It’s pizza time!!
I didn’t know what to prepare for dinner, so as I was already making the dough for the bread, I decided to go for a pizza too. Thinking about what to put on top, I ended up with the most simple ingredients. That reminds me of all of the pizzas I have ever had while eating out: I open up the menu..I go through ALL of the pizzas they have, with all those delicious and very tempting toppings..I keep looking indecisive.. At the same time I am so so sure that this time I will pick a different one for a change. And for whatever reason I keep choosing the Margherita. I just can’t help it. Gotta love that one! Simple, with only very few ingredients. That’s how I like it.
As I still have a lot of basil pesto in the freezer, I thought I could add a little more color and taste to it. And the outcome was yummy! The pesto, mixed with the olive oil and the herbs made the whole place smell like a bakery :) The only thing missing was the stone oven.. I’ll work on that later ;)
Ingredients:
200g / 7oz of cherry tomatoes
100g / 3½oz of mozzarella
2tbsp of basil pesto
oregano
fresh basil
salt
olive oil
For the dough:
500g / 17½oz of all-purpose flour
15g / 1tbsp of fresh yeast or 5g / 1tsp of dry yeast
1½ tsp of salt
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
300ml / 10oz of lukewarm water
* * * * *
Combine the flour and salt in a big bowl. Add the olive oil. In a separate cup mix one quarter of the lukewarm (!) water with the yeast and stir until the yeast has dissolved completely. It is very important that the water is not hot, otherwise the yeast won’t do its job and the dough won’t rise.
Add the water-yeast mix to the flour and pour in the remaining lukewarm water into the bowl. Now start kneading the dough. Add additional water if it’s too dry, or add more flour if it’s too sticky. As soon as you obtain a smooth ball, sprinkle with some flour. Cover up the bowl with a blanket and place in a warm spot.
After approx. 1h divide the dough into the amounts and sizes of pizza that you want to make. Either grease the baking sheet or pizza pan with olive oil or use baking paper. Place the dough on it and shape it into a pizza. Let it rest for additional 10-15min.
In the meantime cut the cherry tomatoes into half and chop or slice the mozzarella. After the dough has finished resting, place the tomatoes and mozzarella on top of it. Add the basil pesto and finally sprinkle a little salt, oregano and more mediterranean herbs if available, such as ground rosemary and thyme. (Note: The basil pesto tends to ‘burn’ quickly. In order to avoid this you can add it 10min before taking the pizza out of the oven.) Alternatively you can use some black olives as well. They match perfectly with the other ingredients. Finally sprinkle a little olive oil and bake in the preheated oven at 190°C / 375°F for about 30-40min, until brown and crispy. Right before serving you can add a few leaves of fresh basil.
Prep Time: 2h
Serves 3-4
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