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Monday, April 20, 2009

Sunday Brunch with Pizza

The weekly grocery shopping is a chore I enjoy on most Saturday evenings. Normally its something SD and I do together. But yesterday since he was working, I went on my own and AD was bored and hence latched on to me...Once we reached the supermarket, and she was let free, pandemonium reigned supreme when completely unwanted stuff were being hurled into my cart in the guise of "helping you, Ma!". And since I didnt want to break her heart and more importantly didnt want a tantrum in a public place, I let her enjoy her shopping expedition. But as casually as possible and without drawing her attention, I would keep back the stuff at their places on the shelves. This is how, as I was about to return the packets of Pizza Breads, I touched the soft & superfresh breads and decided to keep them. It had been ages since I made Pizza @ home! I let the heart rule the head and decided a day's cheesy indulgence wouldnt be earth shattering !

So as I continued shopping I picked up some mushrooms, mozarella cheese...the remaining stuff were available at home!

Ingredients :
*Pizza Breads - 4
*mozzarella cheese - 300gm
* Butter
* Oregano (I use FABINDIA's Oregano+Chilli mix)
* Italian Seasoning (I use FABINDIA's Italian Seasoning)
* Chilli flakes (optional)
A.For the Topping

Aa) MUSHROOM-CAPSICUM STIR FRY
*Button Mushrooms - 1 packet (200gm)
*Onion (diced) - 1 large or 2 small
*Capsicum (diced) - 1
*Garlic sliced - 3-4 pods
*Green Chillies - 1 or 2 (chopped fine)
*Crushed Pepper Corns - 1 tsp
*Red Chilli flakes - 1 tsp
*Sugar - a pinch
*Salt to taste
*White Oil - 2 tbsp


Ab) MINCED CHICKEN STIR FRY
*Minced Chicken - 200gm
*Onion (Finely chopped) - 1
*Tomato (finely chopped) - 1
*Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp
*Italian Seasoning - a sprinkling
*Chilli-Oregano seasoning - a sprinking
*White Oil - 2 tbsp


B. SAUCE :
Normally I blanch and puree fresh tomatoes, but since I was in a hurry, decided to use ONLY tomato ketchup.
*Tomato ketchup : 1.5 cup (if fresh tomato puree is being used, I use 3-4 tomatoes + 1/2 cup ketchup for the sauce)
*Garlic sliced - 3-4 pods
*Basil (Tulsi) leaves -5-6
*Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
*Pepper pod - crushed - 3-4
*Sugar, Salt - if required
*Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Procedure :
1. Prepare the Mushroom-Capsicum Stir Fry with all the ingredients at 'Aa'
2. Prepare the Minced Chicken Stir Fry with all ingredients at 'Ab'
3. Prepare the sauce with all ingredients at 'B'. First fry the sliced garlic in oil and add the tomato ketchup/tomato puree. If required make the consistency a bit thin by adding water. After it boil, add crushed pepper, basil leaves, Italian seasoning, Oregano and let it boil for a few more seconds before you take it off the flame.

4.Take each pizza bread. Smear with a tsp of butter.
5. Smear with a thick layer of the tomato sauce.

6. Sprinkle some grated cheese.

7. Arrange the toppings of chicken & mushroom as you like.

8. Again drizzle grated cheese as per your liking

9. Sprinkle pepper, chilli flakes, Italian seasoning, oregano powder.

10. Put it in the oven. My convection mode in microwave was not working. Hence I put it in Micro+Grill mode for 10-15 minutes or till the cheese melts.

14 comments:

Koel said...

yummy :-)
Can only wait for the time when food and other stuff would be transported on wires ...nanotechnology may be... aided with thick bandwidth pipes :-) I could click on the pizza pic and it would be mine to savour ....May be in another 30 yrs....hope to be alive and still be crazy about food by then....

Navita (Gupta) Hakim said...

Sharmishtha...thanks for following me..(even if it meant silently)...are u a bong...just curious beacuse of your name. I come from Kolkata so love everything thats bengali...very biased I know.

anyways loved the pizza recipe...I can only imagine ur daughter and ur tact on avoiding pandemoniums...I still am amazed how ppl manage kids...when they grow out of the parents' arms and develop a mind of their own..lol..

Sharmistha Guha said...

@Koel - Oh wish those days are not too far off...with cars that fly and robots with a emotions already a reality, I think, we will witness such science fictions become realities in our lifetime!!! But I guess such easy availability will deprive us from the joy of anticipation, craving, waiting and savouring!! Shobi shohoj lobhyo hoye jaabe....

Sharmistha Guha said...

@Navita-A true blue BONG indeed!!! And I too am biased about everything/everyone from KOLKATA (though I still love to call my city CALCUTTA) !

Am glad you liked the Pizza recipe....try to keep away from anything cheesy/buttery due to the groaning & creaking weighing machine (whenever I'm on it)...but sometimes it doesnt hurt to indulge oneself!! hee hee hee....(who am I fooling???)

Oh yes....managing kids is all about strategies and dynamic planning & implementation of plans, modified to suit the need of the hour! And did someone say the corporate jungle is a tough place to be in....try being a Mommy, I'd say to them....

Sharmila said...

Your kiddo's antics sound fun. :-)
Making pizza at home is my hubby's forte ... of course with the store bought base. I don't like cheese ... so am not too fond of pizza. Minced meat sounds good .. I often pick on the chicken pieces and leave the rest of the stuff behind. :-)

Rush said...

looks like a lovely collection of great reccipes...came here thru viveks blog!!!
now that summer is here, wud love to see a post on grilling..hoping to visit soon :)

Sharmistha Guha said...

@Sharmila - It sounds fun but more often than not, drives me crazy!!!
I too am not overtly fond of Pizza but dont mind enjoying it once in a while! I too make them with store bought base...

Rush - Thanks for your kind words...hope to 'see' you often...

kalpana said...

woww! lovelyy pizza! This has all the things i love..mushroom,chicken,cheesee..woww my kind of pizza! :)

Sharmistha Guha said...

@Kalpana - Thanks!!
I try to keep away from cheese (due to the creaks & moans of my weighing scales :(( ) but sometimes the temptation is too much to resist!!

Amritorupa Kanjilal said...

THIS IS TORTURE!!

Amritorupa Kanjilal said...

waise I can't cook to save my life, but I just love cooking blogs… I salivate at the pictures… your pizza looks awesome!

Sharmistha Guha said...

@LGL- ;))))
Thanks....

pradipwritenow said...

Sharmistha
i have been to your kitchen and stolen all these foods. Palang saag, amer pora sherbat,and lastly Pizza. The one you described I know. What I do not know is that Pizzas are made straight from raw ingredients i.e. you do not need to buy those Pizza bases. In westindies we had an italian cook she used to make Pizzas but while making that she never allowed us to enter kitchen. And on asking she used to reply You can't make that and that is my trade secret. Now I request you to let us know that secret.

Sharmistha Guha said...

@PB-Ami nije konodin pizza base banaini...yeast laage, sheta jaani.
Ami ekta duto daroon bread er recipe peyechhi...ogulo try korar ichhe achhe....tokhon shei hujuge jodi pizza base o baaniye pheli, apnake janabo nishchoyee.
And it's a pleasure je aapni amar kitchen e eshe shob 'steal' korechhen!! Er theke boro compliment ar ki hote paare????

Apnar goppo shune khub hingshe hochhe....aapni khaash italian cook er theke pizza recipe pawar shujog peyeo chhere dilen...ishhhhhh...