Eh, what can I say. Everybody loves Pizza, everybody needs a pizza to love, all we need is Pizza :D No, seriously. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like pizza. Now you can be Italian and have a Margherita, be American and have a garlicky Marinara with artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella and roasted red peppers, be Mexican and want it with chili beans, be Chilean and want it with palmito & burrata :) Maybe.

Pizza made the Italian way boasts simplicity. The most famous pizza in the world in Margherita Pizza, which is topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil only.

Me? I think that the simpler, the better. You might have noticed that I adore mushrooms and prosciutto (either cooked ham or Parma) and that’s how I want my pizza. And I like it soft and thick rather than thin and crunchy. Or I just go with the good old Calzone (p. cal-tso-neh), which is nothing but a pizza stuffed folded in two.

How to make homemade pizza

(with mushrooms, ham & mozzarella)

For the dough 

10 oz of organic milk
2 cup and 1/4 of unbleached, organic all-purpose flour
1/2 cube of fresh yeast
1 tbsp and /2 of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of sugar
1 pinch of salt

Tomato Sauce
1 can of organic whole peeled tomatoes (I use Muir Glen, it’s no BPA)
oregano – better if freshly minced
salt & pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Toppings
Mozzarella
Ham or Prosciutto Crudo di Parma
Mushrooms
Extra virgin olive oil
Garlic & Parsley

KNEADING PIZZA

1. Start with the dough – Warm up the milk in a saucepan. It must be warm — not hot, otherwise you’ll kill the yeast. Pour the milk in a mixing bowl and dissolve the yeast in it and add a tsp of sugar. In another bowl, mix the flour with the salt. When the yeast is completely dissolved, add some of the flour with one hand and work it in with your other hand. Add olive oil, mix and keep on adding the remaining flour working the mixture with your hand.
2. When the flour’s finished, transfer the dough onto a wooden board (even a bamboo board is fine; just don’t use epicurean boards – which are awesome by the way but not to knead as they won’t absorb humidity). Knead for 2 minutes or so. Press on the dough with your hands, fold it in half, turn it by a quarter turn and press it again. It must be a smooth, airy dough. If it sticks much to your work surface, sprinkle a bit more flour — but keep in mind that you must limit the amount of flour you add to the dough to make sure your dough doesn’t become heavy.
3. Take your baking sheet, roll the dough out pressing with your hands and using all of your fingers together to create little holes. Cover it with a clean towel and store it somewhere warm (in a just-warm oven for example).  Let the dough rise for 4-6 hours.

TOPPING & COOKING 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 392 degrees.
2. Prepare the mushrooms: clean and slice them; throw them into a pan with some olive oil and let them cook. Add fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce blending a can of organic whole peeled tomatoes. (Wanna make it from scratch? See here). Add olive oil, minced oregano, salt and pepper to taste.
4. Take your dough, make holes with a fork, spread tomato sauce and put it in the oven.
5. When crusty and golden (about 10-13 minutes), take it out and add mozzarella, ham, mushrooms or any toppings you like and put it again in the oven until mozzarella melts. If you add prosciutto crudo (Parma) and arugula for example (or other raw things), wait until the very last moment and top the pizza just before serving. Buon Appetito, folks!

Need more ideas for toppings?

TOMATO SAUCE & MOZZARELLA PIZZA

• Regina Margherita: tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil
• Pizza Marinara: tomato sauce, garlic, salt, oregano (maybe an anchovy)
• Pizza Capricciosa: tomato sauce, mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed artichokes, ham (or salsiccia) and pitted green or black olives
• Pizza Quattro Stagioni (Four Seasons): same as capricciosa, but compartmentalized so that each ingredient topping a section
• Pizza Porcini & Crudo: tomato sauce, mozzarella, Prosciutto di Parma, porcini mushrooms
• Pizza Crudo & Arugola: tomato sauce, mozzarella, Prosciutto di Parma, arugola, shaved Grana Padano
• Pizza with Salsiccia: tomato sauce, mozzarella, salsiccia, mushrooms, 
• Pizza Diavola: tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy salame
• Pizza Tuna & Onions: tomato sauce, mozzarella, tuna and sautéed onions
• Pizza Tirolo: tomato sauce, mozzarella, brie and speck
• Vegetarian Pizza: tomato sauce, mozzarella, grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, grilled peppers

WHITE PIZZA

• Pizza Four Cheeses: (white pizza, no tomato sauce) gorgonzola, emmenthal, mozzarella & Parmigiano Reggiano
• Pizza Smoked Salmon: brie, mozzarella, smoked salmon, parsley
• Pizza Prosciutto Crudo: Crudo di Parma, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil
• Pizza Bufala & Crudo: Crudo di Parma, bufala mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and arugula