A rustic, home-made pizza topped with ham & mushrooms (prosciutto e funghi in Italian) to get us through this lockdown period.
For someone who doesn't often cook Italian, I feel this is a pretty hypocritical first post - but I am going with it anyway. Pizza is one of the most iconic Italian dishes and even though getting amazing take-away pizza is pretty inexpensive in Italy, I grew up with mum's home-made pizza being one of my favourite options. Mum's version is a little different from the traditional take-away pizza: a little more bread-like, fluffy and doughy (unless you are lucky enough to have a wood-fired pizza oven in your house!).
In my case I have enlisted the help of my loyal bread maker to make the dough - if available it can be a good option for a less floury mess and a practical option if you have other tasks to concentrate on (or are working from home, like so many of us now). But don't despair if a bread maker is not available to you - good old kneading in a bowl will be just as effective.
Ingredients for 2 large pizzas
(mine covered 2 oven trays when stretched into ovals)
Ingredients:
For the DOUGH:
- 240ml of water (I prefer lukewarm)
- 1 1/2 table spoons of olive oil
- 1 heaped teaspoon of table salt
- 480g of flour (I used a mix of plain & bread flour/ about 50-50 ratio) + extra for dusting & working
- 1 teaspoon of dry active yeast (what you would use for bread making is perfectly fine)
For the TOPPINGS:
- 1 1/2 can of chopped tomatoes
- 10-12 chestnut mushrooms
- 200g of thinly sliced ham (any kind you prefer - honey roast, smoked etc.)
- 2 mozzarellas
- a pinch of oregano
- a handful of basil leaves for garnish (optional)
- extra olive oil for garnish (optional)
Method:
Start with the dough: I did mine in the bread maker on the pizza dough setting.
Add the ingredients in order: water, olive oil, salt, flour and yeast.
Start the machine on the pizza setting (mine take approximately 1h 10 min) and make yourself a cup of tea; or do you laundry; or wash the dishes. Easy.
If you don't have a bread maker, place the flour into a bowl; on the side, combine the water, salt, olive oil and yeast in a cup or jug and wait for it to get frothy (about 10 min). Watch out for your water temperature as too much heat will kill the yeast. Optionally you can also add a pinch of sugar to help activate the yeast.
Combine the wet ingredients into the flour and work with your hands to amalgamate the dough - if the dough is too sticky you can sprinkle in some extra flour, but be mindful to add a little bit at a time. As my mum says, this is a process which is often done "by eye" as no two days are the same for dough - humidity levels in particular can make it react in very different ways. Once you have formed a dough ball, knead in all directions on a floured surface. Place the dough back into the bowl, sprinkle some flour on top and cover the bowl with a tea towel (it can be damp if you prefer, but I always use mine dry and it works just fine). Let the dough rise - I always put my bowl in the oven (when it's off!) as I find it traps the heat generated by the yeast reaction and in turn helps my dough rise better (warmth will help the rise, cold will hinder it). If you have a proving drawer, that will be your best option. Let the dough rise for at least 1 hour- the longer you leave it the better. Ideally you are looking for your dough to have doubled in size.
Whether it is in the bread-maker or by hand I would let the dough rise twice as I find it makes my pizza fluffier and less yeasty. For the bread maker, I just poke the dough gently once the cycle has finished and then close the lid again for the dough to puff back up. If made by hand, I would take off the tea towel to push gently back the dough dome and then cover it back up again for a second rise. Depending on how much time you have, your second rise can be a little quicker.
Whilst you wait, you can prep the toppings.
Dice the mushrooms, heat some olive oil in a frying pan and gently soften the mushrooms. Set aside. My mum used to top our pizza with canned mushrooms, preserved under oil. You can get this easily at any supermarket in Italy. If using canned mushrooms (funghi trifolati) remember to drain the oil off before topping the pizza.
Slice the mozzarella or dice it. Set aside.
Depending on your oven, turn it on about 15-20 min before starting on the dough shaping. I set my ventilated oven at 200 C. The higher the oven the easier to obtain a nice crusty pizza.
Once your dough is ready, generously flour a flat surface - I use my silicone mats (you can see one in the photograph above) over a wooden board as I find they don't stick, are easy to transfer over to an oven tray and save me baking paper. Prep your hands and a wooden rolling pin by sprinkling a bit of flour on them. Divide the dough in portions (I cut it in half for two large ovals, but you can do more, smaller pizzas) and roll the dough out in the desired shape. I can never get them round and tend to always end up with an oval, so don't worry too much about the shape.
Once your oven is hot, spread some canned chopped tomatoes on your base - be generous as you don't want the base to dry out too much and remember to leave a little edge for the crust. Sprinkle with oregano and a drizzle of olive oil if you would like. Put the base in the oven for about 10 mins. Again this depends on your oven and setting: you should start to see the sauce reducing a bit and the edge might create pockets. Then add the mozzarella, and mushrooms. Back in the oven until the mozzarella is generously melted. I always leave any cold cuts last (only a couple of minutes before my pizza comes out) as I don't like them drying out in the oven. Some people will also add them on only once the pizza is out - it's entirely up to your taste. I don't chop my ham, but just rip it is by hand.
Again, depending on your oven setting and type, your pizza should be done in about 15-20 mins. And remember that you should open the oven the least amount of times possible to keep the heat high - so resist the temptation to open the oven to check if the pizza is done.
Once out, you can add your ham if you haven't already and you can top with some fresh basil.
Buon appetito!
Some extra tips
Pizza is a great canvas to experiment with different toppings. There really is no right or wrong topping (although I must admit my Italian conscience does recoil a bit at the idea of pineapple!) and you can be creative with what you have in the fridge or cupboard.
Some of my favourite pizzas are
Cappricciosa: with ham, mushroom & artichoke (add spicy salami for extra heat)
Radicchio & pancetta: Radicchio (or Italian chicory) & pork belly
Rucola & Parma: with rocket & Parma ham
Be creative!