Pizza, oh pizza pie. An entire meal atop some dough. Whenever we become depressed about the food we are being served on our competition or training trips in Europe, the minds of my teammates and me immediately wander to a true Italian pizza. Not an American pizza, which is topped with sauce that burns the mouth, cheese made out of plastic, and oil that cannot be removed with a dozen napkins. The Margherita pizza is the easiest to make and the one I most easily recognize.
After a week of over-priced, unpalatable food in Switzerland, the first thing that I ate upon arriving in Munich for my flight home last season was a Margherita pizza. Actually, I ate two. And then some tiramisu. But the season was over and it was so good. Hold yourself back from eating too much for I was catching up on lost calories.
The pizza below has no sauce. Instead, it is topped with only dry-cured ham, basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Traditionally, a Margherita pizza does not have the ham, but I think it adds good flavor and some protein. The crust is thin and usually very crisp. Do not be surprised if it burns a bit on the bottom. Two pizzas could be made with the recipe below, depending on the size of the pan used.
Margherita pizza Serves six
4 c flour 1-1/3 c water at 100 degrees F 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt 8 oz of pancetta or prosciutto 8 oz of fresh mozzarella Roma tomatoes Bunch of fresh basil leaves Oregano and crushed red pepper Additional olive oil
Dissolve the active dry yeast in 1 cup of the water, which must be at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir and let stand for five minutes to allow the yeast to activate.
Sift the flour and salt together into a mixing bowl.
Pour the water and yeast that is dissolved in it into the mixing bowl that contains the flour. Rinse the cup with an additional 1/3 cup of water at 100 degrees Fahrenheit to remove the remaining yeast that might have settled. Add the olive oil.
Kneed the dough together for ten minutes, or until smooth. Add additional flour or water to produce a ball of dough that is moist, but not sticky.
Set a moist towel atop the mixing bowl and allow the dough to rise for about two hours in a warm location.
Heat an oven to about 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and roll with a heavy rolling pin on a clean surface. Roll the dough to the point where it is thin, but not tearing when handled. Set into a pan that has been generously greased with olive oil. Smear the top of the dough with more olive oil. Let the dough sit for ten minutes in a warm place to rise again.
Tear the pancetta or prosciutto, which are both Italian dry-cured hams, and randomly lay the slices on the dough. Place in the oven to proof for about five minutes. This seals the crust of the pizza and allows the ham to become crisp.
Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into thin slices, about 1/4-inch thick. Remove the liquid from the roma tomatoes by slicing them in half and squeezing the seeds out into the sink. Slice them thin. Remove the basil leaves from the stalks.
Remove the pan from the oven. First, place the basil leaves atop the pizza. Second, place the slice of tomato over the basil leaves. Third, place slices of mozzarella over the basil and tomato so that a topping covers the entire pizza, except for the edges. Sprinkle with dry oregano and crushed red pepper.
Place the pan in the oven for another five to ten minutes, keeping an eye on the crust so that it does not burn. Remove when it has become medium brown, or if smoke starts to develop. (This signifies that the bottom of the crust is beginning to burn.)
