The Pizza you are about to experience has quickly become everyone's favorite pizza. And the credit goes entirely to my genius son Antonio
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Category
Pizza
Servings
14
Author:
Tiziana
The BEST pizza recipe ever! Crunchy, flavorful, and delicious!
Everyone who knows my family and I know that I love to entertain, but more importantly, I love to feed my guests. And one of my favorite gatherings is Pizza night! We always have an assortment of toppings, from meat and cheese to arugula and prosciutto. But our favorite, hands down, has become my son Antonio's creation.
A few summers ago, as we made pizza pool side at home, Antonio asked me to make him a "special" pizza. Kids always come up with interesting things, so I let him tell me what he wanted on the pizza. And in order, Antonio came up with this "Italian flag" pizza that is now our staple "special pizza". Every time we have pizza night, this combination always wins the crowd!
We hope you love it just as much if not more!
Ingredients
1/2 Cup Ricotta
2 Tbsp Pesto
Parmeggiano Reggiano grated
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
4 Cups Lukewarm Water
2 Envelopes (14 oz.) Rapid Rise Yeast
4 Tbsp Salt
6 Cups 00 Flour
2 Cups plus 3 Tbsp All purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tsp Oregano
Antonio's Toppings
Tiziana's Pizza Dough
Directions
Tiziana's Dough Preparation
Add Yeast to 1 ½ Cups of lukewarm water. Mix well. Make sure the yeast bubbles to ensure freshness. Set aside.
In a stand mixer add both types of Flour (8 cups - reserve the 3 Tbsp on the side), and salt. Mix well
With the stand mixer on low, slowly add the warm water/yeast mixture to the dry ingredients in the stand mixer
Turn the stand mixer to medium and continue to add the rest of the 2 ½ Cups of warm water
Slowly add the remaining flour (3 Tbsp) 1 Tbsp at a time until the dough no longer sticks to the sides and forms a ball around the dough hook
Add The olive oil. Continue beating for 8-10 minutes until the dough mixture is fully incorporated and smooth
Place a handful of flour onto a flat surface and kneed the dough by hand, folding it into itself 3-4 times.
Flour a large bowl, placing the dough in the bowl to rise. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap
Place the bowl in a warm location for 1 hour
Grease 2 Sheet pans with Olive oil
Cut the dough and form into round balls (approx. 180 gm). Place them on the greased sheet pans.
Loosely cover the dough with kitchen towels that are damp with cool water
Let rise for 2 hours
Toppings preparation
Prepare Tomato Sauce - I prefer Tutto Rossi Tomato Sauce. then add a Tbsp of salt, a Tbsp of Olive Oil and 2 tsp. of Oregano. Mix well, cover and leave at room temperature until ready to use
Slice Fresh Mozzarella and drain in a colander to remove excess water
Ricotta can be used right out of the container so long as there is no water at the top. If using fresh ricotta be sure to drain it first
Pesto (recipe coming) If I don’t have time to make my pesto, I purchase a fresh made basil pesto at our local Italian specialty store.
Grate fresh Parmeggiano Reggiano
Making the Pizza
If using a conventional oven - preheat the oven to 350. If using a wood/gas fired pizza oven preheat the oven to 500.
Stretch the pizza dough by hand or with a rolling pin onto the cooking pan or if using a pizza oven, the pizza will be scooped after all the ingredients have been added
Sprinkle the grated Parmeggiano cheese on the dough covering much of the pizza dough
Add 1 ladle of tomato sauce and spread evenly - do not let too much of the sauce sit in the middle
Add sliced fresh mozzarella
Add dollops of ricotta cheese
Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella throughout the pizza
Add pesto to your pleasure (too much will make the dough oily)
Bake the Pizza ! A wood/gas fired pizza oven will take anywhere from 1-3 minutes. A traditional oven (depending on the oven) will take approx. 20 minutes. Check the bottom side of the pizza dough to determine when cooked. Should be a toasted brown underside, not too dark.
Let this pizza rest on a wooden board to cool for a few minutes so that the ingredients don’t all drip off from the heat
