Homemade wheat dough Pizza

What could be better on a cold winter night than….Pizza night! It is some work, but it’s so much fun!! 🙂

I tried making the pizza base with whole wheat flour, just to make it a little healthier. You can probably use vegan cheese, if you want to go a step further and make it even healthier. I prefered to stick to plain old shredded mozzarella cheese 🙂

You will need a pizza stone or a pizza pan and a pizza cutter.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (you will need it while kneading the dough)
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 and 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2- 3 cloves of garlic, finely shopped
• 1 green chilly (optional)
• 5 – 6 tomatoes.
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 – 3 sprigs of fresh basil, chopped.
• 1.5  teaspoon red chilly powder.
• 1.5 teaspoons sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons oregano.

Method: 

Dough: 

 

1. Take 1 and 1/2 cups warm water in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon yeast to the water. Cover it and let it rest for 10 – 12 minutes
2. In a large mixing bowl add 3 cups whole wheat flour and 1 teaspoon salt.
3. Once the yeast mixture is frothy after 10 minutes, add it to the flour and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
4. Knead the dough. You can do this by hand or using a stand mixer. I used to only do this by hand earlier. But having recently bought a stand mixer, I kneaded the dough using the stand mixer for the first time yesterday. I would say it made the process a tad bit easier. But towards the end I still had to get my hands in to completely smooth out the dough. Knead for about 10 – 12 minutes to smooth out dough and have all the ingredients well mixed.
5. While kneading, you might sometimes feel that amount of water is more or less. If the water is more, add the 1/2 cup whole wheat flour we had keep separately in the beginning little bit at a time. Just see as you go and make the dough soft and so that it’s not sticking to your hands. Roll into a tight ball.
6. smooth out the dough ball with oil and oil the bowl. Cover with a kitchen napkin and keep in a warm place for an hour to allow it to prove. I usually keep the light on in  the oven and keep the dough inside the oven, so that it gets enough warmth from the light to prove.
7. After an hour, divide the dough into two and make two tight dough balls. Cover and keep booth these for an additional hour to prove.

Sauce:

 

1. First of all boil and peel all the tomatoes. Puree half of them and deseed and chop the other half. I do this, so that the sauce is not all watery, I like to have the sauce a little chunky.
2. Heat some olive oil in a pan
3. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic and saute the garlic till its aromatic and golden brown.
4. Add the chopped onions and green chillies, saute till the onions are golden brown. You can add a bit of salt to the onion to make them cook faster.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes mix with onion and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato puree, 1 teaspoon of red chilly powder, or red chilly flakes to taste, 1.5 teaspoons oregano, salt to taste and 1.5 teaspoons of sugar.Also, add the chopped basil leaves. Mix all the spices well. and allow to cook on medium flame for 5 – 6 minutes till oil start leaving the sides of the mixture.
6. Do a taste test of the sauce and add or other spices that you might like more of.
7. The sauce is now ready!

Assemble to pizza:

1. Take on of the dough ball and roll it out into a large circle on the pizza stone/pan. You can also just flatten the dough out by hand. I do it by hand, because it gives the pizza a nice homemade and rustic feel.  🙂 You can keep the thickness of the pizza as much or as little as you would like. I usually make it a slightly thin crust when I am using wheat dough
2. spread sauce over pizza. put some sliced green bell peppers or any other veggies you might like over the sauce (mushroom, olives, jalapenos, spinach, the options are endless). Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the pizza.
3. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425 for 15 – 18 minutes. Keep a check on the pizza and make sure the cheese on top is not getting too burnt! I forgot to keep a check on mine and the cheese got a little over browned (still awesome tasting though :D).
4. Cut slices with pizza cutter and enjoy!! 🙂

As always please feel free to ask any questions or give suggestions. Hope you enjoy the homemade wheat dough pizza! Let me know how it turned out!