Week 7: Margherita Pizza

It's not Italian Week without a pizza! I decided to stick to the recipe as rigidly as possible this week in order to make a classic, thin base, Italian style pizza. However, unsurprisingly, I do not have a peel or a pizza stone, so I had to make a few changes to the order of some of the steps.

This recipe is taken from the GBBO website and took me about 1.5 hours, including proving.

The Ingredients

10g fresh yeast

pinch of caster sugar

115ml lukewarm water

200g ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing

semolina, for dusting

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled & finely chopped

400g can San Marzano tomatoes

juice of ½ lemon

½ tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

125g ball Mozzarella

6 fresh basil leaves

1) For the dough, mix the yeast to a thin cream with the sugar and 1 tbsp of the water. Sift the flour and half a teaspoon of salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour the yeast mixture into the well. Add the olive oil to the well.

2) Add 115ml of water and mix together. Add more water, a little at a time, until all the flour is incorporated. Knead for 10 minutes by hand until smooth.

3) Place the dough on a large baking tray and cover with oiled cling film. Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

 

4) For the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 mins on a low heat until softened but not coloured. Add the tomatoes and using the back of a wooden spoon, squash the tomatoes as much as you can.

5) Bring to the boil and add the lemon juice, sugar and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 mins until reduced to a sauce consistency. Remove from the heat and add more seasoning if necessary.

6) Heat the oven to Bread Baking 240'C and place the pizza tray in the oven.

7) Knock back the dough and shape on a lightly floured surface, then toss into a 30cm round.

(TOP TIP: Avoid pressing or squashing the edge of the dough as that stops it from forming a crust)

8) Sprinkle the pizza tray with semolina. Transfer the dough on the tray. Brush the dough with 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Spread 3 tbsp of the tomato sauce over the dough and top with half of the mozzarella.

9) Bake for 10-15 mins until the crust is blistered and the cheese is bubbling.

10) Remove for the oven and top with basil leaves before serving.

https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/prues-pizza-margherita/