Deep Pan Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust Base

Making pizzas have never been tedious task. In fact, they are one of the simplest and the easiest to make, especially if you have the base ready. They make a complete meal by themselves. We love indulging in pizzas quite often. And I ensure I make them all home, including the base.

I generally use whole wheat flour crust base to give them a healthy touch. For me pizza is all about the toppings! So with loads of toppings on them, one can hardly identify the difference in taste between the wheat flour crust against the all purpose flour crust. I am a huge fan of thin crust pizzas, but for a change I decided to go for a deep pan pizza this time. They were actually good for the heavy topping that I use often as they hold them very well. The thick base against the heavy toppings. Perfect to hold the toppings even after they are cut to pieces. I consider to continue making deep pan pizzas again in future for sure.

I realize that I have been loving thin crusts, because pizzas from restaurants offer with light toppings and sauce on a heavy crust. Feels as if we are biting into bread more than the mild sauce and light toppings they come with. My pizzas hold loads of vegetables and good dose of cheese to complete them.

To make the pizza crust at home follow my previous post here. Just double the quantity of ingredients to be used. Infact I used three times the amount mentioned as I made a bigger batch. Also substitute the all purpose flour to whole wheat flour if you want to go the healthier way.

Roll the dough and transfer it to a pizza pan. A deep dish pizza would mean the dough is about 3/4 inch thick in height which would rise a little more on baking.

Tomato Basil Pizza Sauce

INGREDIENTS

8-10 pods of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup tomato sauce, optional
Salt and paprika to taste
1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves, torn
Italian herbs, such as oregano / basil (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Saute finely chopped garlic and onions in oil for 2 mins till they turn transparent. Add the tomato puree and stir well. Cook for atleast 15-20 minutes till it reduces and leaves oil from the sides of the pan. Add in the tomato sauce and stir well. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the freshly torn basil leaves, herbs (optional) and spices. Stir well. Turn off the flame and set aside to cool. Use this sauce to spread over the pizza base.

Deep Dish Pizza

Ingredients for Toppings:

50 gm mushrooms
50 gm onions
50 gm baby corn
50 gm yellow capsicum
50 gm red capsicum
50 gm cherry tomatoes
20 gm jalapenos

All the vegetables were chopped to small-medium sized chunks. Spread them on the sauce on the pizza base. You may choose vegetables of your choice. I did not have olives at hand, else they can be added too. If you dislike vegetables, then skip them and go for a Classic Margherita style pizza with just the sauce and cheese toppings.

For the cheese topping:

100 gm cheddar cheese
100 gm mozzarella cheese

No pizza is complete without cheese!!! Load your pizzas with dollops of cheese. I like my pizzas low on cheese. But if you are a cheese lover and calories don't bother you much, then don't stop your self to add more cheese. Pizzas can take them and they taste best when loaded with good amounts of cheese.

Bake them in oven for 20 minutes or till the crust has baked well and the cheese turns golden brown. Remove and garnish the top with oregano and chilli flakes. Using a pizza cutter, slice to pieces and serve hot.

This pizza was a delight to our afternoon lunch. Served with simple coleslaw, every bite into the pizza was flavored with combination of healthy vegetables sandwiched between the crusty whole wheat base and the baked cheesy top. A delight to a pizza lover's heart.