Making Pizzas at home has now become the regular thing since I mastered yeast and bread dough. I make them often and we prefer the homemade stuff. We have a few favourites and this Fresh Fig Paneer Pizza is one of them. Another firm favourite is this Hawaiian Multigrain Crust Pizza. I know there a lot of Pizza lovers who will not recognise a Hawaiian Pizza as authentic or even an abomination. I understand their line of thought, but at the end of the day, personal preference matters the most.
Greek-Canadian chef Sam Panopoulos is supposed to have created the Hawaiian Pizza in 1962. He used pineapple to create a mix sweet and savoury flavours. This was not very well received initially but became more popular with time. The name Hawaiian was given to the pizza supposedly because Panopoulos used a canned brand of pineapple from Hawaii!
The first time I ate a Hawaiian pizza was when we took our daughter to Pizza Hut in Cochin. It was a Pizza with pineapple on it, and we liked sweet, slightly tangy, salty flavour combination. I later discovered that the Hawaiian Pizza is usually topped with pineapple and ham or bacon. In Indian, Pizza outlets and restaurants serve a lot of vegetarian versions or options. When we visited Portugal a few years back, McDonald’s there had no vegetarian options on their menu, except the fries! I think those fries were cooked in a non-vegetarian fat!
I started making Pizzas with store bought ready-made bases. They were awful and very doughy, to be honest. Once I mastered yeast and making bread, my Pizzas got much, much better. Recently, I have been experimenting with mixed flours and multigrain flours in my Pizza bases. I used a mix of whole wheat flour and oat flour in this version of Hawaiian Multigrain Crust Pizza. You can make oat flour by finely powdering rolled oats in a mixer/ blender.
The whole wheat-oat flour Pizza crust is quite hearty, crisp and slightly chewy in texture. I used sliced red and green bell peppers, sliced red onions, sweet corn kernels, and pineapple chunks as toppings. A light sprinkling of herbs, olive oil and grated mozarella completed it. This might seem like a lot but it works well.
Hawaiian Multigrain Crust Pizza
Ingredients
For the base:
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 1 1/2 tsps active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats powdered
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt
For the toppings:
- marinara sauce
- 11/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple chunks
- 1 cup red bell peppers sliced or chopped
- 1 cup green bell peppers sliced or chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
- 1 1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs (or to taste)
- 3/4 tsp dried red chilli flakes (or to taste)
- grated Mozzarella cheese
- grated Cheddar cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm milk and allow the yeast to prove.
- If you cannot find oat flour, run rolled oats in the mixer/ blender till you have as fine a powder as possible.
- Put the flours, salt, oil and the yeast mixture in the bowl of the processor. Process, adding just enough water to make a soft and elastic dough. You may do this by hand. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead further for a couple of minutes. Place in a greased bowl, cover and allow to rise till double in volume.
- Deflate the dough and press it out into a circle. Place on a pizza pan or tray dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Brush the dough with some olive oil. Spread the marinara sauce on the dough and then the toppings over this. Garnish with herbs and chilli flakes. Bake at 230C (450F) for about 15 to 20 minutes till the base is brown and the cheese is bubbly. Add the cheese about 5 minutes before the pizza is ready to come out of the oven.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
Itotally agree about the vegetarin items we get back at home unlike here. When we had friends ( musicians) viviting from India it is really difficult if we goout for dinner if they are pure vegetarians. Like some of them dodn’t even eat eggs.I totally agree homemade pizza base is much more better than the shop bought ones.This pizza looks real yumm.
The pizza looks colorful and bright. Discovery Channel showed the other day that the Chicago Giodarno Pizza place also has a cream topped pizza but it is a thin crust pizza, and the sides are burnt black! Why not a dessert pizza? A great idea to use oats to make it healthier.
Wow!..all these days I have been making pizza with the readymade bases..yes making them on our own surely taste awesome..You really prompt me now..me a lazy baker 😉
Beautiful and colorful pizza! I love the crust recipe, too. Bookmarked! 🙂
Wow,I too had tasted the same pizza from PizzaHut.The crust looks super.Lovely pizza.Healthy with oats in it.
