Pizza in a pan
"Today I will explain how to make a delicious sheet pizza with high hydration, an easy version that is also suitable for beginners"
Discover more... with our friend blogger Simona Valli
To reach today's version, we must go back to 1889 when the chef Raffaele Esposito created the famous Margherita pizza in honor of Queen Margherita of Savoy.
Since then, this wonderful preparation made of flour, yeast, water, and salt has undergone countless variations; one of the most loved is the pizza al taglio which is enjoyed while walking, folded over itself.
The choice of flours is personal, it greatly depends on the final taste you want to achieve; I recommend mixing two or three to have a more flavorful and rustic dough.
Ingredients
For the dough
300 g of flour 1 for bread from Nonna Molini del Ponte (you can find it here)
100 g of flour 0 from Carosella del Pollino Mulino Arleo (you can find it here)
100 g of re-milled semolina Mulino Arleo (you can find it here)
380 g of water
6 g of fresh brewer's yeast
10 g of salt
20 g of extra virgin olive oil (you can find it here)
1 teaspoon of barley malt (can be replaced with 1 teaspoon of honey)
For the topping
400 g of tomato puree (you can find it here)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
to taste sale
500 g of fior di latte mozzarella
Finely ground durum wheat semolina for dusting
Procedure
✔ First, dissolve the yeast and malt in the water*.
✔ Pour the liquids into the mixer, add the sifted flours, and knead** with the paddle (the dough should be smooth and cling to the paddle).
✔ Gradually add the salt, and when it is completely incorporated, add the oil in a thin stream, and knead again.
✔ Pour the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a ball. Grease a large bowl, place the dough inside, and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rise until it doubles in volume (this will take about 2 and a half hours).
✔ While the pizza dough rises, drain the mozzarella, cut it into cubes, and place it in a colander for a few hours.
✔ Take the dough, transfer it to a floured work surface with semolina, stretch it with your fingertips to form a rectangle, and make a complete three-fold (HERE you can find images of the folds)
✔ Cover it again and let it rest for 1 hour.
✔ After the resting time, gently stretch the dough with your fingertips, being careful not to flatten the bubbles that have formed.
✔ Transfer it to a well-oiled 30x40 baking tray and finish stretching it (it should cover the entire surface of the tray), cover, and let it rest for 45 minutes.
✔ In the meantime, preheat the oven to 250°.
✔ Season the tomato with oil and salt and spread it over the pizza. Place the tray on the bottom of the oven and bake the pizza for 9/10 minutes.
✔ Remove the tray from the oven, distribute the mozzarella on the surface, and place it back in the oven on the second rack from the top. Bake for another 4/6 minutes so that the mozzarella can melt.
The sheet pan pizza is ready!
Notes
*In winter, use tap water at room temperature; in summer, if it is very hot, it is advisable to use cold water from the fridge, otherwise, during processing, the dough risks getting too warm, compromising the rising.
**Kneading a dough means giving it a structure that makes it workable; the flours we use contain gluten which, with processing in a mixer or by hand, forms a gluten network, a sort of mesh that keeps the dough in shape and allows for proper rising.
It is important that the flours used have a medium strength of about 280/300 W; if you do not find this indication on the flour package, rely on the protein content, which should be 12%.
A hug
Simona Valli
Click here to discover the flours available for purchase online from Sudrise
