Pizza

Preparation:

Dough preparation and rising 2 ½ hours
Making the pizza base and topping it 5 mins
Cooking: 7-10 mins

Difficulty: Medium

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Pizza 4 stagioni

Pizza prosciutto di Parma e funghi

Pizza formaggio e funghi


There are as many pizza styles as the number of Italians doing it, so I am not here saying that my style is the perfect one, but if you are going to make an homemade pizza for your family or friends, this is what you need.

A good pizza should be very thin and easy to digest, so the key element is how you prepare the dough. Topping the pizza is just up to you and in the end of this section I will present you three topping options, which are my favourites.

For something a bit different why not try the Calzone.

SERVES 5

Ingredients:

Ingredients for the pizza dough:

• 500 g (1.1 lb) White flour (Italian “00” flour or equivalent)
• 7 g (just slightly less than a tbs) Dried yeast (granulated)
• 10 g (1/3 oz) Sea salt
• 4 g (Just slightly less than a tsp) Sugar
• 15 ml (1 level tbs) Extra virgin olive oil
• 300 ml (½ pint) Warm water (1 part boiling, 2 parts cold)

Note:
With 500 g (1.1 lb) of flour you should be able to make 5 large pizza bases of about 30 cm diameter.

Directions:

Preparation of the pizza dough:

Before starting, I make sure that the room where I prepare the dough is warm. In the winter, I suggest a temperature of about 22ºC and in the summer time, where the temperature in the house could be higher, I would slightly reduce the quantity of yeast.

As a first step, we need to activate the yeast. Take 150 ml (¼ pint) of warm water and put it into a jug. Add the granulated yeast and the sugar and give a stir. Cover the jug with a cloth and wait for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the flour into a large bowl and sprinkle with sea salt. Stir so to evenly distribute the salt within the flour.

After 15-20 minutes, you should have a frothy layer inside the jug. Give another stir.

Start gently stirring the flour and at the same time pour the contents of the jug into the bowl.

Add the remaining 150 ml (¼ pint) of warm water into the bowl and keep stirring so that all the flour is wet.

Add the extra virgin olive oil.

Give a good stir so that all the ingredients are well mixed together.

Now, pour the bowl contents onto the working surface and start working the dough energetically. Press, extend forward and roll backwards for 10 minutes. The dough should become smooth and elastic and you should have the feeling that it is sweating.

Finally, you should have this. Coat the dough ball with flour and prepare it for the rising.

For the rising, you can either put the dough ball into a large bowl or leaving the dough ball onto the working surface. In both cases spread some flour onto the bottom where you will lay the ball dough, so that it will not stick. Then, cover the ball dough with a cloth and leave it in a warm room for a couple of hours or until it doubles in size.

Before (left) and after (right) the rising.

Preparation of the pizza base:

Spread some flour onto the working surface. Take the risen dough and work it again for a couple of minutes. Then, divide the dough in five parts and make a small ball of each part.

Take one small ball (meanwhile leave the others under the cloth) and the rolling pin. Start rolling the ball so that you can make a large circle, to suit a 30 cm diameter pizza tray.

The pizza base should be very thin; I would say a couple of millimetres thick.

Spread some flour onto the pizza tray and then lay the pizza base onto the tray. I like to make the base a bit larger so I can make a rim folding the border back towards the centre, but you can also decide to make a smaller circle.

First stage of topping the pizza:

Note: these first steps are usually the same for all the different styles of pizza.

Open a can of peeled plum tomatoes and pour the content into a small bowl.

Fork down in order to mash the big pieces. You need to avoid having big tomato chunks!

My favourite method is using a potato masher. At this stage DO NOT ADD any oregano, because not all the pizzas require oregano.

With a small spoon spread the tomato topping onto the pizza base. I normally put three or four spoons and I spread the tomato moving outwards in circles. Add other spoons if you need to, but pay attention not to soak the base (the tomato should just colour the base!).

This is the final job. Remember to leave a white border of about 1 cm.

A bit of salt.

A bit of black pepper.

From now on, we start the differentiation according to the pizza topping we would like to have. I will be vague about the quantity of the ingredients because, as you will see, it is just up to you and your taste.

