Veg Pizza

Veg Pizza - the all time favorite snack/ appetizer. Here is a simple pizza recipe made with store bought pizza base topped with easy homemade pizza sauce, your favorite toppings available at home and shredded mozzarella cheese. You can bake it in a microwave oven, conventional oven or simply on a pan/ tawa with lid.

Ingredients :

• Pizza Base - 4 small
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Capsicum - 1
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese as needed
• For the sauce :
• Tomato - 3 medium-sized
• Garlic - 5 cloves
• Capsicum - 1/2
• Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chili Powder/ Chili Flakes - 1/4 tsp
• Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Dried Oregano - 1/2 tsp
• Dried Basil Leaves - 1/2 tsp

Method :

To prepare the sauce :

• Blanch the tomatoes : Wash the tomatoes and make cuts on them. Put them in boiling water and let them stay in for a minute. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and put them in cold water. Once it cools down, remove its skin.
• Finely chop 1 tomato and make a puree of other two. Finely chop garlic and capsicum.
• In a pan heat olive oil. Fry chopped garlic. Add chopped capsicum and fry for a minute.
• Add in chopped tomatoes and saute till they are soft.
• Add tomato puree and cook well. 
• Add the herbs, spices, salt, sugar and mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
• Set aside to let it cool down.

Assembling the pizza :

• Wash and chop onion and capsicum into 1/2" cubes. Remove the seeds from tomato and chop into 1/2" cubes.
• Take a pizza base. Brush olive oil on the pizza base.
• Spread prepared pizza sauce uniformly, make sure to leave the sides of the base free from sauce.
• Top with the veggies and drizzle little olive oil.
• Spread grated cheese.
• Bake the pizza in microwave oven on medium power for 5 minutes or till the cheese melts.

• Slice them with a pizza cutter or knife and serve hot.

Tips & Variation :

• Pizza base I used here is small in size. If you are making pizza using a bigger pizza base, accordingly increase the ingredients used for making sauce.
• You can use mushrooms, paneer, baby corn, olives, red/yellow/orange bell peppers for veg pizza. Cut the veggies in any desired shape or even finely shred them. Optionally you can saute them lightly in olive oil.
• Use chicken chunks sauteed in olive oil with pepper and salt till cooked or cooked mutton chunks for non-veg pizza.
• You can use cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese or combination.
• Sprinkle pepper powder,chili flakes, herbs and little salt on toppings and cheese for more spice and flavor.
• Cooking in oven : Preheat the oven at 180 degree C for 15 minutes. Bake the pizza at 180 degree C for 12-15 minutes or till cheese melts.
• Cooking in pan : Heat the pan/ tawa on medium low heat for a minute. Place the pizza and cook it with lid till cheese melts. Keep the toppings thinly sliced or saute them.