Spanish Pizza

"Want to spend the best evening? Take some Sopranos DVD chapters in your player, bake this pizza and enjoy both at the same time."

A Pizza with a Spanish twist.

The ingredients and the way they are cooked and baked is what makes it delicious: Roasted eggplant, minced pork meat, tomato, cheese, roasted red pepper and the basics: flour, olive oil, water, yeast and salt.

Bake Spanish Pizza:

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PIZZAS:

• 10 grams of fresh yeast
• 1/4 of a litre of warm water
• 500g of wheat flour
• 1 spoon table of salt
• 3 spoon table of extra virgin olive oil
• 300 grams of grated ripe tomatoes (or canned)
• Salt and black ground pepper
• 300 grams of grated mozzarella
• 400 grams of minced pork meat
• 3 roasted eggplants
• 1 roasted red pepper.

METHOD:

1. To prepare the dough: in a small glass bowl dissolve the yeast in some of the warm water.
2. In a big bowl, mix the flour with the salt. Make a whole in the middle and pour the warm water with the yeast and the extra virgin olive oil.
3. With a wooden spoon, take the flour to the middle little by little and stir. Add some of the rest of warm water and stir gently, add some more and stir... until you have pour it all in.
4. If the water is too hot it can counteract in the effect of the yeast. If it's too cold the yeast won't dissolve as it should. Therefore, the water should be at 30 - 32 ºC aprox.
5. Knead the dough inside the bowl and when it starts getting some consistency add some extra flour in a clean surface and knead for 10 minutes. Press with the palm of your hand and turn the dough towards you and knead again.
6. When the 10 minutes are over, place inside a bowl and cover with kitchen transparent film for 1 or 2 hours. It should double its size.
7. Then cut in 4 pieces, make balls out of them and leave over a clean surface (with some flour on) with a damp clean cloth on them. Let them rest for 1 more hour.
8. To prepare the ingredients: dress your grated tomatoes with olive oil, salt and black pepper or just get the canned one ready. Get your roasted eggplants and red pepper cut into strips and the cheese handy.
9. Saute the pork meat in a skillet with some olive oil and reserve.
10. Get your pizza done: Preheat oven at 250ºC. Have some flour in a clean working surface. Take one of the dough balls and with your hands and a wooden roller get a thin round dough. Place in a pizza oven recipient and press with your fingers to fit in.
11. Pour a bit of extra virgin olive oil over the dough, place the tomatoe sauce first, then the grated cheese, place the eggplant and pepper strips and the minced meat. Add a pinch of salt and ground black pepper on top and some drops of olive oil too.
12. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Depending on the oven, the dough, the water, the thickness of the pizza, the timing can change a bit. Just keep an eye on it!

Spanish Recipes by Nuria, March 2020