LIVE TO COOK

The comfort of a homemade meal is that we can whip up umpteen number of varieties. Sometimes, even an unplanned makeover will turn into a wonderful recipe. Though disasters are common, we don’t have to worry about frustrated customers as such. This gives a home chef more opportunity to play with ingredients than a restaurant chef.

For one of our weeknight dinner, I decided to make pizza. After kneading and leaving it for rising, I reached for the jar of tomato sauce in the fridge and found that it was empty. I used it for some other recipe and forgot to replace it.

As it was getting late, preparing pizza sauce wasn’t a good idea. So, I started digging my fridge for other options. What i found was a quarter cup of enchilada sauce and some salsa. Since the enchilada sauce wasn’t enough for the large pizza that I was planning to prepare, I had to find other items that can be used as pizza toppings. When I saw an avocado in my fridge, the idea of using guacamole as sauce for the pizza hit my mind. Instead of making two pizzas, I shaped one large pizza. I added guacamole as sauce for one half and enchilada sauce for the other half. With the salsa and cheese toppings, the pizza turned out to be a wonderful variation that no pieces were left in the pan!

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

3 Cups Whole wheat or All purpose flour
1 Cup Active sourdough starter or Active dry yeast (3/4 or 1 tsp )
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

For Guacamole:

1 Avocado
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar

For Salsa:

1 Onion
1 Bell pepper
1 Tomato
2 Jalapeño peppers or other sweet peppers
1/2 Cucumber
1/4 Cup Sweet corn kernels
1/4 Cup chopped Cilantro
2 Tbsp Vinegar
1 tsp Lime juice
1 tsp minced Garlic
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Dried Oregano

Others:

1/4 Cup Enchilada sauce
1/4 Cup cheese
1 Tbsp Sliced Black Olives (optional)
2 tsp Olive oil for brushing

Method:

1. Preheat oven for 375 F (For Convection Baking, skip this step)
2. Mix the ingredients for the dough and Knead into a soft dough using warm water. Cover and let it rise in a draft free place until doubled in volume.
3. Mix the ingredients for Guacamole and refrigerate. Make it little chunky as the taste is better than a smooth textured Guacamole.
4. Mix the ingredients for Salsa and refrigerate.
5. When the dough is doubled in volume punch down and shape in to a 12 inch pizza and place it in a greased pizza pan. Brush with olive oil. (Brushing with olive oil before adding any toppings makes a crust crispy on the outside and chewy inside)

6. Spread the Guacamole in one half of the pizza and spread the enchilada sauce in the other half.

7. Drain the liquid from the salsa and use the vegetables as topping. (The liquid will make the pizza soggy. I reserved the liquid and used while making roti and salsa roti which was a hit too. )

8. Top with cheese and bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until the cheese melts and the crust turns brown.

9. Slice and serve.