Chickpeas Pesto Thin Crust Pizza

Pizza is every kid's favourite, and i have rarely seen kids saying 'no' to this fantastic Italian bake. Loaded with cheese, pizza makes everyone happy at home and my kids are ardent fan of this cheesy dish. Earlier i never baked pizza at home and then later i realized that making pizza at home wasnt a tough job.Once i started baking bread at home, i tried making pizza at home and every time i make pizza, it was a big hit at home. Now i dont run behind the store bought ones, pizza dough can be prepared a day before and they are conserved very well in fridge.Homemade pizzas are always the best and you can mix and match the ingredients according to your wish with vegetables and cheese available in your fridge.Coming to my today's post, this pizza calls for pesto which can be prepared simply at home with less efforts.

Usually tomato sauce is used as a basic ingredient to top the pizza crust, but i went with pesto since i want to make a flavourful pizza. With easy toppings and cooked chickpeas, this thin crust pizza makes an excellent meal to enjoy thoroughly with some salads or else with a bowl of soup. If you are following my space, you might have noticed that am posting chickpeas based dishes for this week's blogging marathon. Am running Mega blogging marathon for this whole month of september with 5 ingredients for 5 weeks as theme under Cooking carnival. And i picked a dry bean/legume for each week. After showcasing Dry green Peas, Dry Black-eyed peas, Dry Black beans with many delicious dishes, this week's bean is Chickpeas aka Channa. Hence am posting this fantastic thin crust pizza for my today's post.

For the dough:
3 +1/4 cups Bread flour
1tsp Instant yeast
1tbsp Fine sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil for greasing the bowl
Flour (for dusting)

For the topping:
1cup Cooked Chickpeas
1/2tsp Salt
1tbsp Olive oil
Vegan Parsley Almond Pesto
1/4cup Chopped onions
1/4cup Chopped red bellpepper
3/4 cup Grated cheese
1tsp Oregano

Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor. With the motor running, add enough warm water (about 1 and 1/4 cups) to make a soft dough that rides the blade.

Process for 45 seconds. Add a little water if the dough is dry or a little flour if it is sticky.

Lightly oil a bowl, place the dough in it, shape into a ball and wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven with a baking stone in it to 400°F.

Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Shape into 4 balls on a lightly floured counter. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes (this allows the gluten to relax, making stretching easier).

Using a rolling pin (or your hands for a lighter texture), roll into medium sized ovals.  strech the edges so that they should be slightly higher than the center.

Place 1 rolled dough on greased baking tray or in a baking sheet lined over a baking tray.

Meanwhile toss the chickpeas with salt, olive oil and oregano.

Spoon the pesto and spread gently with the back of a spoon  Top it with the seasoned chickpeas, followed by onions, bellpeppers.

Sprinkle generously the cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the crust is crisp.

Continue the same process with the remaining dough.

Slice and enjoy.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68

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