a slice of heaven
HOMEMADE PIZZA. In Italy, the term pizza is generally used to indicate a flat bread which can be stuffed or topped with all sorts of ingredients. In Central Italy, pizza is also a panettone shaped bread traditionally made for Easter. Nothing so special, all Mediterranean populations have been eating flat breads for at least 3000 years.
However, at the end of 1700 someone in Naples had the brilliant idea to top the pizza with tomatoes and invented the world’s number one most popular food, the pizza Napoletana.
The recipe of the traditional Neapolitan pizza is now protected by a law dictating the ingredients and methods of preparation. A traditional pizza Margherita should be made with a 10 hours leavened dough, hand rolled, topped with fresh crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, olive oil and basil and cooked for 60 to 90 seconds at 485 °C (905 °F) in a wood oven.
That’s it, no pineapple.
My pizza is not a Neapolitan pizza as the above method cannot simply be reproduced with home equipment and schedule. It’s a recipe lovingly developed by my mother over years of experiments in her small electrical oven. It’s the best home pizza one can get. Really, this time I will not be modest.
Recipe
for pizza dough:
- 7 gr. (1 and 1/2 teaspoon) active dry yeast
- 250 ml (1 cup) warm water
- 400 (3 cups) gr all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
for topping:
- 300 gr (9 ounces) fresh mozzarella, cubed
- 2 flat anchovy fillets cut in approx. 10 small pieces
- 1 400 gr (12 ounces) tin diced tomato
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- 1 tablespoon EVO oil
Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Let it stand 1 minute, or until the yeast is creamy. Stir until the yeast dissolves. In a food processor, combine flour, olive oil, sugar and salt. Mix briefly. Add the yeast mixture and mix at maximum speed until a soft dough forms. Alternatively mix ingredients by hand in a large bowl, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Lightly coat a pizza pan with ½ olive oil and ½ sunflower oil. Place the dough on a table, and flatten the dough with a rolling pin until it is about ½ cm (1/4 inch) thin. Place the pan in a warm, draft-free place, cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 20 min to 1/2 an hour.
While the pizza is raising, warm up your oven at maximum temperature. Allow enough time for the oven to stay at maximum temperature for at least 15 min before cooking the pizza
Distribute the mozzarella cubes, anchovy fillets and tomato over the pizza dough. Sprinkle with dry oregano, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle with EVO oil and cook in the high part of the oven for 8 min or until golden below and around the sides.
10 Comments
September 21, 2009 at 8:57 pm
I love the no pineapple rule! ;o)
September 21, 2009 at 9:02 pm
ciao Glo! Also no corn, no bacon, no ketchup, no French fries, no Nutella….there’s no end to horrors.
September 21, 2009 at 10:23 pm
I have been making pizza at home now for twenty years or so and have always used the food processor for mixing, before kneading, as you describe here. Lately I have discovered that my breadmaking machine does quite a good job at making dough, allowing me to get on with other tasks in the garden. One simply adds the wet ingredients first, then the dry- including the yeast, (no need to pre- activate), then set the machine onto ‘dough’. It is surprisingly successful. An idea for those who have bread machines lurking in he back of the cupboard.
September 22, 2009 at 10:38 am
Hi Morgana, nice to see you here and thanks for your comment. I also use the bread maker when I have time but then I roll the pizza and let it raise again another 20 min. The result is a little lighter than my recipe but of course one has to have the time for it.
I used to make the recipe above when I came back from my office work and had less than one hour for dinner. Rolling the pizza before raising shortens the preparation time considerably so it is ideal for those in a hurry. Or very hungry!
September 24, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Letizia, that looks so good. I love pizza — but only in Italy. Here in Canada, restaurants make pizza that reaches half-way to heaven (like a giant cupola-shaped panettone!) Intolerable. And there’s often chunks of pineapple lurking about.
I’m going out West soon to visit my family, I think I’ll pack my own bottle of (real) olive oil and try your recipe!
September 25, 2009 at 8:36 am
Hi Sandra, I think you should start your own olive oil import in Canada, particularly where your family lives. May be even start a good food appreciation school!
September 29, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I love you for posting this!!
September 29, 2009 at 7:46 pm
thank you Maven!
December 27, 2009 at 12:52 am
Hello Madonna!
Reading this stirs emotions in me I cannot describe as tear comes to my eye during certain parts of it…I can sense the passion for life and love for food and how they feed each other within you ….and seemingly all of Italy. God bless you for feeding our minds and souls by teaching us to feed others this wonderful cucina!
As a chef turned real estate appraiser I still have a passion for cooking and eating, especially when done correctly with fresh ingredients. Even now I have some bechemel and ragu on the stovetop waiting for the resting pasta dough on the counter to be turned into lasagna (I like bolognese al forno..and I sneak in some asiago ;p)!
Now…you mentioned something about a canneloni recipe I think I read somewhere?
Cannot wait for that one…
Also I cannot wait for spring and zuchinni flowers!
Well, I am tuned in to my first blog and could not think of a better one to start with. Thanks again!
December 28, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Dear Chris, thank you so much for your wondeful words! Good food really feeds the soul doesn’t it? It brings happiness to people, sometmes the only happiness in our difficult lives. See I have stopped being an entomologist to tell people about my passion for food, but anyway we go we can find a community about this. Good luck with your blog!