When you get home from a tiring day at work, what you need is something quick, tasty and easy for dinner.
Pizza has always been a tasty, convenient dinner option for our family. Plus, if you don’t think you’re great in the kitchen, this is still a great option for you! In terms of cooking, all you need to do is pop it in the oven, and for preparation, it’s just chopping up your favourite toppings.
What I also love about home-made pizza is flexibility. You can choose what toppings you’d like to use based on what you have at home.
Adding some protein will also make the pizza more satisfying.
So here’s how we prepare it at home…
1. The base
Instead of buying the supermarket pizza bases which are often very thick and doughy, I usually use lebanese bread. It becomes thin and crispy after cooking, and it really lets the toppings shine.
2. Tomato paste on the base
To give a nice traditional Italian flavor, tomato paste is a necessity. I normally use ‘No Added Salt’ tomato paste.
3. Vegetable toppings
Some delicious vegetable options we like are: capsicum (both green and red), mushroom, zucchini/squash, onion, frozen spinach (thawed), canned artichoke, canned olives, and pineapple. You don’t have to put everything on at the same time, just put the veggies you like or what’s in the pantry at the time. For example, sometimes I don’t have capsicum at home, but I happen to have snow peas. I just chop them up and use them to replace the capsicum.
4. Protein
Some pre-cooked or easy-to-cook protein options are ideal. I usually use shredded BBQ chicken or seafood mix from the deli section at the supermarket. You can also use canned tuna or ham (ham is quite salty though, so best to only use occasionally).
5. Flavouring
Italian dried herb mix is, of course, No.1 on my list. It really lifts the pizza. Add some extra cracked pepper if you like some spiciness. I also sometimes put some diluted Hoisin Sauce (Brand: Chang’s) to add some sweetness.
6. Cheese
Instead of shredded tasty cheese, I choose shredded mozzarella cheese as it tastes better on pizza and has less saturated fat. To make it even healthier, I sometimes reduce the amount of mozzarella to a thin layer and fill the gap with (Nutritional / Savoury) Yeast Flakes. You may be wondering, what are yeast flakes? To briefly explain, nutritional yeast is yeast that is grown on molasses or a similar habitat. It is a great source of vitamin Bs, which can help increase energy levels. People also call it a kind of vegan cheese, as it offers a very similar taste to cheese, though the texture is of course quite different. It is a great product to add in if you’re looking to reduce your cheese intake.
7. FINISHING TOUCHES
Finally, we like to top it off with some cracked pepper and Tabasco once it’s fresh out of the oven to experience the ultimate flavor combination with extra heat!
And here it is! I hope you find this recipe idea interesting and flexible, so that the next time you find yourself tired after work with no motivation to cook, this may provide a new, tasty and easy option for you.