Whole Wheat Pizza



In 1998 when Pizza Hut came to Pune it was greeted with the same kind of fanfare normally reserved by the Congress junta for Sharad Pawar’s motorcade. Residing on Jangli Maharaj road in a new construction built on the grave of a typical Puneri corner bungalow; Pizza Hut projected itself as an example of American fine dining. The Puneris ate it with a spoon, or by the slice to be precise. During the first few weeks, the line to get in was around the block. There was a host table outside the restaurant taking reservations. At the time the host had the same attitude as Sachin Tendulkar’s public relation’s manager. Everyone was apparently wasting his time and no one really seemed good enough to have a Pizza Hut slice. I, along with a few friends managed to get a table without waiting, as we knew “people”. Even at this low level of government, corruption did butt its ugly head. Once inside we were greeted with interior decoration that was trying too hard to be cool, arrogant waiters and lacklustre food. Once we placed the order, our waiter announced that the pizza would be ready in 37 min. One of my dining companion’s reminded the waiter that (in spite of it being Pizza Hut) we’re in Pune and they both knew that the 37 min means nothing, so he should just bring it when it comes out.” The food didn’t come out for a good 45 min. In the interim we were treated to an extremely embarrassing and poorly choreographed dance to the then popular song “Backstreet’s Back” courtsey of the Pizza Hut waitstaff who seemed just ashamed to be part of it. It was definite You Tube material. That was my first and last visit to any Pizza Hut, ever. To compensate, I have been experimenting at making pizza at home from scratch and getting somewhat successful at it.

Ingredients

For the base
5 cups Durum Wheat or Whole Wheat flour
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 packets Yeast
1 cup tepid Water
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Cornmeal
Salt to taste

Toppings
1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 sliced Capsicum (Green Pepper)
1 cup sliced Mushrooms
1 sliced Onion
1 sliced Tomato
6 sliced Olives
1/2 cup sliced Chicken marinated in Salt and Pepper

Click here for the sauce recipe.

Method
Add yeast and sugar to the tepid water, stir and place aside for 10 minutes
When the mixture doubles in volume, the yeast is active
Add the mixture to the flour along with olive oil and salt
Knead the mixture to a dough adding water as necessary
Place dough aside for a hour; the dough should double in size
Knead the dough again and leave aside for 15 min
On a greased pizza stone (or a large baking pan) spread cornmeal evenly
Toss the dough into a 12” round base and gently place on top of the corn meal
Spread 1/2 sauce evenly over the base all the way up to the edge
Spread cheese evenly on pizza
Add toppings making sure not to add too many
Pre-heat oven to 400º F
Place pizza stone on centre rack
Bake pizza till edges of the base appear deep brown
Serve with red pepper flakes

Comments

Joanna said…
So pizza huts are terrible even in Pune. Figures. Try baking a pizza on a charcoal ceramic grill. Like a mini tandoori or brick oven.
Anonymous said…
the pizza can give the best in business a run for their money.... to hell with rubber served by pizza chains!!
Anonymous said…
when i said "the pizza" i meant the one you made....
TheCooker said…
The Venky's pizza was not too bad. Folks used to eat it with a knife and fork.
Don't you need to preheat the pizza stone as well?
Anonymous said…
Why on earth are ppl mad abt those rubbery pizzazzz?Me and my son prefer having our dose of pizza with brown bread slices topped with fresh veggies and grated cheese...so light and healthy.My hubby prefer Dominos than home made (i dont yet possess an oven so i make it in pan)and i feel like grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
DhanaDesh said…
Indrya, I think this visit was the one when Satya had dropped one of the slices on the table and that was also a highlight of the evening!!
Adhi Potoba said…
Cheese side down, no less. I miss VC.
TNL said…
The waitstaff danced?!?! Wow.
Pizza Hut is overrated....I happen to like my own deep dish ones..and of course, UNO's. when in the US

cheers,trupti
the spice who loved me
wrcarlson said…
Great to see you guys at Livy's birthday last night. I really like the blog especially this posting. hilarious.

We should get a group together for dinner out in Sunnyside.

Take care
Hey Hi....
your recipe of pizza is tempting
I will definately try it...

meanwhile your post brought back some old memories....
I was also a visiter of Pizza hut on JM Road and I exactly remember how the waiters used to come together near the counter and dance....!!! and yes backstreet boys was their fav i guess... :-)

(i used to be deeply thrilled to see them dance since I was in school ;)

-Amruta
Anonymous said…
Yeah the idiot management of Pizza Hut read this blog and related comments and realized they were being stupid. They have stopped all that nonsense and even the over-zealous THANK YOU's on ringing the exit bell have stopped.

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