Pizza in a new Avatar - Swirly paneer pizza bites..

I know Pizzas are supposed to be circular and served in pie shapes. Ever wondered why?  May be the way pizza is suits itself.. But sometimes just like human beings, food needs a bit of change in its look, so that it feels refreshing, even more beautiful…. This is what I said.. 

"My dear Pizza, relax.. I have heard your call for makeover and will give you a beautiful look today".

A thought of making pizza swirls was going on in my mind… Believe me, the idea turned out awesome.. I also gave it a bit of Indian flavor.. So I call these Paneer Tikka Pizza Swirls…

How do they look?? I am sure you would love these. These are perfect for starters too. Compact and beautiful. These are soft, and taste as cheesy and amazing as regular pizzas..

So, what’s the recipe? It’s simple. Same pizza base, same pizza sauce, a layer of crushed paneer tikka,  finely chopped veggies and a bed of cheese.. Roll it in a log and carve out beautiful swirls…

So why wait?  Let’s get to work..

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients: 

For the pizza base:

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour (+ little for dusting and kneading)

1 packet (1/4 oz) active dry yeast (2 and 1/4 tsp)

1 tsp salt 

1 tbsp granulated white sugar

2 tbsp olive oil (+ little for covering the kneaded dough)

Dried herbs: 1 tbsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme  (Note: it’s optional to add herbs..it does add to the taste of the base. You can add dry basil and oregano too.)

1 and 1/3 cups of lukewarm water  (Could need more based on the flour quality)

For pizza sauce:

5 medium sized juicy red tomatoes.

2 garlic cloves chopped finely

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes (can add more based on your preference)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (red chili powder) (optional)

1 and 1/2 tsp dried oregano ( if you have fresh oregano, add a tsp of it along with dried oregano). I added dried ones as I didn't have fresh oregano available.

1 and 1/2 tsp dried basil 

5-6 fresh basil leaves roughly chopped.. ( Note: if you do not have fresh basil skip it. However it adds a beautiful taste to the sauce.)

Salt as per taste

Sugar 2 tsp, or more as per taste

1 tsp of corn starch

For paneer tikka topping:

Crushed paneer 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups (I blended paneer in a mixer to form a soft crumbly mixture).

1/2 onion finely chopped

1/2 tomato finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 green chilly finely chopped

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp dry mango powder

1/4 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp olive oil

For additional veggie topping:

1/2 green bell pepper chopped finely

1/2 onion chopped finely

1/2 tomato chopped finely.. 

(Note: You can add any veggies of your choice. However make sure you chop these fine. This helps the veggies to stay intact in the roll.)

Most important ingredient:

Fresh mozzarella cheese (1 cup or more based on personal preference)

Procedure:

Lets make the pizza base dough  first.

Dough:

Heat water and bring it to lukewarm state. (Note: Make sure it is just lukewarm and not hot). Now pour it in a container and transfer yeast in the same container. Just stir it once and let it rest aside for 10 minutes. It will turn bubbly by this time. (Please note: some yeast like instant yeast does not require resting in lukewarm water. 

In the meanwhile in a separate container, transfer the flour. Add salt and sugar. Mix it well with a whisk. Now make a well in the center and pour the oil, warm yeast water and herbs. Now mix everything well. 

Basic Ingredients to make pizza dough

Dry herbs 

Use a hand blender with a dough attachment to knead a soft dough or knead it with your hands on a flat floured platform. Add flour if the dough is too sticky. Knead the dough for about 5-7 minutes. 

Drop some olive oil in the container and cover the dough with oil thoroughly. Form it into a ball. Now cover the container with a plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or switched off oven for about two hours.

Pizza dough ready

You will see that the dough rises to double by this time.

Risen pizza dough

(Note: For this recipe we will use only one half of the pizza dough. You can follow the same procedure on the other half of dough too.)

Pizza sauce:

Blend the tomatoes in a blender and make a puree. 

Heat a pan and add about 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add garlic. Saute it for a minute and then add tomato puree. Stir it well. Let it simmer for about five minutes until the moisture oozes out. 

Now add salt, cayenne, red chilli flakes, sugar, oregano and basil. Add fresh basil too. Stir well. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Now add cornstarch and stir well. Let it simmer until the sauce is of thick consistency. Switch off the flame and let it cool down.  (Note: Let the sauce not contain moisture. If so, it will make the pizza sauce soggy.)

Pizza sauce in making. Almost ready.

Paneer tikka topping:

Heat a pan. Add oil. Add chopped ginger and chilli. Stir well. Add onions. Saute it well. 

Lower the flame. Add turmeric, dry mango powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and little lemon juice.  Stir it. Now add the chopped tomato. Sauce it for 1-2 minutes.

Add crushed paneer. Mix it well. Add salt as per taste.

Crushed paneer mixture 

Ingredients for Paneer Tikka

Saute for 1-2 minutes. Switch off the flame. Let it cool down.

Paneer tikka topping

Additional veggie topping:

Keep the finely chopped veggies ready. 

Keep shredded mozzarella cheese ready too.

Rolling out the pizza base dough:

Using a knife, cut out the pizza dough into two halves. We will use one half today. You can use rest half too and repeat the same procedure. The procedure below with one half of dough yield around 10-12 pizza swirls. 

Halved dough

Transfer the dough ball on light floured platform surface. Roll it out into medium thick rectangular sheet. (Like you would do for a medium crust pizza).

Rolled out dough

Lightly brush the surface with olive oil.

Brushing dough surface with oil

Spread out pizza sauce evenly.

Pizza sauce applied

Now spread out panner tikka mixture evenly with a spoon.

Panner tikka layer applied

Sprinkle veggies and gently push them in the surface so that they stay intact while rolling up the pizza base.

Sprinkle some salt and black pepper evenly. 

Sprinkle some dried red chilli flakes and oregano if you want.

Veggies applied

Spread out fresh mozzarella cheese evenly to cover the toppings.

Cheese applied

Now start rolling the pizza base gently. Make sure you it is a tight roll. This will help everything sticking well when the swirls are cut. Pizza log is ready..

Pizza log ready to be cut into swirls

Now cut out around 1/2 inch sized swirls and gently transfer these to pizza baking tray.  Align these keeping some distance between each.  Gently fresh out outer ends of each swirl.

Swirls being cut

Paneer tikka pizza swirls ready to be baked

Baking the pizza swirls:

Pre-heat your oven on 300 degree F. Let the oven be heated properly.

Bake the pizza swirls for 7-9 minutes. These get baked very quickly.

So, the wait is over. The beautiful paneer pizza swirls are ready. Serve it hot. 

Baked paneer tikka pizza swirls 

Just relax and enjoy the delicious pizza swirls.. Do you agree change is good with food too??

I am sure you and your family would the idea of make-overed  pizza. Let me know about it. 
Add your comments in the comments section. I would love to hear your feedback. 

Happy cooking. See you soon with another recipe.

Cheers,

Shweta