Baker's Corner: Mixed Vegetable Pizza with Roasted Garlic White Sauce

Today was a really nice day. Apart from being a weekend, it was one of those days where my husband and I decided to make pizza from scratch at home. We don't cook together very often (either I take over completely or he does) so its super fun when we become kitchen collaborators. To be fair to him, he did 80% of the work with me only chipping in between 😄 Whenever we make pizza at home, we take our own sweet time and the whole process from start to finish can take up a considerable chunk of the morning. It doesn't really feel like a chore but a fun kind of art project (the cleaning up is however a different story altogether). 

We decided to make two different pizzas today - one Margherita Pizza with Marinara Sauce and the other, a Mixed Vegetable Pizza with a Roasted Garlic White Sauce. We came up with the latter pizza as a contrast to the regular pizza that we make all the time which has the usual tomato-based sauce.

We previously tried making a pizza sauce using mayonnaise (inspired from the 'cool lime mayonnaise' sauce they use at Pizza Hut) but I didn't like it because I don't really like mayonnaise in general. I don't mind it in really small quantities in sandwiches, burgers, wraps and stuff but a heavy hit of mayo is not my thing. My husband began searching for an alternate white sauce and found Emeril Lagasse's Roasted Garlic White Sauce which looked really appealing. The Marinara Sauce that we make for the Margherita Pizza is also adapted from Emeril's recipe so we have a tendency to trust any recipe of his. It is a really simple recipe but takes some time to make only because you need to roast a whole bulb of garlic in the oven. But the resultant sauce is smooth, thick, spreadable and has great flavor so I think it is totally worth the extra time. 

We chose a bunch of random toppings like bell peppers, mushrooms, red onions and pineapple chunks (yes, we like pineapple on pizza) but you can customize your toppings depending on what you like. You could throw in some sweet corn kernels, jalapenos, baby corn, olives, zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, a choice of greens and herbs....basically whatever you like. 

The pizza tasted really great and I'm pretty sure it will feature as a regular in our household from now on. The crust turned out a little thicker than what we expected so rolling the dough out to a larger size is what we should have done to get it absolutely perfect. Oh well! 😛

I'm going to skedaddle out of here now. Check out this recipe, try it and let me know if you like it.

Mixed Vegetable Pizza with Roasted Garlic White Sauce

Preparation time: 1.5 hr (includes inactive time)

Baking time: 20 min per pizza

Makes: Two large (12-inch) pizzas; Serves: 3-4

Recipe category: Main course/Italian

Recipe level: Medium

Recipe Source: Adapted from recipes by Alton Brown, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse

For the Pizza Crust:

Refer my previous post on Margherita Pizza where the detailed recipe with directions has been provided. 

For the Pizza Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk, heated till simmering

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp plain flour

1 whole bulb of garlic, roasted in the oven, flesh squeezed out and thoroughly mashed

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper powder (you can substitute with red chili powder)

a pinch of nutmeg

Salt to taste

1 heaped tbsp mayonnaise

Method:

1. In a saucepan, heat the butter on low until completely melted. 

2. When the foam subsides, slowly add in the flour and mix until the mixture is smooth (I would suggest using a whisk for this purpose). Cook out the flour for 1-2 minutes.

3. Now gradually add in the hot milk, whisking continuously until the mixture bubbles and begins to thicken. You can raise the heat to a medium when this is happening. 

4. Now turn the heat on the lowest possible setting. Add in the cayenne pepper powder, nutmeg, salt to taste and mashed flesh of the roasted garlic. Mix well. 

5. Add in the mayonnaise and mix until the sauce is smooth. 

6. Take off from the heat and cool to room temperature. You can stir the sauce occasionally to prevent the formation of skin on top. 

I would suggest not waiting too long to assemble the pizza after the sauce is ready since it tends to thicken further and get kind of gloopy. Do NOT refrigerate the sauce.

For the Pizza Topping:

8-10 slices of mozzarella cheese (or you could shredded mozzarella or any cheese of your choice)

Roasted garlic white sauce (recipe above)

1 cup chopped colored bell peppers

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped red onions

1/2 to 1 cup diced pineapple (adjust quantity according to your liking)

1 cup of grated pizza cheese (you can use mozzarella or a combination of cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan)

Salt to taste

A sprinkling of red chili flakes

Assembling the Pizza:

1. Once you have rolled out the pizza to the desired size and thickness, spread a thin layer of olive oil all over the surface. Sorry....I forgot to take a pic after I smeared the oil.

2. Spread the pizza sauce generously and uniformly all over the surface, leaving a 1/2 inch border. 

3. Roughly layer the pizza base with the mozzarella slices leaving about a half inch of empty space on the edge. If you don't have mozzarella slices (which aren't commonly found) you can use shredded mozzarella or any pizza cheese.

4. Arrange the ingredients mentioned in the pizza topping list (bell peppers, mushrooms, onions and pineapple slices). Season with a tiny bit of salt if desired. Note that the sauce is already seasoned and the cheese is salty anyway. 

5. Sprinkle some grated cheese all over the top. Your pizza is now ready for baking.

6. Place the pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 250 deg C. It's important to place your pizza stone into a cold oven and let it heat up gradually or else it will crack due to sudden thermal shock. Once the oven is heated up, it's time to put your pizza into the oven. Gently slide the pizza onto the (well-floured) stone taking care not to disturb the toppings and also watch out for the hot pizza stone. Bake the pizza for about 20 mins or eyeball it till you see the edges of the pizza turning a beautiful golden brown. 

Note: If you don't have a pizza stone, that is fine. Just pop your pizza onto a rack placed in the middle of the oven and bake as directed. 

7. Once done take out of the oven and rest for a few mins. Use a sharp pizza cutter or knife to cut the pizza into slices, season with chili flakes, parmesan cheese (optional) and dig in.

I
Notes:

• For more tips on pizza, refer my Margherita pizza post
• For directions on how to roast garlic in the oven, refer this previous blog post on Oven Roasted Garlic 

Cheers,

Megha