California Veggie Pizza Recipe on Whole wheat Crust

Recipe by Cook's Hideout

I have missed the last edition of International Food Challenge because of summer vacation and possibly poor planning on my side. Even this post is late, but I didn't want to miss the 1st Anniversary of IFC. Hearty congratulations to Saras and Shobana for coming up with the event idea and completing 1 successful year. For this month's challenge, Saras picked 2 dishes from each of the previous years challenges. It was quite tough picking just one and I ended up making California Veggie Pizza that Joanne T Ferguson suggested. My son has been asking for a pizza and I...

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole wheat flour (- (I use KAF white whole wheat flour))
• 2 tsp yeast (Instant)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsps salt
• 2 tbsps orange juice (- luke warm)
• ¾ cup water (- luke warm)
• pizza sauce ((Tomato sauce))
• red onions
• Broccoli ((I steam them a little beforehand))
• eggplant ((sauteed))
• mushrooms ((I prefer cooked, so I saute them in some oil))
• corn (kernels (fresh or frozen))
• tomatoes (Sundried)
• mozzarella cheese (Grated)

Method

1. The night before you want to make the pizza, combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover and set it aside for 30 minutes, this gives the whole wheat to absorb the liquid.
2. Now knead the dough with hand, mixer or bread machine and knead into a soft, smooth dough -- about 4~5 minutes on the stand mixer and a little longer by hand.
3. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Then refrigerate the dough overnight for at least 18 hours (a little longer is OK).
4. Remove from the oven and spread it out onto a baking sheet (18"x13"). If the dough fights back, then let it rest for 10~15 minutes before trying again. This brief rest will help relax the gluten and the dough will spread much easily. Cover the dough and set aside for 2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 450F. Position the racks in the bottom and the top of the oven.
6. Spread the pizza sauce in a thin layer on the crust. Top with the veggies. If you are using raw veggies, then you might want to add them now, so they get a chance to become tender. Since I cooked most of them on the stove top, I added them later.
7. Place the baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for 8 minutes.
8. Now add the cheese and the veggies that don't need that much cooking (or the already cooked veggies) on the crust and return the baking sheet -- now to the top rack of the oven. Bake for 6~8 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese has melted.
9. Cut into slices and Enjoy!!

View the recipe instructions at Cook's Hideout