Garlic White Sauce Pizza

After eating a white sauce pizza a while ago, I was craving for it recently and set about making the entire thing from scratch upon a whim. It was a Friday evening and that's usually when I want to experiment and am willing to do something a little more elaborate than usual - of course it depends on my mood and hunger levels as well :)

The pizza crust was really easy to put together and didn't require a whole lot of effort or kneading... i won't say it was the best crust ever but it was pretty decent and i loved the sauce and toppings and so did the others in the family. I only used part of the dough and wrapped and refrigerated the rest using which we made another pizza the following day.

Also, the pictures taken here were done on Day 1 when I first placed the toppings and then added the pepperjack cheese so they are not that visible - the 2nd day however, i first sprinkled the cheese and then placed the toppings which resulted in a prettier looking pizza but there was no time to click pictures then.

GARLIC WHITE SAUCE PIZZA


For Pizza Crust:

All purpose Flour - 2.5 cups to 3 cups
Active Dry Yeast - 1 pouch (2.25 tsp)
Sugar - 1 to 2 tsp
Honey - 2 tsp
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Warm water - 1 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Dried Italian herbs (Mixed) - 1 tbsp
Garlic powder (not salt) - 1 to 2 tsp
Dried Red Chilli Flakes - 1 to 2 tsp

Method for Pizza:
- In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, honey, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, stirring to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy (about 5 minutes). Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough lightly after each addition, until the dough is smooth but still slightly sticky. You might not need all of the flour. Knead dough very lightly just to combine. Oil a large mixing bowl with remaining olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place (I put it in the oven and turned on the light - no heat though) until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

For Garlic White Sauce - this yields enough sauce for about 3 to 4 medium pizzas


Garlic cloves - 6 to 8, peeled (or use roasted garlic if you have that on hand and skip step 1 below)
Red Chilli Flakes - 1 tsp
Milk - 1 cup, warmed in the microwave
Olive oil - 2 tsp
Butter - 3/4 tbsp
All purpose flour - 2 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method for Garlic Sauce
1) Heat olive oil in a pan and add the red chilli flakes and the peeled garlic cloves, cook till they are golden brown and kind of shrivelled. Scoop out the garlic and as much of the red chilli flakes as you can and place in a blender. Leave the remaining olive oil as is in the pan.

2) Return the pan to the stove and add the butter, when it's melted, add 2 tbsp of flour and stir on a medium heat for a few minutes till the flour and butter combine to a mass and get a bit fried. Now add the warm milk, salt, red chilli powder and stir continously so no lumps are formed. Allow this to simmer (with frequent stirring) until it thickens. Allow this to cool for a bit.

3) Blend this sauce in a mixie/blender along with the garlic from step 1 (this takes care of the tiny lumps if any in the sauce) until you have a smooth, silky, white sauce, loaded with garlicky goodness.

Pizza Toppings: (these can be varied to your choice - the following are my suggestions and what i used except for the broccoli).

Caramelized Red Onions
Red Peppers - sliced into circles
Tomatoes - sliced into circles
Broccoli (par-boiled) / Spinach - small florets or chopped accordingly.
Basil leaves - few, chopped
Pepper jack cheese - about 1 cup

Method:
1) For the caramelized onions, heat some olive oil in a pan and add sliced red onions, after they have sweated it out a bit, sprinkle some salt & a touch of sugar and allow to cook till browned & caramelized.

2) Roll out the risen pizza dough to desired thickness. Coat a baking pan or pizza stone with some cooking spray and sprinkle some cornmeal (optional). Transfer pizza dough onto baking pan.

3) Spread a few tbsps of the garlic sauce, sprinkle the pepperjack cheese and evenly distribute the toppings on the pizza.

4) Cook in a preheated oven at 400F for about 15-20 minutes or till done. Slice and serve.

I would like to send this as my 2nd entry to Poornima's My Favorite things: Cheese Event which she is hosting on behalf of Bindya this month.