Mama’s Pizza

Recipe is courtesy of Seth Piken of Topsfield, MA, a finalist in the 4th Annual Cavit Gourmet Pizza Classic.

Ingredients
Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil


• 4 cloves of garlic


• One 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes


• 3 teaspoons salt


• 1 teaspoon pepper


• 1 pinch red pepper flakes


• 1 teaspoon sugar


• 1 palm-full fresh oregano leaves, chopped


• 5 basil leaves, chopped

• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, chilled


• 4 teaspoons salt


• 1 teaspoon yeast


• 1/8 cup olive oil


• 7/8 cup water, ice cold

• 10 oz fresh Mozzarella di Bufala, sliced into thick slices


• 4-6 T olive oil


• 6 fresh basil leaves


• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano


• 1 tsp salt


• 1/2 tsp pepper


• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions: Directions for Sauce:

Into a saucepan on medium heat, pour 3 turns of the pan of olive oil
Add 4 cloves of garlic, chopped in halves, and simmer for 30 seconds - 1 minute
Add one can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, let simmer for 2-3 minutes
Pour contents into a food processor and puree until almost smooth
Return contents to the saucepan
Add:
3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon sugar

1 palm-full fresh oregano leaves, chopped

5 basil leaves, chopped


Simmer on medium-low for one hour
Let cool before adding to the pizza
Use 2 ladel-fulls of sauce for each pizza, adding more if necessary (i.e., don’t use all the sauce)

Directions for Dough:

1) Stir together flour, salt, and yeast

2) Create well in center of dry ingredients and add cold water, incorporating the dry ingredients until the water is absorbed (a minute or two)

3) Add olive oil and stir until absorbed

4) Knead the dough by hand for about 5 minutes (not too long or the dough won’t rise enough). At this point, the dough should be sticky, but not wet

5) Shape the dough into a ball and coat with olive oil or olive oil spray

6) Store in airtight container (e.g., a Ziplock bag) in refrigerator overnight

7) Remove dough and place on floured surface, dust with flour, spray with olive oil spray, and cover with plastic wrap

8) Let rise for 2 hours

Directions for Pizza/Toppings:

1) stretch/form dough by hand so that the pizza has a very thin crust (approx. 1/8 thick) but keep the crust edge much thicker (at least ½ inch thick).

2) coat bottom of pizza with a thin layer of olive oil, sprinkle generously with corn meal, then flip to prepare toppings

3) coat top of pizza with a thin layer of olive oil

4) ladle sauce onto pizza

5) place the mozzarella slices evenly around the pizza (should be thick so the cheese melts slowly and is less likely to burn)

6) salt and pepper the pizza

7) sprinkle fresh oregano on the pizza

8) coat the edge (just the crust) of the pizza with olive oil, then sprinkle the crust edge with sesame seeds

9) drizzle olive oil on top of the pizza

10) cook pizza, preferably on a pizza stone, at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes. The crust edges should be browned and crispy. (If using a wood or coal burning oven, cook for 5 minutes, or until crust edge is browned and crispy).

11) place basil leaves evenly around pizza