Ingredients
Pizza dough (Home-made or store-bought from a reputable Italian specialty shop)
Pizza topping
1 Italian pizza dough ball
3 to 4 large ripe fresh plum tomatoes
1 cup whole fresh basil leaves (whole with stems removed)
3/4 cup whole fresh Italian parsley leaves (whole with stems removed)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1 or 2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 finely chopped fresh red chili pepper (optional)
For pizza dough container
Olive oil for greasing container
For pizza baking pan
1/4 cup corn meal
Equipment needed
3 twelve inch pizza baking pans (preferably those made with holes)
Directions
1. Grease the container in which pizza dough will rest with olive oil.
2. Place the dough in the well-oiled container and let it rest for about 3 hours.
3. Once it has risen, divide the dough into 3 smaller balls to make 3 individual 12 inch pizzas.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 450 F degrees.
5. In a bowl, mix olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh minced garlic, chopped chili pepper.
6. Add coarsely chopped plum tomatoes (de-seeded if necessary), then add fresh basil leaves and parsley and toss well.
7. Making one pizza at a time, first spread the cornmeal on the pizza baking pan, and then spread the dough with hands until it is about 1/4 inch thin (I use a round pizza pan with small holes to get a really crusty texture with the cornmeal).
8. Spread one tablespoon of olive oil on the flattened dough.
9. Put 1/3 of tomato mixture on each arranging to cover the dough evenly with tomatoes & basil/parsley.
10. Bake in a 450 F degree oven for 15 minutes or until edges are slightly browned or surface has absorbed most of the liquid.
Pizza can be eaten hot or at room temperature. It also refrigerates well for several days. Just re-heat at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Notes
A traditional family recipe. Photo: The Ferri family. |
