Dear friends, pizza is a dish that represents us worldwide as an expression of the highest Italian tradition. We often enjoy it out as a form of conviviality, but today I want to propose the recipe to make it easily at home with relatively short rising times. I prepared the dough strictly by hand, but with the same procedure, you can naturally use a stand mixer, which will undoubtedly save you time and especially energy. The use of type 0 flour is the most suitable for this type of preparation, but you can also mix it with other flours or add a portion of boiled and mashed potatoes together with durum wheat semolina flour – a recipe I inherited from my mother which I will soon share with you. For the creation of this pizza, I want to thank my husband Giuseppe, who collaborated excellently not only in terms of photography but especially participated actively during the pizza stretching in the baking trays… Because kneading is fun, therapeutic, and especially relaxing, don’t you agree with me?
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients:
- 4 cups Type 0 Flour
- 1 cup Lukewarm Water
- 0.9 oz Fresh Brewer's Yeast
- 4 tbsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1.3 cups Tomato Pulp
- 5.3 oz Mozzarella
- 6 Black Olives
- to taste Oregano or Basil
- to taste Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Preparation:
Heat the water in a small pot, being careful not to let it boil. Remember: it should be lukewarm, not hot. Pour some into a glass (about half a glass) and dissolve the cube of fresh yeast with the sugar, stirring well until it is completely crumbled and dissolved. At this point, pour all the flour into a large salad bowl and create a well. Pour all the oil around the edges while in the center, add the water with the dissolved yeast (fig. 1).
Mix everything with a wooden spoon, then gradually add the remaining water so that you can adjust whether you need more or less than 1 cup (fig. 2).
Start kneading by hand. Only halfway through this process – once the dough has reached a certain consistency – add the salt. Do not do this earlier because the yeast in contact with salt will compromise the rising. Work the dough for at least 15 minutes (your hands should be warm) until you obtain a homogeneous and elastic dough (fig. 3).
Energetically slap it onto the work surface a couple of times and proceed to reposition it in the previously oiled bowl, then cover it with plastic wrap to create the right heat for rising (fig. 4).
Place the bowl in the turned-off oven for at least 3 hours or until the dough has doubled in size (fig. 5).
Once this time has passed, remove the plastic wrap and divide it into two with the help of a dough scraper (fig. 6).
At this point, you can spread each dough directly into the baking trays – previously greased and lined with parchment paper – pressing lightly with your fingertips to gradually spread the dough and make it adhere to your tray, or rolling it out with a rolling pin on a floured work surface to obtain thin discs or according to your taste. The 2 stretched bases, finally, before going into the oven, should be covered with a clean cloth for another 30 minutes for a second rising (fig. 7).
Then, preheat the oven to 428°F and start covering the bases with your prepared sauce (fig. 8).
Also add some pitted olives if you like and some herbs. Then lower the temperature to 392°F and bake for about 25 minutes. Cooking times vary from oven to oven, so I recommend always checking your pizza. A few minutes before taking it out of the oven, add the diced mozzarella and let it melt (fig. 9).
Serve with a drizzle of raw oil. And voilà… your basic pizza dough is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appetit from Fefè’s kitchen!
