Pizza

“A pizza parlor waitress asks a customer if he wants the pizza cut into four pieces or six pieces or eight pieces. The customer declares that he wants either four or six pieces of pizza “because I can’t eat eight.” The size of the pie is unchanged the eight slices are merely smaller.”

Pizza originated in Neapolitan cuisine and is an oven-baked flat round bread topped with a sauce, cheese with various toppings. A pizza crust offers the perfect canvas for creating your own personal pizza from your favorite ingredients and we can celebrate this flat sandwich on February 9^th International Pizza Day. Pizza is versatile and can be baked in an oven of stone bricks above the heat source, an electric deck oven, a conveyor belt oven, in a wood or coal fired brick oven. On deck ovens, the pizza is slid into the oven and baked directly on the hot bricks. Pizza can be baked on a pizza stone in a regular oven to reproduce the effect of a brick oven. Another option is grilled pizza, in which the crust is baked directly on a barbecue grill.

Ingredients for 5 pizzas

   600   ml         Water

     11   g          Salt (2tsp)

       5   g          Caster sugar (1tsp)

     15   ml         Oil, olive

   850   g          Flour

       8   g          dry yeast

Method

Place flour, sugar, salt, dry yeast in a bowl and mix. Make a well in the center and add the water and olive oil. Start mixing with a spoon, (I always use my hands). When a rough ball forms switch to kneading with your hand. Knead until all the flour is absorbed. This opens more kneading choices (like slapping the dough on the counter and folding it away from you and then rotate). This kind of handling helps develop the gluten giving your dough more structure and develop elasticity. Keep kneading for approx. 8 min. It will get smooth and silky and very elastic. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rest at room temperature for approx. 20 min until the dough rises almost double in size.

Divide dough up in 300 g and roll out to fit an oiled 28 cm (11 inch) pizza tray and pierce the dough with a fork. Prove for 25 min. at room temperature and bake in the oven on 200º C approx 10 min. Then place your favourite toppings on the pizza crust and cook under the grill.

Pizza suggestions: Pepperoni: Tomato sauce, Mozzarella Cheese and Pepperoni. Meat lovers: Tomato sauce, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Italian sausage and Salami. Combination: Tomato sauce, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Italian sausage, Salami, Mushrooms, Bell peppers and Olives. Bacon and Pineapple: Tomato sauce, Mozzarella cheese, Bacon and Pineapple. Mushroom Olive: Tomato sauce, Mozzarella cheese, Mushrooms and Olives

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