Pizza 4 stagioni - Pizza 4 seasons

Start grating some mozzarella. You can use mozzarella specifically suitable for pizza (available in any supermarket) or mozzarella balls packed in small plastic bags: these bags contain water so pat dry the mozzarella before grating it.

Now, prepare the rest of the ingredients:

• Some grated mozzarella (as above)
• Some cooked ham (cut into pieces)
• Some mushrooms (the best are the ones you can buy at the supermarket, preserved in sunflower oil)
• Some small artichokes (preserved in sunflower oil)
• Some black and green olives

Spread the pizza base with some mozzarella.

Spread with cooked ham pieces.

Spread with mushrooms, artichokes and olives.

Finally, sprinkle with some olive oil (just few drops).

Now, set the oven at the maximum temperature (usually 240ºC - gas mark 9) and pre-heat it properly. If the oven is at the right temperature and your pizza is thin, it should take about 8-10 minutes to cook. Fan assisted ovens may require a different cooking time. After 5 minutes cooking, checking the pizza frequently is a good idea and when the border starts to become golden brown, it is probably the right time to take the pizza out of the oven.

Pizza prosciutto di Parma e funghi - Pizza with Parma hum and mushrooms

Start grating some mozzarella. You can use mozzarella specifically suitable for pizza (available in any supermarket) or mozzarella balls packed in small plastic bags: these bags contain water so pat dry the mozzarella before grating it.

Now, prepare the rest of the ingredients:

• Some grated mozzarella (as above)
• Some Parma ham slices
• Some mushrooms (the best are the ones you can buy at the supermarket, preserved in sunflower oil)

Spread the pizza base with some mozzarella.

Place some Parma ham slices onto the pizza base.

Spread with mushrooms.

Finally, sprinkle with some olive oil (just few drops).

Now, set the oven at the maximum temperature (usually 240ºC - gas mark 9) and pre-heat it properly. If the oven is at the right temperature and your pizza is thin, it should take about 8-10 minutes to cook. Fan assisted ovens may require a different cooking time. After 5 minutes cooking, checking the pizza frequently is a good idea and when the border starts to become golden brown, it is probably the right time to take the pizza out of the oven.

Pizza formaggio e funghi - Pizza cheese and mushrooms

Start grating some mozzarella. You can use mozzarella specifically suitable for pizza (available in any supermarket) or mozzarella balls packed in small plastic bags: these bags contain water so pat dry the mozzarella before grating it.

Now, prepare the rest of the ingredients:

• Some grated mozzarella (as above)
• Some Parmesan cheese shavings
• Some Swiss Emmenthal cheese cut into small pieces
• Some mushrooms (the best are the ones you can buy at the supermarket, preserved in sunflower oil)

Spread the pizza base with some mozzarella.

Add the Parmesan cheese shavings.

Add the Emmenthal cheese.

Spread with mushrooms.

Finally, sprinkle with some olive oil (just few drops).

Now, set the oven at the maximum temperature (usually 240ºC - gas mark 9) and pre-heat it properly. If the oven is at the right temperature and your pizza is thin, it should take about 8-10 minutes to cook. Fan assisted ovens may require a different cooking time. After 5 minutes cooking, checking the pizza frequently is a good idea and when the border starts to become golden brown, it is probably the right time to take the pizza out of the oven.

Other pizzas

Read the section First stage of topping pizza and prepare the pizza base accordingly. From now on, you can decide among these options:

Spread some oregano, some finely chopped garlic, some mozzarella and sprinkle with olive oil. Before serving the pizza, top it with some fresh basil leaves. This pizza is called “Margherita”.

OR

Spread some oregano, some anchovy fillets, some green and black olives, some capers and sprinkle with olive oil. This pizza is called “Siciliana”.

OR

Spread some mozzarella, some Parmesan cheese shavings, some Gorgonzola cheese (or Stilton), some Emmenthal cheese (or Cheddar) and sprinkle with olive oil. This pizza is called “4 formaggi”.

OR

Spread some oregano, some onion slices (finely sliced), some Pecorino cheese shavings and sprinkle with olive oil. Before serving the pizza, top it with some fresh basil leaves. This pizza is called “Pugliese”.

Do not forget that many Italians like to give a final touch, when the pizza is hot on the table, with some drops of “hot chilli oil”.

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