Monday, March 7, 2011

Vera Pizza Italiana

Every Friday night is Pizza night at our house.  One of the best pizzerias in Italy (secondo noi) will deliver to our apartment, but we also feel like we've mastered making our own pizza.  This is, by far, the best pizza crust recipe I've found.

Italian pizzas have a very, very thin crust and are wood-oven baked.  Obviously I don't have a wood-oven, but we do our best to make a paper-thin crust.  When I made this dough in the States, I had a hard time getting it very thin.  There is something different about the flour there.  So, you might want to experiment with different kinds of flour to find the one that makes the crust you like the best.


4 C. Tipo "00" flour
1 1/2 C. plus 2T. water
2t. salt
1/2t dry active yeast

Mix all ingredients together until flour is well absorbed.  Knead for 8-10 minutes, adding flour as necessary, with care to not overflour and make stiff.

Cover and let it rise, ideally for 1 1/2 -2 hours.  It doesn't quite double in size.  Punch down and push out air bubbles.  Form into 4-5 balls.  Dust with flour and store under damp towel.  Let rest for one hour before forming into pizzas.  Cook at 450 degrees (about 8 minutes with toppings).

If you don't have that much time, the rising and resting time can be modified without too much impact.  In my experience, the resting time is the most important.

Rise 90 minutes, rest 30
Rise 60 minutes, rest 30
Rise 60 minutes, rest 15
Rise 45 minutes, rise 15


Work dough as thin as possible without tearing.  Have fun--it doesn't have to be round!  And then top with whatever you're craving.  We make our own sauce by getting a small can of plain tomato sauce (pomodoro finesimo) and adding 2t. oregano, 2t. basil, and 1t. garlic salt (give or take!)


Because the crust is thin, be careful not to overload it with toppings.  Go light!  One of my favorite pizzas has no tomato sauce.  I drizzle it lightly with olive oil and then sprinkle garlic salt over the crust.  Then I top it with freshly, thinly sliced tomato and mozzarella and/or scamorza cheese.  A little piece of heaven in your mouth!

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