“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

Rainbow meals are a good way to keep our immune systems strong and get the kids to try a bunch of veggies. Chetana Parameswar shares one of her family’s favourites – the Rainbow Pizza

Rainbows are a symbol of hope, of better times to come, and are represented as such in Western art. Ever since the Covid-19 lockdowns started in Europe in March 2019, rainbow sketches and art began making appearances on windows and balconies. While the world grapples with the second wave of the C-19, spotting a rainbow with the promise of brighter days ahead is what we can hope and pray for after the pandemic storm passes us by.

Rainbow meals are a good way to keep our immune systems strong and to get the kids to try a bunch of veggies. I try to incorporate some rainbow meals in our weekly menu plan. This time I chose to make a rainbow pizza.

To make a quick no-cook pizza sauce

  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp brown sugar (to balance the tartness of canned tomatoes)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp of oregano
  • 1/2 tsp of mixed dried Italian herbs
  • 1/2 tsp of salt or to taste

As an alternative, one can opt to use store-bought organic Passata (or puréed tomatoes).

To make the pizza dough, you’ll need

Ingredients for the dough

  • 400 grams pizza flour or regular APF (plus extra for dusting)
  • A 7g sachet of dried yeast
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 250 ml of warm water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra to coat the dough and for drizzling onto the pizza)
  • 1 tbsp polenta or fine semolina to roll out the dough

Method

This dough needs only 5 minutes to make and doesn’t need much resting time. So just mix all the ingredients in a bowl till they come together. Put the dough onto a floured countertop and knead for a minute. Then grease it with a little olive oil and let it rest covered while you prepare the toppings. This will make about 2 large pizzas (about 30 cms wide) or 4 small pizzas (about 15 cms wide). Accordingly, one can half or double the proportions of the dough.

Rainbow pizza toppings suggestions

 

Photo of sauce, cheese and veggie toppings

 

  • Purple / Violet colored veggies: cabbage, onions, cauliflower, eggplants, carrots, Kohlrabi
  • Blue / Indigo colored veggies: potatoes, tomatoes, corn
  • Green colored veggies: broccoli, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, kale, beans, Brussel sprouts, rocket leaves
  • Yellow colored veggies: peppers, carrots, corn, potatoes, zucchini
  • Orange colored veggies: carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, pepper;
  • Red colored veggies: peppers, beets, tomatoes, potatoes

Tips

  • Veggies like cabbage, zucchini, pumpkin and Brussel sprouts could let go of their juices while baking. To prevent that one could add a little salt on the cut veggies and let these sit for 5 minutes and use kitchen tissue to dab out the extra moisture.
  • Cut the veggies in smaller pieces or thin slices so they cook uniformly during the time the pizza bakes.
  • Use the pizza sauce sparingly otherwise, you could land up with a soggy pizza.
  • One could also swap 100 grams of APF for whole wheat flour while making the pizza dough.

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees centigrade with the trays inside while you assemble the pizza.
  2. Set a baking paper on the countertop and spread out the polenta or fine semolina.

    Photo of spreading polenta onto the baking paper

  3. Set your dough ball onto the polenta lined baking paper and carefully roll out the dough.

    Photo of rolling out the dough

  4. Now spread the tomato sauce onto the dough.

    Photo of spreading out the sauce on the dough

  5. Spread out the grated mozzarella on top of the sauce.

    Spread out the cheese

  6. Arrange the toppings in the order of the rainbow colours.

    Photo of arranging the veggie toppings

  7. Carefully lift the baking paper and place it on the hot oven tray. I used the fan plus lower rack heat mode in the oven.
  8. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on your pizza as each oven is different.

    Photo of baking of colorful pizza

  9. Slice and enjoy your rainbow pizza!

    Photo of colorful pizza

Disclaimer: Opinions and methods expressed are solely of the writer. Namaste Switzerland does not undertake any obligation or liability which may arise from the content.