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Chiappa Family Pizzas (Pizze della Famiglia Chiappa)

by Michaela, Emanuela and Romina Chiappa from Simply Italian: Cooking at Home with the Chiappa Sisters

This easy pizza recipe from the Chiappa sisters' cookbook, Simply Italian, offers authentic Italian flavours. Enjoy yours with salad for a lazy weekend lunch.

From the book

Michaela, Emanuela and Romina Chiappa

Introduction

This recipe is super-simple and works really well with an outdoor pizza oven or a regular kitchen oven. Miki’s favourite toppings are mushroom and onion; Emi likes mascarpone, sliced cherry tomatoes and rocket; and Romina prefers ham and sweet chilli peppers.

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Ingredients

For the dough:
7g quick-acting yeast or 30g fresh yeast
1 tbsp caster sugar
500g Tipo ‘00’ flour, plus extra to dust
1 tsp fine salt
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to grease
For the topping:
1 x 400g tin good-quality plum tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried oregano, plus extra to serve
1 tsp fine salt
½ tsp peperoncino or cayenne pepper
200g freshly grated mozzarella cheese
plus toppings of your choice – it’s important not to overload the pizzas, so stick to a maximum of 3 toppings per pizza

Essential kit

You will need a food processor.

Method

To make the dough, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 250ml warm water and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. (The yeast should make the water froth and bubble, but don’t worry if it doesn’t happen.)

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Using a fork, mix in the yeasty water until it starts to form a dough. Add the oil and bring together into a smooth dough.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until it has an elastic, smooth texture – time to give your arms a workout! If the dough sticks to your hands, add a little extra flour. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave in a warm spot for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until it has doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to its maximum temperature, 250˚C/480˚F/gas 9.

In a food processor, blend the tomatoes with the oil, oregano, salt and cayenne pepper. Get the mozzarella and your choice of toppings ready and grease 4 baking trays (approximately 35cm x 25cm) with a little oil.

When your dough is ready, divide into 4 tennis-ball-sized amounts and mould until smooth. (If not using immediately, cover with cling film or a damp tea towel for up to 2 hours.) On a floured surface, roll each of the balls of dough to fit the baking trays. The dough should be quite thin – about the thickness of cardboard. Transfer the pizza bases to the trays.

Place a ladleful of the tomato sauce in the centre of each base and spread towards the edges, leaving a 1cm edge for the crust to form. Sprinkle each pizza with grated mozzarella and your choice of toppings.

Place in the hot oven and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the base is cooked and golden. Serve, sprinkled with a little oregano.

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From the book: Simply Italian: Cooking at Home with the Chiappa Sisters

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