Pizzas, Pizza Sauce and Bread Sticks

Most of my Instructables revolve around what I cook or bake for my family. This one is no exception. My kids are a little picky when it comes to veggies. So I try to sneak in some extra nutrients whenever possible.

Pizza Sauce with hidden veggies: I have been making this Pizza sauce with some hidden vegetables for some time now ( You won't taste the veggies :)). This Pizza sauce is fresh, much healthier and tastier than store-bought ones! Its also easy to make. If you have Pizza sauce ready with you, then making Pizza or pasta is a breeze for you. Although fresh sauce tastes the best, you can make this in advance and freeze it for later use.

Vegetable and Fruit Pizzas: This time I decided to bake pizzas with vegetable and fruit purees. I didnt find any references online. So I used a simple pizza recipe that I usually use and divided into portions. To each portion I added a different puree. I made beetroot pizza, cilantro pizza, pumpkin pizza and mango pizza. The toppings are also vegetables and fruits. The pizzas were colourful, tasty and nutritious. I made mini pizzas because I found it the perfect size for kids and also they looked attractive and vibrant! Also I found it easier to portion control and store.

Breadsticks: I had little leftover dough from each flavour. So I decided to bake my own version of breadsticks brushed with garlic butter. They tasted really good.

What can you do with the leftover purees?

You can use the purees in soups, pancakes or while baking breads.

What can you do with the leftover pizza sauce?

You can freeze the leftover pizza sauce ( using ice cube trays or freezer friendly bags ). You can also refrigerate them for 2-3 days easily. You can use them to make Pasta, Stromboli, Pizza Rolls etc., in no time.

I enjoyed making these and trying out something new :) My family had fun tasting the different pizzas and were very happy with the different flavours and colours! Hope you enjoy them too....And let me know your comments and suggestions. I will be glad to hear them.

In case you want to make pizza in only 1 flavour you can make a single puree of your choice and double the recipe to give two 8" pizzas or one 12" pizza or triple the recipe given to make two 9"pizzas. You can make only breadsticks too with the same recipe.

So let's get started!

Stand mixer (optional) with dough hook attachment

Blender/ immersion blender

1 Pan to cook the sauce

Baking tray

Ingredients

3 small onions

1 small carrot

1/4 of of a big beetroot (approx. 70-80 gms)

4 tomatoes

5 garlic cloves

2 tbs olive oil

1tsp sugar

salt to taste

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp parsley

1tsp vinegar

30 gms parmasan cheese/ cheddar cheese

1tbs tomato puree ( optional )

1/2 tsp paprika ( optional )

Note: You can try other vegetables if you want to. I add carrots and beetroot because they contribute to the bright red color.

Chop you onions, tomatoes, carrot and beetroot as shown in the picture. Add 1/2 cup water and pressure cook for 5 minutes or cook on medium flame till all the vegetables are soft and cooked through.

Allow it to cool down. Blend using a immersion blender to a smooth puree. If you like it chunkier leave some chunks.

Take olive oil in a pan on low flame. Add chopped garlic, basil, oregano and parsley and saute for a few seconds. Add 1/2 tsp paprika (optional). Add tomato puree if using. Cook on medium flame till water evporates and the sauce has reached the desired consistency. Add cheese and allow it to melt. Add sugar and salt and check the taste.

Your pizza sauce is READY!!!

Our next step is to prepare the purees to be added to our Pizzas.

I made 3 vegetable purees and 1 fruit puree.

Take about 130 grams of beetroot ( 3/4 of a big beetroot). Chop into small cubes. Add the cubes to a pan with sufficient water to immerse the cubes. Cook for about 10 minutes till tender when pierced with a fork.

Drain the water. Blend using a blender or immersion blender using as little water as possible.

Your beetroot puree is ready.

Take a small bunch of cilantro leaves. Blend using a blender or immersion blender using as little water as possible.

Your cilantro puree is ready.

Take about 250 grams of pumpkin. Remove the skin and seeds. I cut them into small pieces so that they cook faster. Bake them at 180 deg C /360 deg F for 15-20 min till tender.

Blend using a blender or immersion blender using as little water as possible.
Your pumpkin puree is ready.

Take 1 mango and chop it. Blend using a blender or immersion blender using as little water as possible.

All the 4 purees are READY!!!

