Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Spinach & Pepperoni Pizza with a hot 3-cheese sauce!

Thanks everyone for voting me to the top 9 on FOODBUZZ.


To break free from the seafood jinx, I decided to do a spinach pizzaaa!!! Well, before I go blah, blah and blah, blah, blah, let me give due credits J to the inspiration for this dish - Momchef’s Spinach pizza. I have tried her version and it rocks! Then I came up with this version because Mr.Aj can’t imagine pizza without meat! So I stacked away some pepperoni in for his sakeJ. I used fresh spinach instead of canned. Either is fine. Just make sure to get rid of all the water content. And my sauce is entirely different!

The sauce is something I have wanted to share from some time now. This is my personally devised and current favourite pizza sauce and it goes with any sort of topping too! I have tried it with tandoori chicken pizza, spicy sausage pizza and minced meat pizza....even with just cheese, olives and tomatoes for topping. But it never fails to impart a unique delicious flavour to the pizza. And of course, it makes my pizza spicy. Don’t bother adding green chillies in case you are one of the “not-hotties”J.

If you want the perfect flavour, make sauce on the previous day and let it refrigerate overnight. You store for future use. It will last up to 12 days in the refrigerator. Take care to store in an airtight container after cooling to room temperature.

This time the dough is a little different from the last pizza I posted and crust is thin but soft and I polished it with the pizza sauce before baking, which gave it a good piece of flavouring. The egg is optional while making this dough. Add a teaspoon extra honey if you are opting out of egg.

Ingredients: (serves 5)

Dough:
All purpose flour- 3 cups
Milk- ½ cup
Sugar- ½ tablespoon
Honey- 1tablespoon
Dried Oregano - a few pinch
Salt- ½ teaspoon
Egg - 1 beaten
Dry active Yeast - 2 teaspoon
Olive oil - 1 teaspoon

Topping:
Mozzarella cheese shredded - 3 cups
Spinach - 500grams fresh leaves only chopped
Beef pepperoni -enough to place in a single layer
Green Bell pepper - 1 sliced without seeds
Onion- 1 sliced
Tomato - a few slices
Dried oregano - a pinch

Pizza Sauce: (makes around 1 cup)
Red onion - ½
Garlic - 2 cloves
Cilantro or parsley - 3 sprigs with stem (I like coriander)
Green chillies-2 (optional) or pepper
Yogurt- 2 tablespoon
Mayonnaise - 1 tablespoon
Parmesan cheese - 2 teaspoon
Grated mild cheddar cheese - 3 teaspoon
Cream cheese - 1 tablespoon
Ketchup- 1 teaspoon
Heavy cream - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1.       Grind onion, garlic, cilantro and green chillies, yogurt and mayo till finely ground.
2.       Pour mixture into a sauce pan and turn heat to very low.
3.       Add all types of cheese one after the other and stir till incorporated.
4.       Stirring continuously, add ketchup and cream. Once mixed you will get a thick sauce. Remove from heat. (DON’T over heat or else the yogurt and cream will separate. Keep it on minimum heat and switch off as soon as everything mixes evenly.)
5.       Transfer into a dry container and let it cool.
6.       In a small bowl take 2 tablespoon mildly lukewarm water and put the yeast in. Cover with a lid and keep aside for 5mins till the yeast particles start accumulating on top of the water.
7.       Mix all ingredients for dough using a fork except milk and yeast.
8.       Add yeast and mix again. Now add milk little by little and slowly forming dough. Just knead until the dough is even. (Don’t wrestle with it for long and blame me for a hard horrible baseJ. 3mins of kneading was enough for me to get evenly mixed dough.)
9.        Cover with a lid and leave in a warm corner of your kitchen for 2 or 3 hours.
10.   Place a cooking vessel over medium heat, pour a teaspoon of olive oil, add spinach, season with salt and cook till it wilts. Let water content reduce to minimum. Remove from stove.
11.   Once dough expands to double the size, punch to eliminate air gaps formed while rising.
12.   Prepare the pizza pan, stone or whatever you choose to bake in. Coat a thin layer of olive oil on it.
13.   Spread the dough evenly using hands or a press and place in pan.
14.   Top it with the sauce, onions, pepperoni, spinach and bell pepper in order.


15.    Bake at 210⁰C for 15mins.
16.   Now, spread the cheese and tomatoes. Sprinkle some dried oregano on top. Bake at 200⁰C for 10 more mins.


17.   And we are ready to dive inJ. Nah you don’t need accompaniments!

30 comments:

  1. oooo that sounds amazing!!!

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  2. Wow, does that look good! So unique, yet I think my family would go for it! THANKS!

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  3. This is a beautiful pizza you made! I love anything spicy and this definitely meets the criteria. Don't forget to make it again for the next holiday season - the pretty colors are perfect for it!

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  4. It is a very colorful pizza. I will try to make this.

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  5. That sauce is really amazing ! I think it makes pizza taste so much better.. :)

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  6. YUM! That pizza sauce sounds delicious!

    I love the new look of your blog!

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  7. Fantastic looking pizza - a definite must try :-)
    Sue

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  8. Goodness, that PIZZA looks amazing! It has made me HUNGRY!!!

    US Masala

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  9. So there's garlic in the pizza sauce! Genius! You are buzzed!

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  10. fantastic pizza- your pictures speak a million words, amazing!

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  11. Yea! Bravo. It looks absolutely fantastic. Now I'm going to have to either make it or get me some. Thanks for the mention!

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  12. great looking pizza! I`m very intrigued by your sauce -- it`s definitely original, but it sounds super good too! Theresa

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  13. Beautiful pizza....the sauce looks delicious.

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  14. I love spinach pizza, and yours looks so good, especially the crust.
    Gorgeous pictures!

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  15. This pizza sounds amazing! Can't wait to try that sauce!

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  16. that is a delicious looking pizza! I didn't realize it wasn't a red sauce till I read your recipe, how creative! The egg in the dough is interesting too!
    Congratulations on your #1on the top 9 !!
    Dennis

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  17. What a fabulous sauce, I've never heard of anything like it! I put spinach on EVERY SINGLE pizza I make, it adds such a delicious flavor!

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  18. I will definitely be making this!!! Looks amazing!

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  19. Brilliant to let that sauce settle...love the cheese!!

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  20. Thanks everyone for all those wonderful comments and esp. kate, thanx for notiing and liking the new look =)

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  21. Beautiful Pizza! Love the look of your blog too, and congrats on making it into the top 9! That's wonderful!

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  22. Just Thank You!!! It looks so amazing and delicious,and I think that my family will like it very very much!!! Thanks and kisses!

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  23. Pizza looks beautiful:)

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  24. Pizza looks beautiful:)

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  25. That sauce sounds positively amazing. I am filing this one away for the next time I make pizza.

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  26. Beautiful pizza and abundance of flavours.

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  27. what sort of pan ( material) do you use?

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  28. @Popoy: I use a non-stick pizza. =)

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Thank you for taking time out to encourage me! Every comment is heartfully read and loved! Please stop by again and again and again.....!!!

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