Soho Pizza Recipes

Steps:

• To make dough: In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and stir until blended (the dough will be very sticky). Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 12 to 24 hours in a warm spot, about 70 degrees.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top with flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough into 3 or 4 balls, depending on how thick you want the crust. Generously sprinkle a clean cotton towel with flour and cover the dough with it. Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
• To make sauce: Blanch tomato for 5 seconds in boiling water and quickly remove. Allow to cool to the touch. Peel the skin with your hands and quarter the tomato. Remove the jelly and seeds, and reserve in a strainer or fine sieve. Strain the jelly to remove seeds, and combine resulting liquid in a bowl with the flesh of the tomatoes. Proceed to crush the tomatoes with your hands. Add salt and olive oil and stir.
• To make pizza: Place pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven and preheat on high broil. Stretch or toss the dough into a disk approximately 10 inches in diameter. Pull rack out of oven and place the dough on top of the preheated pizza stone. Drizzle 5 generous tablespoons of sauce over the dough, and spread evenly. Try to keep the sauce about ½ inch away from the perimeter of the dough. Break apart or slice the buffalo mozzarella and arrange over the dough. Return rack and pizza stone to the middle of the oven and broil for approximately 6 minutes. Remove and top with basil, olive oil, and salt.

Steps:

• Sift the flour, sugar, yeast and salt into a large bowl.
• Stir in 1/2 cup tepid water, micing first with a spoon and then with your hand, until everything comes together into a ball that comes cleanly away from the inside of the bowl.
• Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Rinse the bowl to remove any remnants of dough.
• Dry it and sprinkle with a touch of flour, or rub a few drops olive oil around the inside.
• Put in the dough, turning to coat evenly with flour or oil.
• Cover with a damp cloth and leave to double in size in a warm place.
• Heat the oil in a medium pan over the lowest possible heat and fry the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, until softened but not browned.
• Add the other sauce ingredients and season with 1/2 tsp salt and 10 grindings black pepper.
• Stir everything together well and simmer uncovered on a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you have a thickish sauce.
• Knock back the dough.
• Divide in half and knead each ball until smooth.
• Cover each with an upturned bowl and let rest for 10 to 20 minutes.
• turn your oven on to the highest temperature it will go and slice in 2 shelves with a gap of about 7.
• 5 cm between them.
• (the pizza's don't rise) Lightly brush 2 large heavy baking sheets with oil.
• Roll out each piece of dough on a floured surface to a 23 cm disk, knock off any excess flour underneath and place on baking sheets.
• Cover each base with a quarter of the tomato sauce.
• (freeze the rest for another time) Spread the sauce almost to the edge.
• Dot with olives and diced mozzarella.
• Finely chop the garlic and sprinkle it on top with salt, pepper, oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, swapping the shelves at half time.
• Remove from the oven, pile on the rocket and scatter over the parmesan.
• Drizzle with a little more olive oil.