Lovely pizza…and yes, home made bases are the best.
My vote goes for your pizza base Aparna…healthy & delicious. Yes, pineapple is very much part of Hawaiain pizza but my kids will have nothing seet on theirs!!
Wow,loved the idea of using oat flour in pizza base, frankly I love using oat flour/oats wherever I can sneak it in….this sounds fantastic 🙂
Looks so bright & colorful. Just yesterday I was telling my hubby about making pizza bases at home. BTW: I loved McDonalds in India, all those veg burgers!!
I love pineapples in pizza, the sweet balances out the rest of the flavors beautifully.
Exactly right some coutries vegge option is very less. I’d same situation in France. Pizza looks wonderful. will gona try
I have the same experience! The first time i went to Macdonald’s here in USA I was looking for veggie burger well actually more stupidly aloo tikka burger which was very much a part of menu in Delhi! So much for my ignorance..
Pizza looks very delicious Aparna & very healthy too. If you want you can send this recipe to ‘Winter Treat’ event
I always hard to find some good veg food in fast food either u eat salad or the carb (fries!)…They just look awesome and colorful , love the crust.
Delicious. Love the oats in the crust idea. I’ve completely stopped ordering in and am in love with home made pizza. Lucky you for the veggie stuff at McDonalds!
I too love the sweet, sour, and salty (and fruity!) aspect of the Hawaiian pizza. Of course, I’d rather have this than the one at my local Pizza Hut! 🙂
This is such a great way to make pizza base. I never thought they could be made at home too and this is such a healthy version. Hubby Dear has been craving for pizza lately. Might as well give him a surprize by making one at home 😉
I love the addition of the sweet corn; it adds crunch and color. I agree with the homemade base as well. They are infinitely better than store bought.
Pizza looks awesome.. homemade is always better, as we can use the ingredients which we love..chakali
oh my !!! Can a get a bite:) so many lovely ingredients and looks very inviting!
hawaian pizza looks yummy.
from the time i hv seen ur pizza recipe my temptation for the same has been increased. looks yum. bookmarked.
I make sure I order hawaian pizzas when i vist any pizza place all for the pineapple pieces…
Hi, I am Sucharitha of www-krishnaarpanam.blogspot.co…. First time visiting your blog and liked so many recipes of your. The pizza really looks mouthwatering and its on my try list. I liked all the kitchen treasures that you are having and as they had been a part of me before marriage and due to being in US and not being able to use some of the chattis here, I do miss them and was very happy to see that you have them. Hope you make full utilization of these treasures.
lovely topping .. looks delicious
Lovely pizza. Jeg bogmærke din blog, og vil se på din blog-side ved side, når jeg velkommen ….
wow! that looks delicious!join in the “sweet” event going in my blog!
pizza looks so colorful and delicious.
Must give your pizza base a try. It sounds great. I think I would love the other ingredients as well, especially the pineapple.
Very interesting pizza crust, Aparna! Sounds very healthy!
Pizza looks yummy..Very much interested in trying your Pizza base which looks very healthy…
Thanks for all your nice words.I can see we are mostly advocates of home-made pizzas.Before I started making them at home, I always thought making them at home was quite a deal. Actually its just the opposite. So if you haven’t made one at home, you ought to try it.Welcome to my blog, Sucharita.Yes, I do value my “tresures” very much indeed.Thanks, Jackie. But I’m afraid I couldn’t understand the rest of your comment.:)Thanks for the invite, Trupti and Srilekha. Let me see what I can do.
wow..that looks so yum aparna…am sure it tasted heaven!..and the toppings are classic…:))
Thanks for your wishes Aparna. I know you are a great foodies, so naturally you like kitchen and dining room better! ;DGreat collection here, I love Asha Khatau’s book too.Have fun on the 1 st of Jan, 2009. I don’t have any post ready for next year but will be back with something. Take care, see you later. We are driving to Orlando tomorrow, got to pack today! :))