When I was a child, my neighbours used to have pizza every Friday night and they would always invite me for dinner! Lucky girl, eh?? Well, since then my favourite toppings for homemade pizza are ham and green olives... my neighbours’ choice! My husband instead, prefers mushroom and spicy salame (in many parts of the world this is referred to as pepperoni, but in Italian “peperoni” which is pronounced in the same way, means capsicum... so beware!). Also, try and use the “real” mozzarella (or bocconcini) and not the shredded cheese that you can buy at the supermarket. It will make a BIG difference in taste and consistency. In Italy we always have one pizza per person (we love it sooo much that we just cannot share it!!!) and it is usually about 35 to 40 cm in diameter. Pizza is traditionally made in a wood fired oven, but this homemade version is just as tasty! So, here is my recipe!
Ingredients for 2 large individual pizzas: (NOTE: for 4 people double these ingredients)
For the tomato sauce:
350 ml of tomato puree
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of salt
½ tbsp of oregano
Toppings
2 big mozzarellas (125 gms each) or bocconcini (250 gms total) sliced
10 slices of hot salame
1 large mushroom
50 gms of ham
1 tbsp of sliced green olives
Prepare the pizza dough as per the steps on How to make pizza dough in the Techniques and Tips page, but make half dose for 2 pizzas.
In the meantime, prepare your tomato sauce by mixing the puree with salt, extra virgin olive oil and oregano.
Slice your mozzarella and keep it aside.
Now prepare your toppings. In this case, I have used hot salame slices and mushroom for one pizza and ham and sliced green olives for the other one. Clean and slice the mushroom and roughly chop the slices of ham.
When the dough has risen, divide into 2 equal balls and roll them with a rolling pin on a flat and floured surface till they are half a cm (0.2 inches) thick.
Place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper and spoon the tomato sauce on the top.
Bake in a preheated fan forced oven at 180° for 12-15 minutes till the pizza base is cooked.
Then take them out, add the sliced mozzarella first and then the other toppings.
Put back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the mozzarella has melted. Cut in slices and eat warm.
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