I would like to deliver on a promise. I posted some pictures on Twitter yesterday of an olive and prosciutto pizza I made with Bacheldre Mill’s Organic Stoneground Oak Smoked Flour.  It was a 30cm (12 ins) deep pan style – the base was a great fluffy texture with a nutty taste.  The topping was redolent of hot Venetian afternoons outside looking at Vaporetto…I received a very nice reply from Jethwa asking if I’d mind sharing the recipe. Of course, I’m happy to do so, here it is…

Pizza Recipe with Oak Smoked Flour, Proscuitto and Olives

Ingredients

For the pizza base

400g of Bacheldre Mill Organic Stoneground Oak Smoked Flour
15g dried active yeast (+15ml sugar) or 1 sachet easy blend yeast
30ml (2tbsp) olive oil
15ml (1 tbsp) sea salt
Approx 300ml warm water

For the tomato paste

500g passata or 1 x 450g tin chopped tomatoes (blend for smoother sauce)
3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
Glug of olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Toppings

Your choice – I used these below for the one pictured above (all quantities approximate)

Dried oregano
Medium red onion halved and very thinly sliced
200g prosciutto roughly torn into strips
Small handful kalamata olives – sliced
250g mozarella roughly torn into bite sized pieces
Extra virgin olive oil

Method

First get your dough on the go…

If you’re using dried active yeast, dissolve the sugar in 100ml of the water. Whisk in 100g of the flour and then whisk in the yeast. Put in a warm place for 15 mins until it’s frothy.  Then add to the rest of the flour with the salt and olive oil  in a mixing bowl.

If you’re using the easy blend yeast add to the flour with the salt and olive oil in a mixing bowl.

Add and mix in sufficient of the water to make a a pliable dough.

There’s two ways of proceeding from here.

I’ve got a dodgy arthritic wrist so I use a Kenwood Chef with dough hook to mix and knead my dough. I’ve also used a magimix with dough blade to do the same. (The blades don’t last, so I got the Kenwood Chef which is fab.)  So if you’re using a machine, mix/knead for about 5 minutes on a slow speed until the dough is smooth and elastic.

If you’re doing this by hand, once you’ve brought the dough together knead for about 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. This video illustrates the technique nicely. Try to avoid adding loads of flour while you knead – oil your hands if the dough is very sticky.

Put the dough in a clean oiled bowl (probably an oxymoron) and cover with a damp cloth or cling film so the top doesn’t dry out. Leave in a warm place for an hour or so, until about doubled in size.

Then make your tomato paste.

Put a good glug of oilve oil in the bottom of a wide frying or saute pan. A wider pan gives a greater area for the moisture to evaporate and thicken the sauce. If you haven’t got one use what you have, it’ll just take a bit longer.

Gently heat the oil and put in the sliced garlic.  Heat the garlic on a slow heat – your trying to warm it through to release its oils and flavour into the olive oil.  Too fast a heat and you’ll make it colour too quickly and it may get bitter.

Once the garlic is just starting to take a bit of colour add the passata and some salt & pepper. Increase the heat so the sauce is on a fast simmer.  Simmer strirring occasionally for about 45 minutes or so until the sauce is dense, dark and yummy.

To cook the pizza you’ll need to preheat your oven to its highest setting – mine does 250°C (480°F, GM 9) with the shelf middle to high depending on whether you have a fan oven or normal.  I use a pizza stone which I leave in the oven to heat up as the oven comes to temperature. You can leave a baking tray in there. The idea is that the pizza goes onto a stonking hot stone/tray so the bottom cooks nicely.

Once the dough has doubled put it on a lightly floured surface (I use my big wooden chopping board) and flatten it out. Then, using a rolling pin, roll it out to the shape of your pizza cooking stone/tray etc.  Make it a little larger and it’ll shrink back a bit. I borrow a Jamie Oliver trick and place the base on some oiled tin foil that is bigger than the pizza base. Once all the toppings are on you can lift the pizza using the foil and pop it on to your stinking hot stone etc.

So now to put your toppings on – do your own thing. Here’s what I did.

Spread some of your tomato paste on top. You need a thin paste – dough showing through is fine – don’t go right up to the edge either. Too much paste and the pizza will drown. I then added a sprinkling of dried oregano, the sliced red onion and the sliced olives.

I then lightly drop on the shredded prosciutto. I want it to stick up a bit so it gets caught by the heat of the oven. Place your mozarrella nuggets judiciously around and drizzle over some Extra Virgin olive oil.

The picture above is the pizza at this stage ready to go on the stone.

Take your stone or equivalent out of the oven and quickly pop the pizza on it and get it back in the oven.

It’ll need 10-20 minutes to cook depending on your oven heat.  Its done when the crust is crisp and the mozarella is melted and just taking on some colour: like this…
Take it out of the oven and let is rest for a couple of minutes. Then tuck in..

Buon appetito!