Pizza

My all time favourite meal, any day of the week, every day of the week. I would go as far as to say it's my "death-row" last meal choice!

Ingredients

(makes 2 large pizzas)  

For the base 
400g Italian 'OO' flour or strong plain flour  
250ml lukewarm water  
10g fresh yeast (or dried equivalent)  
2 tsp salt  


for the sauce  
1 x 400g tin whole plum tomatoes, (preferably San Marzano of course)  
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil  

salt to taste

for the topping
10 leaves of basil

2 x 150g Buffalo Mozzarella, roughly cut, drained  

drizzle of olive oil

pinch of finely grated pecorino

 
Method

Put the flour in a large bowl. Create a well one side and add the salt into it. On the opposite side create another well and add the dried yeast. 

Gradually add the warm water (not boiling!), dissolving the yeast. Mix the yeast into the surrounding flour. Continue to add the water, incorporating the all the flour, bringing in the salt well into the dough at the very last moment. 

Mix well until it forms a sticky dough. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for a few minutes.

On a clean work surface liberally scatter flour and add the sticky dough. Knead well, working the semolina into the dough. If it's too sticky add some more flour to the work surface.

Knead well, for between five to ten minutes until you have a smooth elastic ball of dough.

Place the dough into a clean mixing bowl. Cover with cling film and then it all depends on time. The longer you leave it to prove the better the flavour, in my opinion. Leave it in a fridge for two days, or for a day or just the few hours before you eat.

 

Split the dough into two equal parts. On a lightly floured surface gently reshape the two halves into a ball and place into to separate bowls, greased a little with olive oil. 

Leave to further prove in a warm place for preferably five hours, but at least two. 

Meanwhile, with a hand blender pulp your whole plum tomatoes into a passata. Add some olive oil for flavour and season with a pinch of salt to taste. 

Heat your oven to its highest setting (485C would be great but a convential oven usually only reached half of that)

Sprinkle some semolina on a clean work surface and with your fingers gently spread a ball of dough out into a circle 30-40cm in diameter. Make the dough as thin as a pancake in the middle, being careful not to tear, and make the border much thicker. 

(Repeat with the other dough ball.) 

Sprinkle some fine semolina over 2 large flat baking trays and place the pizza bases on them. Spread a little of the tomato evenly over each base - not too much or the pizzas will go soggy. 

Top with the roughly cut pieces of mozzarella. Sprinkle over a little finely grated pecorino.

(If you prefer something extra to a marguerita add your preferred toppings now. My favourite is chargrilled artichokes. Always remembering that less is more!)

If your using a conventional oven, place the baking tray in the oven and cook for about 7 minutes.

If you're fortunate enough to have a pizza over, transfer your pizza onto a pizza peel (paddle) with some extra semolina to make sure it doesn't stick. 

Slide it into the oven, paying close attention to the crust nearest the hottest part of the oven. Using your pizza peel turn the pizza around just at the moment it begins to get those dark spots of charring. Don't worry if it burns a little as it will still taste fabulous!

Once it's evenly cooked, remove from the oven. Add the basil leaves and drizzle with a little more olive oil. 

Cut into four pieces and eat immediately.