If it doesn't, then keep kneading for sometime more. Shape the dough into a smooth ball without any cracks.

5. Oil the sides of a large bowl & also oil the dough a little & place the dough into it & wrap it up tight with a cling wrap & put it in a warm environment, preferable your microwave. 

6. Let the dough remain there for 11/2 - 2 hours. When you take it out, you will see that the dough has doubled or tripled in size.

7. Punch the dough down to release the air in it. 

8. Shape the dough into a log & using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the dough into two parts. I made a small pizza & an extra large pizza. You can cut it into two equal halves if you wish to.

9. Again shape each half into a smooth ball & cover it & let it rise for another 30 minutes in your microwave oven or any warm place.

10. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 475 F

11. Dust the pizza peel with corn meal.

12. Take the dough balls out of the oven & punch down the air, if there is any & make the surface of the ball is smooth. Coat both the sides of the balls with corn meal & then start flattening out the pizza. There should not be any cracks on the pizza base.

13. Using your hand, flatten & stretch the dough till you get a round pizza. Do not flatten it too thin. Let the base be a little thick. Using  your hand to flatten the dough makes the base of the pizza perfect.

14. Using your hand, raise the edges a little to create a rim around the edges of the pizza. 

15. Before you spread the pizza sauce on the base, using a pastry brush, apply oil. This prevents the center of the pizza from becoming soggy when you add the cheese & the veggies.( I realized that I forgot to apply oil only when I dropped a teaspoon of sauce on the base, so just ignore the sauce on it :-) ).

16. Using your fingers or a fork, make dents on the base of the pizza. This is done to prevent bubbling. Now let the pizza rest for 10 minutes before you add the sauce. 

17. After 10 minutes, apply the pizza sauce. Spread some cheese on it.

18. Then add the veggies on it. When you add the veggies just press them a little into the base so that they don't come out when you slice the pizza.

19. Top it with more cheese. 

20. Slide the pizza from the pizza peel onto the crisper & place it in the middle rack of the oven & bake for 12 minutes. You need to bake till the crust starts turning brown. My oven took 12 minutes to get it done. Each oven differs so keep an eye.

21. After the 12th minute, I put the pizza on the top rack of the oven & changed the oven mode to 'Broil' & broiled it for almost a minute with the door(of the oven) ajar, till the cheese got browned here & there. You really need to be really careful not to burn the pizza. 

22. Take it out when done & sprinkle red chilli flakes & using a pizza cutter, slice the pizza & serve hot.

Notes

1. Once you cut the dough into two halves, if you do not wish to use it up right away, you may oil the dough & wrap one half in a cling wrap & pop it in the freezer. It stays good for a month. You need to thaw it well before you use it to make the pizza. 

How To Thaw Your Pizza Dough

Take it out from the freezer & leave it in the refrigerator overnight & then the next day, leave it on your countertop for 30 minutes before baking.

2. Using olive oil definitely gives the pizza a better taste.

3. Use only lukewarm water. Do not use hot water, as it will kill the yeast & then your pizza is definitely not going to turn out good. If at all, you see your yeast hasn't frothed after 10 minutes, please discard it & start again. 

4. Before your put your pizza into the oven, you need to make sure that your oven is really really hot so you need to pre heat it for a good 25-30 minutes. 

5. If you do not have a pizza peel, you can flatten the dough directly on a baking sheet. I used a pizza crisper to bake my pizza. You may use a baking sheet, pizza crisper or a pizza stone to bake the pizza. If your using a pizza stone, make sure to pre heat the stone too. In that case, you need to slide the pizza from the peel onto the stone in the oven.

6. Do not use a rolling pin to flatten your pizza dough. Use your hand to do it. 

7. You really need to knead the dough for a good 15 minutes. Kneading the dough well is the first step to a good pizza. If your using a mixer to knead the dough, then probably 10 minutes of kneading should be enough. 

8. Dusting with corn meal is very important for the base of your pizza to turn out nice & crisp.

9. If you don't know how to smoothen the dough balls without any cracks, it's like this.

            a. You need to pinch the sides of the dough & tuck it to the bottom. Keep doing this a couple of time & then smoothen it out further on your countertop.

