Pizza from scratch!

I have been making pizzas for about 10 years now. I used to make them back in India with Monginis pizza base, a modified Tarla Dalal pizza sauce and lots of Amul cheese. That pizza is still my favorite. It brings back great memories... Today's pizza, the pizza base was a first. I am an quick and easy recipe type and pizza dough sounded manageable. I made two batches one with AP flour and one with whole wheat flour. I wanted to compare the taste and if the wheat one is good, that is what I want to make in future. Tonight it was flour pizza base. Tomorrow is the wheat night. I will also be doing a few things different tomorrow. I do not have a pizza stone so I made it on an edgeless cookie sheet. But this does not crisp the bottom of the pizza as much as stone does. To correct that I'll bake the base and once the top is crisp, flip it, make that the base and then build the pizza on that. Here is how it was made today.

Ingredients:

Corn meal

1 tomato

1 bell pepper

1/2 poblano pepper

1 medium onion

Shredded mozzarella

Grated Parmesan (optional)

Olive oil

Pizza base (Makes two 11-12 inch pizzas)

1 1/4 cup AP flour

1 1/4 cup wheat flour

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon honey

1 envelope yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pizza sauce

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomato

1 medium onion

3-4 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt 

Pepper

Heat water till it is warm. Add honey, oil and yeast. Mix well and divide it into half. Add 1 cup flour in one half and roughly mix it. Add salt and knead for 4-5 minutes until the dough is wet and sticky. Add some flour, knead more and form into a smooth ball. Place in a oiled bowl and cover. Let it rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot. Make the other batch the same way and freeze if not using the same day.

Heat olive oil and add the onions and garlic. When translucent, add the bay leaves and tomato. Bring to a boil and add the sugar, spices along with salt and pepper. Boil till it thickens and the water has evaporated.

Chop the vegetables for the topping. I sliced the tomatoes and cut the other vegetables in long juliennes.

Preheat the pizza to 450 degrees. Take the pizza dough from its resting place and knead it again for a couple of minutes till it has deflated and is nice and stretchy. Spread some cornmeal on the cookie sheet and place the dough ball on it. Make a round base by pressing the dough outward. Stretch to make a thin round base. Place half the pizza sauce on the base. I spread it almost to the edge. Next place the vegetables on top. I made a half onion and bell pepper and half poblano and tomato pizza. Spread the shredded mozzarella. Bake for about 20 minutes till the cheese has melted and the edges are crispy.

Enjoy!