Dana’s vegetarian pitta pizzas

PREP YOUR VEGES: Grab the veges that suit your taste buds best! Experiment. Enjoy. Picture by Dana Morcan

For this easy, straightforward recipe, I have used pitta pockets for my pizza bases. But you can use wraps, naan bread, pre-made pizza bases or, if you're feeling adventurous, you can even make your own. To make your pizzas even healthier, you can find recipes online for bases made out of veges — such as cauliflower!

Cauliflower holds together quite well, so it is (apparently) a bit of a new trend for vegetarian pizza lovers. If you want to forgo the cheese as well, you can . . . But, to me, a pizza is not a pizza without cheese and tomatoes! Those two ingredients are must-haves for me, but the rest, I experiment with.

I've tried all sorts of veges on my pizzas, but the following recipe is my own personal, never-fail favourite.

You can also play around with the herbs on top of your pizzas too — sometimes I add fresh basil or fresh oregano. It depends on what else I use on the topping.

If you're adding chicken, basil is a nice herb to go alongside it. Oregano works well with ham. But sometimes I just add pepper to taste! So experiment — use whatever toppings, herbs and bases you already have in your kitchen — you can't really go too wrong . . .

INGREDIENTS

BASE:

' Pitta pockets

' Pizza sauce (pre-made or make your own; I use Leggo's)

' Grated cheese (I use light Edam, but use whatever you fancy)

TOPPINGS:

' Sliced tomatoes (I use cherry tomatoes)

' Sliced mushrooms

' Finely-chopped capsicum (I use green capsicum, but use whatever colour you prefer)

' Sliced, pitted black olives

SEASONING:

' Black pepper to taste.

method

' Pre-heat oven to between 180 and 200 degrees Celcius, depending on how powerful your ‘bake' setting is.

' Brush a little pizza sauce on each pitta bread.

' Add grated cheese — I put a small handful on each pitta bread.

' Add vegetable toppings.

' Finally, add a little freshly-ground black pepper.

' Bake in pre-heated oven for about 10-15 minutes — until the cheese looks golden and the veges look cooked.

' Enjoy!

Serve with a drop of merlot — for the added antioxidants, of course. . .

Preparation time: 5 minutes.

Cooking time: About 10-15 minutes on

bake. Depends on how efficient your oven is.