Paneer Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza 

• Olive oil
• Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone) 

Pizza Sauce  

• Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
• Onion - 1/4 chopped
• Green bell pepper - 2 T, chopped
• Tomatoes, crushed - 10/14 Oz can
• Italian seasoning (dried Basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano) -1 t
• Tandoori Masala - 1 t
• Red chilli flakes - to taste
• Pepper - 1 t
• Sugar - 1/4 t
• Salt - to taste
• Basil Leaves - Fresh

Topping

• Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced
• Onions, thinly sliced
• Cherry tomatoes, chopped
• Paneer 
• Corn
• Italian seasoning
• Jalapeno peppers

 

Method

Pizza Dough

• In a large bowl, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 10 mins and rise.
• Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar and knead for about a minute.
• Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.
• Place the dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil.
• Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil.
• Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer, a longer rise will improve the flavor). 
• If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Let the oven cool till it is just a little warm, then place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.
• If you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Pizza Sauce

• Heat a pan with a tsp of olive oil.
• Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper and saute for a few mins.
• Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper and italian seasoning along with the tandoori masala, sugar and red chilli flakes.
• Lower the heat and simmer cook for 30 mins.
• Add water (less than 1/4 of a cup) little by little if the sauce becomes too dry while cooking.
• Add a tsp of julienned basil leaves and mix.
• Keep the sauce aside.