10. Please make sure that the cheese comes to room temperature before adding it.

Whole Wheat Stove Top Cheesy Pizza

Whole Wheat Stove Top Cheesy Pizza

Ingredients 

1. Whole Wheat Flour or All Purpose Flour 1 cup

2. Baking Powder 1 tsp

3. Rapid Rise Yeast 1 tsp

4. Honey 1 tsp

5. Salt a pinch

6. Lukewarm Water 2/3 cup

Toppings

1. Veggies Of Your Choice. I added mushrooms, yellow capsicums, olives, jalapeños & red onions 

2. Any shredded cheese of your choice. I added cheddar cheese but mozzarella is preferred.

3. Pizza Sauce. I substituted pizza sauce with ketchup & sriracha sauce.

Method Of Preparation

1. In a bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt, yeast & honey.

2. Now add the lukewarm water & mix it really well.

3. Take a 10" non stick pan & put it on the gas on a flame that is a little lower than low.

4. Now spread the dough on the pan using a ladle or your hands.

5. Once you spread the dough, spread the pizza sauce on it.

6. Top it off with the veggies & cheese.

7. Now increase the flame from very low to low & cover it with a lid & cook for 5 minutes.

8. After 5 minutes, let the flame stay on low & while the lid is still on, just open it a little so that the steam escapes through it(see picture #4) & cook for another 10 minutes.

9. Open the lid. Turn off the gas. Your stove top pizza is ready.

10. Remove from the skillet/tawa. Sprinkle red chilli flakes on it & serve hot.

                                                    The pizza dough/base

                                The dough spread on the tawa & pizza sauce on it

                                                Veggies & cheese toppings

                After 5 minutes, open the lid a little so that steam escapes through it

Notes:

1. Use a non stick pan to make this pizza. Use a pan that is in a good condition. Your pizza will stick to the pan if your using a pan that is not in a good condition.

2. For a healthier version, I have used whole wheat flour. You can use maida/all purpose flour for a more tastier pizza.

3. Do not add hot water to the flour. Use only lukewarm water.

4. Remember to turn the flame a little lower than low while you spread the dough & add the toppings & then turn the flame to low & cover with a lid & cook. Do not do this with your gas turned off. Your pizza will not turn out good then. 

5. Do not overload the pizza with too many veggies. 

Stuffed Pizza Paratha

Stuffed Pizza Paratha

Ingredients 

A. Ingredients & method of preparation of chappati dough is given here

B. Ingredients For The Filling 

1. Sweet corn kernels 1/4 cup

2. Paneer mashed 1/4 cup

3. Jalapeños sliced 10

4. Black olives 8

5. Red onions 1/2 cup

6. Black pepper 1 tsp

7. Salt to taste 

8. Shredded mozzarella cheese 11/2 cup

9. Italian seasoning 1 tsp

10. Red chilli flakes 1 tsp

C. Ingredients For The Sauce

1. Chipotle Mayo 3/4 cup

2. Honey Mustard Sauce 1 cup

D. Ingredients For Cooking The Paratha

1. Oil 

Method Of Preparation

A. For The Filling

1. In a bowl add all the ingredients under "B" & using a spoon, mix well & set it aside.

B. For The Sauce

1. In a bowl mix both the ingredients under "C" & keep it aside.

C. For The Paratha 

1. Take two lime sized balls from the dough & using a rolling pin, roll out two chappatis.

2. On one of them, apply the sauce & spread the filling & cover this with the other rolled out chappati.

3. Press down to seal the edges. Also use a fork to pinch the edges firmly.

4. Dust a little flour on top of the paratha & using a rolling pin, flatten it a little(this step is completely optional)

5. Put this paratha on a hot tawa & cook on one side. When brown spots appear on top, drizzle some oil & flip it over to the other side. Cook the paratha a on medium heat till they become brown & crispy.

6. Once done, remove from the tawa & cut the paratha diagonally into two & serve it hot with the your favorite dip or ketchup.

Notes:

1. Be very careful while adding salt as cheese already has salt in it.

2. You can use any kind of filling you want. You may use pizza/pasta sauce, bechemal sauce, pesto, green chutney or anything of your choice.

3. Do not roll out the chappatis too thick.

4. You can use the veggies of your choice for the filling. 

5. Do not overstuff the paratha with the fillings.

6. While cooking the parathas, gently press them on the edges so that they get cooked evenly.

7. It is important to knead the flour into a soft & smooth dough & let it rest for 15-20 minutes. 

8. If there's left over filling & sauce, then you can use it use it for your sandwiches the next morning :-) it tastes too good.