Pizza with cooked ham and mozzarella like from a stone oven, made with a quick dough. The recipe to make the Pizza Margherita al piatto, as in a pizzeria but made at home, has already been done; now we make a slightly richer version by adding cooked ham. A simple yet delicious version of pizza whose protagonists are well-fermented dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella, cooked ham, extra-virgin olive oil, oregano and basil, a perfect combination of aromas and flavors that brings the best of Mediterranean cuisine to the table. Today I will tell you how to prepare it, giving you several baking options; I also leave here the link for a long-fermentation pizza dough to get an even more digestible and alveolated pizza like the Neapolitan one: Long-fermentation pizza dough. Let’s go to the kitchen now and discover together how to make a round pizzeria-style pizza, but before we get started I remind you that if you want to stay updated on my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Low cost
- Rest time: 3 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups re-milled durum wheat semolina (you can substitute with type 0 flour)
- 2 1/2 cups type 0 flour (for pizza) (for pizza)
- 1 7/8 cups water
- 2 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp active dry yeast (or 12 g fresh (about 3/4 tbsp))
- 1 2/3 cups tomato passata
- 28 oz mozzarella
- to taste salt
- to taste extra-virgin olive oil
- to taste oregano
- to taste basil
- 10.5 oz cooked ham
Tools
- Pizza oven
- Bowls
Preparation
How to make the pizza dough for a pizza on a refractory stone
Gather the two flours in a bowl; if you can’t find re-milled semolina you can use only type 0 flour. Add the yeast, the sugar and part of the water. Mix, then add the oil, salt and the rest of the water. Work the dough in the bowl for a couple of minutes.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Then turn the dough out onto the work surface and knead until the sticky dough begins to gain structure. Avoid adding extra flour; with patience you’ll obtain a dough that holds together. Use a dough scraper to help and shape into a ball, place it in a bowl and set it in a warm place to rise until doubled, for example in the oven with the light on.
Once doubled (never before), turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, degas it slightly, form a ball and divide it into dough balls of 250–300 g each. Let rise again until doubled. At least 45 minutes before you start baking, preheat the oven to the temperature indicated for pizza (about 806°F); times are a bit long and the temperatures to reach are high. Once the oven is hot and the dough balls have doubled you can begin. (To heat the smaller “fornetto” oven you will need about 30 minutes.) Place a dough ball in the center of a floured work surface and stretch it with your hands, leaving it thicker around the edges.
Move the stretched dough to a well-floured peel, then top it with tomato sauce (already seasoned and cooked if you like), cooked ham, mozzarella, olive oil and oregano.
Gently slide the pizza into the pizza oven, placing it directly on the refractory stone.
Close the oven and bake for 4–5 minutes (7 minutes with the small oven), turning the pizza 90° halfway through baking (if the oven is at the correct temperature it will only take a few minutes). Then remove the pizza using the peel, drizzle with a little oil, add basil leaves (and oregano) and serve immediately. Before baking the next pizza, let the oven heat up for a few minutes.
The pizza is ready and should be enjoyed immediately. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge and eaten the next day after reheating, though they won’t be as good as freshly baked. You can use the same dough to make a tray-style pizza.
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Notes and alternative baking methods
If you cannot buy a specific pizza oven, use your home oven. At least 40 minutes before you start baking, turn your oven to the highest temperature it can reach, place the rack with the pizza stone just under the broiler and let it heat to about 482°F. With the stone hot and the dough balls doubled you can begin. Turn on the broiler of your oven. Flour the peel that usually comes with the stone; if you don’t have one improvise with something that can substitute it or buy one. Place the dough ball in the center of the work surface and stretch it with your hands, leaving it thicker around the edges. Spread the tomato sauce, preferably homemade. Without wasting time and before the sauce makes the dough too wet, it’s time to slide the pizza onto the stone: open the oven, pull the rack out halfway where the stone rests and let the pizza slide onto it. Put it back in and let it bake under the broiler for about 7 minutes, but watch it closely — not all ovens are the same. Pull the pizza out again, add the ham and mozzarella, then return it under the broiler for another 5–6 minutes. Once out of the oven, drizzle with oil and garnish with basil and oregano. Use a cloth to brush the flour off the stone, letting it fall out of the oven. Let it heat for at least 10–15 minutes before baking the next pizza.
