Recipe: My Favorite Pizza
Three things are absolutely key to every homemade pizza: (1) your dough must be rollable to get a thin base and a crispy crust (instead of a lumpy, thick bread), (2) you should minimize the amount of topping (floating liquids = fail), and (3) you should maximize the amount of cheese — at the risk of promoting unhealthy eating habits: if you aim at catching up on veggies or saving on calories, skip pizza.
The dough
500 g wheat flour (I prefer Coop Naturaplan Halbweissmehl, a semi-whole-wheat flour — not because it's healthy, but because it goes so well with mushrooms)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
20 g fresh yeast
1.5 dl milk
1.5 dl lukewarm water
0.5 dl native olive oil
Put the flour and salt in a bowl and form a well. Kick-start the yeast by mixing it with the sugar until liquid. Pour the mixed yeast and all other liquids into the well and start drawing circles with your middle & index fingers, mixing more and more flour towards the center, finally using both hands to form a dough. Depending on the type of flour, you may need more or less water — it's always better to start off from a dough that is too wet and add flour, rather than trying to make a dry lump more elastic. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes, pushing and folding. It should be soft, elastic and filled with a gazillion of tiny air bubbles when cut in half. Put back into the bowl, cover with a wet towel, and leave to rest for at least an hour.
The pizza
I won't give exact quantities for the toppings — play around and remember: less tomato, more cheese:
tomato purée canned pellati or thick tomato sauce (ideally left-overs from your spaghetti pomo) dried porcini (mushrooms) mozzarella grated parmesan (parmiggiano reggiano) garlic
Pre-heat your oven to maximum temperature (about 250 degrees celsius). Soak the dried porcini in lukewarm milk/water until very soft. Roll your dough to form a thin base, put it onto a waxed paper, and pierce it all over with a fork. Spread the tomato purée with your fingers. If you're using pellati: drain liquid from tomatoes, chop, and spread all over base. If you're using sauce: spread a thin layer of sauce all over base. Cut mozzarella into very thin slices and spread evenly. Add parmesan between the mozzarella slices. Finely chop the porcini and add on top. Season to taste with salt, pepper & freshly squashed garlic. Bake your pizza for about 10 minutes — this time can vary depending on your oven & temperature, but the base should be just about to get stiff and the cheese should be golden. Enjoy!
