Friday, August 20, 2010

Pizza Napolitana























When I was a kid our home-made pizzas would often have tinned spaghetti as a main topping. Mum would create them on a Sunday night and we'd all hunker down in the lounge and munch on them while watching Our World (a nz nature doco show). Now although we all thought this was truly delicious, every now and then my mum would also whip out her 'Swiss' pizza recipe. Now this, was the ultimate. This was also my first introduction to what an authentic pizza should be like. It even made me grow to love anchovies, mmm anchovies. So here is the the translation of the original recipe for this yummy thin-crust pizza.

Note: I love to add other stuff like mushrooms, and my mum didn't use mozzarella (was probably impossible to find back then) so feel free to use other things you prefer, however, I'll never skip the anchovy. Don't skip the anchovy. Did you know I like anchovy?

Ingredients:

250ml milk (lukewarm)
1 and 1/2 tsp active dried yeast
375g flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tablespoons oil
80g butter
Toppings:
8-9 tomatoes (sliced)
200g mozzarella
1 tin anchovies
a handful of black olives (chop or leave whole)
2 onions, sliced into thin rings
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 tablespoon oregano
6 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

Warm 50ml of the milk to a lukewarm temperature, then dissolve the yeast in it.

Mix the flour, salt and herbs in a large bowl; form a hollow in the middle and pour in the oil.

Heat the remaining 200ml of the milk and melt the butter in it, then add this to the flour mixture along with the yeasty milk.

Stir everything together and then knead by hand for a few minutes.

Cover and let it double in size in a warm place.

Divide the dough in 2. Roll, or pat, them out on a lightly floured surface until they are half a centimetre thick. Ideally it will make two 20 cm round pizzas.

Place the pizzas on a tray or tin etc. Layer with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, anchovies, olives and onions, and scatter on the herbs. Let them rise again for a little bit.

Drizzle with olive oil before baking at a moderate temperature, about 190 Celsius is ideal for this amount of toppings and should take 15-20 minutes.

Btw feel free to prepare the pizzas in advance, especially if you want to serve several at a time. Just cook them briefly and take them out of the oven when they are still pale and set them aside. Then later on bake when you want them, heat them until they become golden brown, should only take a few minutes.

Makes 2

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