Homemade pizza is a not so rare treat at home, simply because I like to customize my toppings, but also have nice crust every time. When I started making the dough for this recipe I realized that I only had two cups of flour, so I came up with the idea of adding corn meal to it and have thin crust. The result was great and the whole family enjoyed it. I also used coarse corn meal when rolling the dough and this gave the extra crunch at the bottom. To me this was a winner, not so much for my husband. I leave the option to you 🙂

Ingredients: Makes 2 pizzas

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 11 g dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups white flour
• 1/2 corn meal + extra for dusting
• 2-3 tbsp coarse corn meal – optional

Method:

1. In a bowl mix water, yeast, salt, sugar and oil. Whisk and let rise for 3-5 minutes
2. Sift the flour and add the liquid. Knead genly into a soft ball. NOTE: do not knead for too long as the dough will get tough
3. Add more flour if you need, you have to get nice, non sticky dough
4. Cover the dough and let it rise until it doubles in size. To me it took 20 minutes as Dubai is rather hot at the moment. Usually it takes an hour
5. Preheat the oven to the maximum- mine is 260 degrees
6. Dust a clean surface with corn meal and add a bit of coarse corn meal (if you want the extra crunch I mentioned above)
7. Cut the dough in two and roll each one into a thin circle
8. Place the dough into a non sticking baking tray and add sauce and your favourite toppings.
9. Bake until golden

Topping idea 1) Chicken tikka, peppers and coriander

• 1 chicken breast, chopped
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 onion chopped
• shredded mozzarella
• pizza sauce
• fresh coriander

Method:

1. Preheat the oil and fry the chicken breast until golden. Add the spices and cook another minute.
2. Build your pizza by starting with pizza sauce, mozzarella, veggies and chicken
3. Bake until golden and serve with fresh coriander

Topping idea 2) Veggies and fresh mozzarella

• 1/2 pepper
• 1/2 onion chopped
• few slices fresh mozzarella
• shredded mozzarella
• fresh basil
• pizza sauce

Method:

1. start the pizza with the sauce, then add the shredded mozzarella, then veggies and fresh mozzarella
2. Bake until golden and serve with fresh basil