Homemade Caprese Pizza

If you want to make an authentic Italian pizza, you can't miss the recipe brought to us by Rosa, author of Pemberley, Cup&Cakes. It is based on the recipe and tips from the well-known Hermanas Simili to make a homemade caprese pizza that's finger-licking good. It's time to get your hands on the dough!

Everyone knows a pizza often marks the beginning of something good; the advance of that unmistakable aroma, your family or friends gathered around, a good conversation, maybe a movie... Even so, today we raise the experience to a higher level, because if it's also a good homemade pizza, success is all but guaranteed.

I am aware that if we're going to take on the experience for the first time, making our own dough and kneading it at home may perhaps seem a bit intimidating, but believe me when I say it's nothing beyond anyone's reach.

In this case, I wanted to follow the recipe from the Simili sisters' book, Pan y dulces italianos, for the preparation of the thin crust, perfectly explained and with all the details we need to enjoy a homemade pizza like few others.

And in reality it's not only a relatively simple and accessible task, but it can also turn out to be tremendously fun and stimulating, especially if we have the help of some of the most willing diners (and if they are children, they will enjoy and remember it even more enthusiastically) when choosing and assembling our homemade pizza with our favorite ingredients.

Also, we will quickly see that as we become more familiar with the task (and I warn you it can become highly addictive), the result will only get better. And I'm convinced that after the first one there will be a second and many more, because once you see how easy and satisfying it is to make your own pizza, it will be hard to keep your hands off the dough.

So, what do you say, will you join me?

Cuchillo para pan Pallarès, stand cerámico Le Creuset and acacia wood board T&G

Ingredients (for 1 large pizza or 2 medium)

Ingredients for the dough:

• 500gr of wheat flour
• 10gr of salt
• 25gr of fresh yeast
• 250gr of mineral or filtered water (about 20ºC in summer, 30-35ºC in winter)
• 50gr of extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for the base ("sole"):

• 800gr of whole peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• Oregano
• Oil

Additional ingredients:

• 500gr of cow's milk or buffalo mozzarella
• 100gr of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
• 120gr of feta cheese
• 100gr of black olives (I used the "Kalamata" variety)
• Fresh basil leaves
• La Tourangelle pizza oil (optional)

Preparation

1. If we are going to knead by hand, place the flour in a mound on the work surface and make a hollow in the center, like a volcano. (See below in the "Notes" section on how to knead with an electric mixer).

2. On the edge of the volcano to one side, make a small well and add the salt.

3. In the center of the volcano crumble the yeast, add most of the water (about 200 g approx.), dissolve the yeast in it together with a little flour from the inside of the ring and let it rest so it absorbs well for about 5 minutes.

4. Next, integrate the rest of the flour, now with the salt, add the oil and begin to mix the ingredients until everything is well combined (we will add more water if necessary). For this task it is very useful to have a baker's scraper (alternatively, you can use a large flat silicone spatula).

Oil bottle Paderno and Bérard flour spoon

5. Once the ingredients are more or less integrated, we begin the actual kneading process. Fold the dough over itself toward you, place what would be the "heels" of your hands on the seam and press gently in the direction away from you, stretching it again. Turn the dough 1/4 and fold, stretch and turn as many times as necessary until you obtain a dough with a smooth, elastic texture (about 8-10 minutes). During the kneading process it will not be necessary to grease your hands or add more flour, as this is a dough that can be handled quite easily.

6. Next, shape the dough into a ball, cover with a large bowl upside down or a clean damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place away from drafts for about 1 1/2 hours or until it has doubled its initial volume.

7. Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes in a large colander over a wide bowl (if necessary, help drain them with your hands to remove excess water), chop them without worrying too much (it's enough to crush them with the tines of a fork) and set aside.

8. Preheat the oven (conventional, without fan) to 240ºC (or 250ºC if your oven allows) and place the oven rack in the middle position.

9. I chose to make 2 medium pizzas**, so once the dough was ready, I divided it into 2 equal parts (always cutting it with a very sharp knife; never with your hands). I used the Le Creuset nonstick pizza tray, because it leaves the pizza base crispy as I like and thanks to the quality of its nonstick surface there is no need to grease it.

10. Next, without handling it much to avoid further developing the gluten (which would leave us with an overly elastic base), roll out the dough with the help of a rolling pin, giving it a circular shape (always working from the center outward) until you reach a thickness of about 0.5 – 0.75 cm approx., roll it gently around the pin without squeezing and unroll it onto the pizza tray.

11. Once the tomatoes are drained, discard the water they have released, transfer them to a wide bowl, season with a little salt and ground black pepper to taste and spread in a thin layer over the rolled-out dough, uncovering with your fingertips a few spots of the dough, thus forming a series of holes so the steam produced by the tomato during baking can escape.

12. Place the tray with the base of our pizza in the oven at mid-height and bake for about 7-8 minutes. After this time, open the oven, rotate the tray so that the side that was in front is now at the back and vice versa, and bake another 7-8 minutes until the dough is well cooked and golden. This is what the Simili sisters call the "sole". At this point, we can continue with the process or, once cooled, freeze it (up to 3 months and always well wrapped first in cling film and then in aluminum foil; it will not be necessary to defrost it when baking later, although you should extend the subsequent baking time by about 5 more minutes).

13. Meanwhile, slice the mozzarella, drain the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and crumble the feta with your fingers into pieces neither too large nor too small.

14. Then, spread the additional ingredients (except the basil) over the surface of the base, season with oregano, drizzle with a little more oil and return to the oven for another 6-7 minutes.

15. Once you remove your pizza from the oven, transfer it to a rack, scatter a few fresh basil leaves over the surface and let it cool a few minutes before cutting and serving.

Le Creuset nonstick pizza tray, Cuchillo para pan Pallarès and stand cerámico Le Creuset

Notes

• If using an electric mixer for kneading, start by adding about 200 ml of the water to the bowl. Then dissolve the fresh yeast and let it dissolve. Next, add about 440-450 g of the flour approx. (about 7/8 of the total), the oil and the salt, in that order, and mix gently until integrated. Continue kneading, always with the hook attachment, for another 5-6 minutes gently. If necessary, add the rest of the water or flour little by little while continuing to knead until you obtain a soft, well-bound dough. Even so, it is advisable to do a final knead by hand to ensure our dough has acquired the correct consistency and to add the air that the mixer cannot incorporate.
• ** If you are going to make a single large pizza, you can use the oven tray directly. Add a drizzle of oil in the center of the tray (spread slightly with your fingers or a bit of kitchen paper but not to the edges), roll the dough slightly with the rolling pin to flatten it a bit, place it on the oven tray without kneading any further and finish spreading it with your fingers until it covers the entire surface.
• Needless to say, the additional ingredients can be varied and combined according to our personal preferences, but if adding raw foods (meat, bacon, vegetables, etc.), they should be cooked beforehand before adding them to our pizza.
• If you like to give the pizza a spicy touch, before serving you can drizzle a little La Tourangelle spicy oil, it's delicious!

And you, how do you like your pizza? Now you have no excuse…

Rosa