Roman Pizza Series 1 of 5 - Pizza Margherita

Roman Pizza at its best. Just look at that!!! Seriously, what's not to love?!?

Rome: One of my favorite cities on the PLANET! I had fantasies of living there before I even visited, and you can only imagine how my desire has grown since I vacationed there a few summers ago. I think my love of Rome started while teaching about Ancient Civilizations to Middle Schoolers. The history and culture are both so rich that it’s hard to not become mesmerized with it all!

One thing that amazed me about Rome was the tangible reminders of its ancient past strune about the city in places I wasn’t expecting. Like this pair of columns. We were waiting to cross a busy intersection and across the street from us were these columns surrounded by the modern city that is Rome. If that’s not evidence of an “Eternal City”, I don’t know what is!

The Roman Forum. I seriously could have spent all day here!

More of the Roman Forum

I knew the food in Italy was going to be amazing and the pizza unlike anything I’ve ever had before, but oh my! I fell madly and deeply in love with Roman Pizza. It had an amazing crunch; the crust was nice and crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. The day I landed back in the U.S. I knew I needed to hunt down duplicate recipes of what I found in Rome. It has taken me 3 years, but I’ve finally found it! I have been waiting on pins and needles to share this series with you all, but I wanted to test and re-test to make sure I got it just right…and I so did! So, for the next 4 Fridays I will be sharing my version of different kinds of pizzas I had in Rome. I hope you enjoy!

Roman Pizza Series 1 of 5 - Pizza Margherita

Look at all those fresh ingredients!

If you like your cheese a little more browned, then keep the pizza in the oven a little longer.

Are you hungry yet!?!

Cook’s Notes: Once the dough has been placed in the oiled bowl, it can be transferred to the refrigerator and kept for up to 24 hours. Bring the dough to room temperature, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, before proceeding with step 4. When kneading the dough on high speed, the mixer tends to wobble and move on the counter.

Place a towel or shelf liner under the mixer and watch it at all times during mixing. Handle the dough with slightly oiled hands. Resist flouring your fingers or the dough might stick.

This recipe was developed using an 18- by 13-inch baking sheet. Smaller baking sheets can be used, but because the pizza will be thicker, baking times will be longer. If not using a pizza stone, increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees and set the rack to the lowest position; the cooking time might increase by 3 to 5 minutes and the exterior won’t be as crisp.

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough:

3 C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 2/3 C water (13 1/2 ounces), room temperature

1 1/4 t table salt

1 1/2 t instant yeast

1 1/4 t sugar

3 T extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

Toppings:

1-14 oz can diced tomatoes

4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced and torn into pieces

2 large basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

1.  Place towel or shelf liner beneath stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water, and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 20 minutes.

2.  Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Increase mixer speed to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

3.  Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over top. Flip dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

4.  One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to middle position, place pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.

5.  Drain the can of tomatoes over a bowl for 20-30 minutes.

6.  Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto baking sheet along with any oil in bowl. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snugly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.) Let dough rest in pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

7.  Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.  Take the crust out of the oven and sprinkle with drained tomatoes and mozzarella. Return to the oven and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.

8.  Using metal spatula, transfer pizza to cutting board and top with the chopped basil leaves. Let cool slightly and then slice and serve.

Serves 4-6

Source: Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen