Being itchy about Halal food can be quite a pain sometimes - especially when it comes to ordering Pizza! I just about had it with Shrimp or Veggie Pizzas so I started making my own Pizza at home.
After many adventurous attempts, I finally nailed it down to the following recipe:
Mix 2 cups of Cake and Pastry Flour (or White Flour if you don't have that) with 1 cup of Wholewheat Flour. Add a pinch of salt and mix well.
Mix 2 cups of Cake and Pastry Flour (or White Flour if you don't have that) with 1 cup of Wholewheat Flour. Add a pinch of salt and mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup of hot water (don't use boiling water - my tap water is hot enough so I use it direct from there instead of boiling or microwaving) with 3 teaspoons of sugar and add to that 1 package (2 -1/4 tsp) of instant yeast. Mix well and leave for a few seconds.
The mix should become frothy in a few seconds (if you use instant/quick rise yeast) else it will take a few minutes (if you use traditional yeast). If it does not become frothy then discard the yeast and make it again. Sometimes the yeast dies if the water is too hot or it doesn't activate if it is too cold, so if you don't see any froth then your water temperature needs to be adjusted.
The mix should become frothy in a few seconds (if you use instant/quick rise yeast) else it will take a few minutes (if you use traditional yeast). If it does not become frothy then discard the yeast and make it again. Sometimes the yeast dies if the water is too hot or it doesn't activate if it is too cold, so if you don't see any froth then your water temperature needs to be adjusted.
To the flour mixture, add 1/4 cup Olive oil and the yeast mixture. Mix and knead the dough and leave aside covered in a plastic bowl for at least 3 hours to rise. This is enough for two large thin crust pizzas; and if you don't like wheat flour, you can make the entire recipe with White flour.
Flatten down the raised dough and divide it into two balls. Take a large sheet of parchment or baking paper and spray it with some canola oil. Spray your hands with some canola and start working with the dough on the sheet. Flatten it out with your hands to make a big enough circle so you can start using a rolling pin. I usually flatten it out to 8 inches in diameter before I switch to a rolling pin.
Transfer the parchment with the fully rolled out dough onto the Pizza pan and use your hands to stretch any edges that need to fit into the shape of your pan.
For the toppings you can pretty much use whatever you want. My favorite is Chicken Salami topped with spinach, mushrooms, peppers, onions, sweet corn and loads of Mozarella. I usually don't like tomato paste so either I will use a very thin film of ketchup or I'll saute some garlic, add a few tablespoons of tomato paste and thin it out with water to make my own garlic-tomato paste.
Trim off the edges of the parchment before transferring the pan to the oven. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven. Serve Hot!
Trim off the edges of the parchment before transferring the pan to the oven. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven. Serve Hot!
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