PIZZA WITH HAM, TOMATOES, AND MOZZARELLA
This may be a very classic pizza topping, but it is slightly twisted and contains some extra ingredients that will let you get some new flavor in an old "rusty" recipe.
4 servings:
Pizza dough:
600 g/20 oz flour
2 tsp salt
30 g/1 oz yeast
60 mL/2 fl oz olive oil
400 mL/13 fl oz tepid water
cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
Make the dough first. Dissolve the yeast in water, add oil, flour, and salt, and make into a dough. If too sticky or too hard then add more flour or water respectively. Knead the dough for a few minutes so it becomes nicely elastic and fluffy, Let it rest for 30 minutes while you prepare the topping.
Topping:
Tomato sauce made of 500 g/1 lb of passed tomatoes, 5 chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and 150 g/5 oz halved cherry tomatoes, with 2 cloves of chopped garlic and a handful of fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano. Mix all ingredients in a pan and let the sauce simmer and reduce until fairly thick. Season with salt and pepper at the end.
1 mozzarella cheese, made of buffalo milk
150 g/5 oz ham, sliced
some parmesan, fresh basil
rocket and olive oil to garnish
Preheat the oven to 250 C/480 F and put an oven tray into the oven so it becomes hot (or use a granit stone if you have one). Roll out the pizza dough to a fairly thin circle, put it on a baking paper, and prick the dough all over with a fork to prevent "bubbling". Spread out the tomato sauce in a thin layer over the dough, and top with mozzarella, ham, parmesan and basil. Brush the edges of the dough with water. Put the paper onto a preheated oven tray and insert into the oven. Bake for 5-8 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the dough is golden brown. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with olive oil and garnish with rocket, and serve.