Pizza Recipe (Video)
Pizza, pizza, pizza and who does not adore this simple ingredient dish! This recipe is dedicated to my followers who have specifically requested it. I will be waiting for your experience and pictures.
Pizza as we know it originates from Naples in Italy hundreds of years ago and the speciality is a thin crust which I adore. Now it is an international dish known and served all over the world, I have never failed to stumble on a pizza restaurant or takeaway in every single country I have toured. I have had it with an Asian twist, and Indian twist and I even loved it with vegan cheese. Almost every country has their version of a pizza but dubbed under a different name. In the Levant we have sfiha and Manaeesh, in Turkey they have lahmajoun, Eygpt has Feteer and the list goes on. What binds them all together is that they all share the same technique using leavened dough with a difference in the various topping that are local to the region.
My favourite is the white pizza with buffalo mozzarella cheese and basil or pesto, simple elegant and delicious to the last bite.
I know that preparing pizza at home may seem like a complicated and daunting task to make but trust me when I say:” it is so easy and the method I use for proofing the dough makes the process even easier”.
And finally, to my dear friend Maysa I say: “send me pictures”.
Boun appetito and boun lavoro.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
750 grams flour
440 ml warm water at 27 C
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons honey
Topping:
500 grams mozzarella cheese
750 grams tomato sauce
Fresh basil leaves
Method:
* Preheat oven to 230 C fan setting and if using a pizza stone make sure it is preheated for at least 45 minutes prior to baking the pizza.
* For preparing the dough there are 2 choices, either to manually knead the dough for 10 minutes or so or as I prefer using the mixer with the dough hook attachment for ease and speed.
* Place all the ingredients in the mixer bowl, close and beat for 5 minutes following the manufacturers recommended speed setting for beating dough. When the 5 minutes have passed the dough may seem sticky, don’t panic as that is exactly how you want it to be. Sticky, soft and pliable.
* Grease a glass bowl with olive oil and place the ball of dough in it, this will prevent it sticking. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 12 hours or so.
* Remove from fridge and leave in a warm place for 3 hours or until the dough doubles in size.
* Flour a wooden board and work the dough with your hands beating, pulling and folding for a few minutes then divide into 8 balls for small pizzas or 4 balls for standard size pizzas.
* Flour the surface and roll the ball to a thickness of 1/2 cm, place on a baking tray and top with fresh tomato sauce or basic tomato sauce and finish with fresh mozzarella cheese.
* Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the dough has formed a crust. As ovens vary with the heat they produce you may need to bake it for a few more minutes and sometimes up to 14 minutes.
* Remove, top with fresh basil leaf and serve after a couple minutes.
Tips:
* Instant yeast reacts with water faster than dry yeast hence my preference, but if you only have dry yeast make sure you combine it with the warm water and honey, stir it and let it rest for 10 minutes until it creates a foam on the surface.
* You can use whole wheat instead of white flour, but the dough will be denser.
* A thicker base will require a bit more baking time.
* Experiment with any topping combination you like such as pesto, goat cheese, shredded mozzarella, gorgonzola, sliced vegetables, tuna, anchovies, mushrooms etc… keep in mind when using sliced cooked cold meats that you add them to the pizza toward the final 3 minutes of baking otherwise they might burn.
* Create a Middle Eastern twist by using my coriander pesto and grated Nabulsi cheese and other toppings of your choice.
* I make small pizzettes for parties using a cookie cutter then baking them for a few minutes and freezing them on a tray. This way all I need to do is thaw them out, top with my ingredients of choice and finish baking them in the oven
Per Serving :886 Calories; 23g Fat (23.1% calories from fat); 25g Protein; 150g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 56mg Cholesterol; 1366mg Sodium.
