Rolled Indian Pizza

There's a couple cool things in this post. First, the pizza recipe is killer. I've made it probably 7 times and I've never been disappointed. Second, I've decided to roll the pizza and I think that the application is totally open to other recipes or versions. Any time I feel like a recipe can be done in multiple ways I get excited. This is no exception. (I'll get into the particulars as they come up)

The basis for the recipe is from Aarti Sequeira, here. I've changed some of the spices, but it's mostly verbatim. She rules, and I have no problem with that. 

The recipe is super easy and it is really, really good. Which is probably why I've made it so many times. 

You only have a few aspects to the dish. The dough, sauce and toppings. The dough (unless you feel like making it fresh (which will be another post)) is just used Pillsbury dough from a can. The sauce is 3 ingredients and the topping(s) is simply marinated paneer. Easy. 

Let's get on the ingredients:

About 1 cup of paneer (say, 5 oz), chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 tsp garam masla

1 tsp ras el hanout

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp ginger/garlic paste

1/2 lime, juiced

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1/4 cup mango chutney (major grey’s)

3 clove garlic, minced

10 oz tube pizza dough (I know, don't judge)

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

Cilantro, chopped (for garnish)

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Let's start with the paneer.

I cut it into probably 1/4" cube because I'm going to roll the dough into a log, so I don't want huge pieces. 

Grab a bowl and add 1/2 cup of yogurt and the garam masala, smoked paprika, salt and ras el hanout. I used the ras el hanout mix that I made in the Beef Tagine recipe here. It's awesome. 

Stir to combine.

Add your paneer, ginger/garlic paste and lime juice. (Note here. The ginger/garlic paste is something you can get at any Indian market and I find it's awesome for a lazy addition of flavor. I also like it because it's totally smooth. I've made my own, but without a blender, you'll never be able to get it smooth enough for applications like this.)

Toss to coat. 

I stashed this in the fridge in the afternoon and left it until dinner, but you can use it immediately without any problem. 

The sauce is really simple as it only has 3 ingredients, namely minced garlic:

Pizza sauce. Yes, jar/can, I don't care. 

And the mango chutney. 

I found this in the store in the Asian aisle. It is awesome and I recommend the Major Grey variety.

Stir to combine.

When you are ready to make the pizza, get some oil in a nonstick pan over medium/high heat.

Toss in your paneer. 

It'll sweat a ton of moisture, so I strained it out in a coarse colander and put the paneer back in the pan so I could give it some color.

While that browns up, get your dough out of the can and out on a sheet pan with parchment. Stretch it out as much as you can.

Another note here: I've made this with frozen naans, pre-cooked Boboli shells and homemade dough. I love this recipe because you can do all of these applications with the same sauce and toppings. This time I decided to roll it.

Spread out your sauce on the dough.

Add your cheese:

Your paneer is done with you get some color/crust on it. Yom.

Add it to the pizza.

Ok, so you could cook this right now and have a nice pizza. But if you want to roll it, go ahead. 

Start on one side and roll tightly.

Boom.

Brush it with olive oil and give it some salt.

Bake at 425 for about 18 minutes and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. I was really worried the inside wasn't going to be done inside, but it was so cheesy and saucy inside, I didn't notice any doughiness if it was there. 

So, final notes:

The rolled aspect of this pizza was really cool as the crust on the outside of every piece housed the ooey gooey goodness of the filling/topping and was an awesome contrast in each bite. You can use a ton of other pizza recipes in this way, especially any that have contrasting textures in the toppings. Rolling the pizza really homogenizes the toppings in a neat way that I love. 

I think I could have used chicken in this particular application and really, could use it on the regular pizza version as well. I think this particular recipe could have used the extra texture in it, but it was really good with the paneer. 

Overall, the flavors of the sauce and the paneer along with the crunch of the crust was really satisfying. I was more than happy with how it turned out.

Enjoy!