Cooking Class
Traditional Italian Pizzas with the Morso Forno
Plain Pizza Dough
Recipe based from ‘Pizza Modo Mio’ by John Lanzafame
Makes 1 30cm pizza (multiply recipe as desired)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 100ml warm water
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 160g plain flour, sifted
Put the yeast, salt and warm water in a bowl and whisk until just combined. Gradually whisk in the olive oil and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes or until the mixture starts to bubble. Add the flour and knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Rub the inside of a large bowl with olive oil. Roll the dough around in the bowl to coat it with olive oil, then place in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a draught-free spot for 1 – 1 ½ hours or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough down to expel trapped air. At this stage the dough can be covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight or frozen, bring back to room temperature before continuing. Place the dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover and leave in a draught-free spot for 15 minutes or until risen by half again. The dough is now ready to use.
Potato and Rosemary Pizza
Makes 1 pizza
• 2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed
• Mozzarella cheese, torn
• Salt & cracked black pepper
Light your Morso Forno at least 40 minutes before using keeping a good bed of coals towards the back. Blow any ash away with the Morso ash scraper before cooking, you can then simply cook directly on the ceramic base. Prior to cooking roll out pizza dough on a sheet of baking paper into a 30cm circle. I like to roll mine out to about 5-8mm thick. Place sliced potatoes on a plate. Cover with another inverted plate and place in the microwave for 5-6 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Sprinkle base with mozzarella cheese. Arrange potato slices evenly on pizza base. Sprinkle with rosemary and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with salt and cracked black pepper. Place pizza directly on the ceramic base and start cooking turning every 15 minutes until cooked, normally 15 - 20 minutes should be sufficient. Serve hot, cut into slices.