Dough Ingredients for vegetable pizzas

Yields: 4 mini pizzas of 9cm/3.5 inches

Flour-1 cup/120 gms

Yeast-1/2 tsp

Sugar-3/4 tsp

Salt-1/4 tsp+1/8 tsp

Milk powder (non-fat dry milk powder)-1 tbs

Olive oil-1/2 tbs

Vegetable puree- 80ml

Water-20 ml

Note: Total wet ingredients are 100 ml. Take 80ml puree in a liquid measuring cup. Add water till the 100ml mark. Then stir and mix together.

Vegetable options: Beetroot, carrot, pumpkin, spinach, cilantro, bell peppers etc

Dough Ingredients for fruit pizzas

Yields: 4 mini pizzas of 9cm/3.5 inches

Flour-1 cup/120 gms

Yeast-1/2 tsp

Sugar-1 Tbs

Salt-1/8 tsp

Milk powder (non-fat dry milk powder)-1 tbs

Any flavourless oil-1/2 tbs

Vegetable puree- 80ml

Water-20 ml

Note: Total wet ingredients are 100 ml. Take 80ml puree in a liquid measuring cup. Add water till the 100ml mark. Then stir and mix together.

I have incresed the sugar here because we are adding sweet toppings.

Fruit options: Mango, Orange, Strawberries, Kiwi etc

In case you want to make pizza in only 1 flavour you can make a single puree of your choice and double the recipe to give two 8" pizzas or one 12" pizza or triple the recipe given to make two 9"pizzas.

Add beetroot puree, sugar, salt, yeast, milk powder and oil into a bowl of a stand mixer. Mix at low speed to combine, Add flour in 1/2 cup increments and keep kneading using a dough hook attachment till a dough forms and all the flour is combined. In case you find that the dough is dry add 1 tsp water at a time. I had to add 1 tbs of water 9 as shown in pic 4). It depends on how thick your puree is.

Prepare a baking sheet by brushing it with olive oil. Sprinkle some cornmeal. The cornmeal gives a nice crust.

Take out the dough from the mixing bowl and roll it out to about 1/4" thickness as shown in picture. Use a 9cm cookie cutter to cut out 4 rounds. You will have to re-roll the dough for the 4th round.

Place the 4 rounds on the baking sheet and allow it to rise till puffy for about 45 min-1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C/400 deg F.

Once the pizzas are puffy use a fork to poke holes across the inside of the crust. Spread some pizza sauce. Add some cheese ( I used a blend of cheddar and mozarella) Next add vegetables and olives as toppings. I used juliened carrots and bell peppers as toppings.

Bake for about 10 min till the chesse melts and has golden spots. Also the bottom of the crust should also be slightly golden.

Once baked cool them on a cooling rack.

Your Beetroot pizaas are READY!!

Repeat Steps 11-13 using the cilatro puree and bake the cilatro pizzas.

Repeat Steps 11-13 using the pumpkin puree and bake the pumpkin pizzas.

Repeat steps 11 and 12 with mango puree. Once puffy poke holes in the crust with a fork.

Then bake them in the oven at 200 deg C/400 deg F til the crust is lightly brown.

For the fruit pizzas I decided to go for sweet toppings.

I took a mango slice and cut out some shapes using cookie cutters.

Next I took 1 tbs cream cheese, 3 tbs whipping cream and 1.5 tbs sugar. I whipped them all together using a hand mixer till thick.

Once the mango pizza bases were cool I spread some of the cream on top and topped it with mango slices.

Roll each leftover ball of dough into a rope. I folded it in half and twisted it to give it a nice shape.

Garlic Butter: I took 2 tbs of softened butter,1/4 tsp of salt,1/4 tsp of oregano and 1/4 tsp of garlic powder mixed well.

Placed the breadsticks on a baking sheet. Allow the breadsticks to puff up for about 1 hour. Bake at 180 deg C/ 360 deg F for 12-15 min until slightly browned.

As soon as they are out of the oven brush them liberally with the garlic butter.

Your yummy breadsticks are READY!!!

This is what I did with my leftover Pizza Sauce. I added the pasta recipe just to share how the sauce can be used. You can modify it according to your liking.

I added 2 tbs of olive oil and heated it in a pan. I added 1/2 cup of pizza sauce and 3 cups of boiled pasta. Mixed well and sauted for a few minutes. Added salt. Sprinkled some cheese on top and READY!!

Pizzas, Breaddsticks and Pizza sauce are READY!!! You can use the recipe as a whole or in parts.

Hope you will enjoy it just as we did. I will be happy to know your comments and feedbacks.

Thank you for reading.