Baked Beans Pizza

I remember a time when Pizza wasn’t so common and easily available in the city I grew up in.  Shocking,  hey?  There were very few places, let alone Halaal places,  that served pizzas on their menu, and when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the most popular TV show on KTV, pizza was THE food to eat.   So my mother, bless her, improvised and concocted her own version of a pizza.  Now my childhood friend Farzana and I had a private joke. Everytime our mums ran out of school lunch ideas, we got a Koo baked beans sandwich – the best that mum could do.   (Honestly, I didn’t mind, not being much of a meat eater myself.)  Anyway, our school was a typical “House of Delegates” aka “Indian” primary school, and a lot of my classmates were Hindu and didn’t eat meat either.  So for our year-end party in Std 2, Grade 4, my mum came up with a vegetarian pizza.  It was the hugest, yummiest, tray pizza topped with baked beans and mushrooms.  It was such a hit, that every year after that, my sister and I had to supply the pizza for our year-end parties.  The base is not real yeast dough, but more a scone-ish type dough, so this is very quick to make.  You could top it with whatever you prefer.

BAKED BEANS PIZZA

Pizza base, recipe below

Pizza sauce, recipe below

Baked Beans, recipe below

1/2 punnet button mushrooms, sliced

1/2  onion, sliced

2 cups grated cheese, mozzarella or cheddar

Dried oregano

Cover base lightly with sauce.  Spread baked beans over, then top with mushrooms, onion and cheese.  Bake at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes.   Test center to check if it is done.  Cut into squares and serve.

Pizza Sauce

1 can tomato and onion mix, All Gold
1 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1 green pepper, cubed
1 TB oil

Saute garlic and pepper on medium heat for a few minutes.

Add canned tomato and spices, cook  till dry.

Baked Beans Topping

1/2 onion
1 green chilli – whole
1 small tomato, chopped

1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tin baked beans

salt to taste

1 Tbsp Oil

Saute onion in oil. Add tomato and chill, cook till dry.  Add chilli powder, salt and baked beans and cook for

a few minutes till beans are warmed through.

Pizza Base

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
60 G butter
5 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/4 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup milk

Sift flour and baking powder together.

Rub in butter so that the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Beat the egg, yoghurt and milk together.

Mix with flour to form soft, not sticky dough.

Roll out to fit into large oven tray.