This recipe needs not presentation! ?
Made with the best Sicilian durum wheat “Russello” variety from the Ragusa area, in the southeastern Sicily.
Below, I am also proposing you the option with rocket salad, fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and shaved Ragusano cheese 🙂
Ingredients
For the dough
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500 g durum wheat flour (I used Russello variety)
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250 ml lukewarm water
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10 g fresh yeast
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1 spoon extra virgin olive oil
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half teaspoons table salt
For the topping
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500 g fresh mozzarella cheese (Fior Di Latte or Buffalo)
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250 ml tomato sauce
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250 g rocket salad (optional)
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100 g Ragusano or Parmesan cheese (optional)
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q.s. extra virgin olive oil
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q.s. dry oregano
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q.s. fresh basil
Preparation
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- – pour some of the lukewarm water into an espresso cup, and pour the remaining water into a medium bowl;
- – put the salt into the small cup and blend it with the water;
- – put yeast in the bowl with the lukewarm water, melt it and blend it together with your clean fingers;
- – sift the flour onto a large bowl;
- – pour the content of the bowl with the yeast onto the flour while you mix well with your clean hands;
- – knead till you start getting a ball of dough, then pour the salty water from the espresso cup;
- – knead well till all water is absorbed;
- – pour the oil and knead well till it gets absorbed and you get a not-sticky ball of dough;
- – transfer the dough onto a working surface and knead as follow:
- – fold the dough in half and rock forward on the heels of your hands to press it flat, turn the dough slightly, fold it in half, and rock into it again with the heels of your hands. Do this for about 30 seconds, then take the dough and smash it against the surface a couple of time. Alternate the kneading and the smashing for at least 10 minutes.
- – put the dough back in its bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel and store it away from air drafts for a couple oh hours (I store it in the switched-off oven);
- – after 2 hours, check that the dough has doubled its volume (in winter it may take more than 2 hours due to lower temperatures);
- – transfer the raised dough onto the working surface and split it into 2 balls;
- – roll them down with your finger to form 2 discs for pizza trays of about 22cm diameter;
- – fold the trays with the dough-discs, cover them with the kitchen towel and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes;
- – in the meantime, prepare the tomato sauce by adding a pinch of salt and your favorite herbs (e.g. dry oregano and fresh basil);
- – chop the mozzarella and drain it from its liquid in excess;
- – preheat the oven to 245 degrees;
- – pour half of the tomato sauce on each pizza base and spread it all over with the bottom of a ladle;
- – do not add anything else at this stage;
- – put the pizza in the oven and lower the heat to 200 degrees;
- – after about 15 minutes the crust should start to brown: take out the pizza from the oven at this stage;
- – top each pizza with half of the mozzarella and put them back in the oven;
- – bake for another 10 minute or till the mozzarella reaches the melting point you prefer;
- – take the pizza out from the oven and top with rocket salad leaves, shaved Ragusano or Parmesan cheese;
- – drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top
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