Eggs Florentine pizzas

Ingredients

 6 bacon rashers
 150g baby spinach leaves
 2 medium pizza bases
 1/2 cup (125ml) tomato pizza sauce
 1 cup (80g) grated pizza cheese
 2 eggs
 100g truss grape tomatoes

Method

Step 1
Preheat oven to 220°C. Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add the bacon and cook, turning occasionally, for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Step 2
Add spinach to pan and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
Step 3
Place pizza bases on an oven tray. Spread evenly with sauce. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Top with spinach and bacon then crack an egg in the middle of each pizza. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with tomatoes. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and bubbling and egg is cooked as desired. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Pizza margherita

Ingredients

For the base
300g strong bread flour
1 tsp instant yeast
 (from a sachet or a tub)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
, plus extra for drizzling
For the tomato sauce
100ml passata
handful fresh basil
 or 1 tsp dried
1 garlic clove, crushed
For the topping
125g ball mozzarella, sliced
handful grated or shaved Parmesan
handful cherry tomatoes, halved
To finish
handful basil
 leaves (optional)

Method

• Make the base: Put the flour into a large bowl, then stir in the yeast and salt. Make a well, pour in 200ml warm water and the olive oil and bring together with a wooden spoon until you have a soft, fairly wet dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 mins until smooth. Cover with a tea towel and set aside. You can leave the dough to rise if you like, but it’s not essential for a thin crust.
• Make the sauce: Mix the passata, basil and crushed garlic together, then season to taste. Leave to stand at room temperature while you get on with shaping the base.
• Roll out the dough: If you’ve let the dough rise, give it a quick knead, then split into two balls. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into large rounds, about 25cm across, using a rolling pin. The dough needs to be very thin as it will rise in the oven. Lift the rounds onto two floured baking sheets.
• Top and bake: Heat oven to 240C/fan 220C /gas 8. Put another baking sheet or an upturned baking tray in the oven on the top shelf. Smooth sauce over bases with the back of a spoon. Scatter with cheese and tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season. Put one pizza, still on its baking sheet, on top of the preheated sheet or tray. Bake for 8-10 mins until crisp. Serve with a little more olive oil, and basil leaves if using. Repeat step for remaining pizza.

Gluten-Free Pizza

Ingredients

Rice flour for dusting hands and rolling
1 375g (13.2-oz.) package gluten-free pizza dough mix
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons diced red onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups canned tomato puree
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of pepper
8 ounces mozzarella, shredded
2 small bell peppers, 1 red and 1 green, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup pitted black olives, halved
10 fresh basil leaves

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF; prepare dough as package label directs.

2. Warm oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and salt; sauté until onion has softened, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in tomato puree, sugar, oregano and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Mist 2 pizza pans or round baking sheets with gluten-free cooking spray. Divide dough in half; spread on pans. Pour sauce over each, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Try arranging pepper slices in a pinwheel pattern. Place olive halves between pepper slices. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes (or as package label directs), until crust is light golden and cheese has melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Top with basil leaves just before serving.

A Plain Pizza Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
1 ball pizza dough
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons basil leaves, thinly sliced
 Extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
 Kosher salt
 Freshly cracked black pepper
 Grated Parmesan, to sprinkle

PREPARATION

• At least 45 minutes before cooking, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 550 degrees.
• Drain the tomatoes over a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the liquid for another use. Break up the tomatoes and drain the juices, pressing them with a wooden spoon. The tomatoes should be fairly dry.
• Place the dough on a heavily floured surface and stretch and pull, using your hands or a rolling pin, into about a 14-inch round. Place on a lightly floured pizza peel or rimless baking sheet. Cover with the toppings, being careful not to press on the dough and weigh it down: the crushed tomatoes first, then the cheese, leaving roughly a 1/2-inch border. Shake the pizza peel slightly to make sure the dough is not sticking. (Gently lift any sections that are sticking and sprinkle the peel with flour.) Carefully slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone in one quick, forward-and-back motion. Cook until the crust has browned on the bottom and the top is bubbling and browning in spots, about 7 minutes. Top with the basil, and season with olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan. Serve hot. Makes 1 pizza.

Pizza Marinara with Tuna and Capers

INGREDIENTS

1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes, finely chopped and drained in a strainer for 1 hour, or 3/4 cup fresh tomato sauce (page 000)
2 garlic cloves, minced (1 if using fresh tomato sauce, which is already seasoned)
 Salt to taste
1 can olive oil-packed light (not albacore) tuna
1 12- to 14-inch pizza crust
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
 Hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed thoroughly with cold water
½ sweet red pepper, cut in thin strips
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION

• Place a pizza stone, if you have one, on the middle rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°.
• If using drained canned tomatoes, season with half the garlic and salt to taste.
• Break up the tuna in a bowl with a fork and add the remaining garlic and half the thyme and rosemary.
• Spread the tomatoes or tomato sauce over the pizza. Distribute the tuna over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle on the remaining thyme and rosemary, the pepper flakes, capers, and strips of sweet red pepper. Drizzle on the olive oil.
• Place the pizza pan on the stone in the hot oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is brown. Remove from the heat, cut into wedges (I use kitchen scissors for this), and serve.

Pizza With Shrimp, Bacon and Artichoke Hearts

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon minced garlic
 Kosher salt
4 thick slices bacon, cut into 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks
1 ball pizza dough
 Flour, for dusting
6 cooked artichoke hearts, quartered
4 to 6 ounces sliced semisoft Asiago cheese
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, roughly chopped
 Extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
 Freshly cracked black pepper

PREPARATION

• At least 45 minutes before cooking, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 550 degrees.
• Melt the butter in a small sauté pan over high heat until it foams. Add the shrimp and garlic, season with salt and cook for about a minute, shaking the pan, until the shrimp just start to color. Transfer to a bowl.
• Place the bacon in the pan and set over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and crispy. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a small bowl.
• Place the dough on a heavily floured surface and stretch and pull, using your hands or a rolling pin, into about a 14-inch round. Place on a lightly floured pizza peel or rimless baking sheet. Cover with the toppings, being careful not to press on the dough and weigh it down: the bacon first, then the artichoke hearts, the shrimp, the cheese and finally the oregano, leaving roughly a 1/2-inch border. Shake the pizza peel slightly to make sure the dough is not sticking. (Gently lift any sections that are sticking and sprinkle the peel with flour.) Slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone in one quick, forward-and-back motion. Cook until the crust has browned on the bottom and the top is bubbling and browning in spots, about 7 minutes. Drizzle the pie with a little olive oil and some pepper. Serve hot.

Roberta’s Pizza Dough

INGREDIENTS

153 grams 00 flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
153 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons)
8 grams fine sea salt (1 teaspoon)
2 grams active dry yeast (3/4 teaspoon)
4 grams extra-virgin olive oil (1 teaspoon)

PREPARATION

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt.
• In a small mixing bowl, stir together 200 grams (about 1 cup) lukewarm tap water, the yeast and the olive oil, then pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands until well combined, approximately 3 minutes, then let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.
• Knead rested dough for 3 minutes. Cut into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with dampened cloth, and let rest and rise for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature or for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. (If you refrigerate the dough, remove it 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.)
• To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Top and bake.