Legacy
Legacy
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To inspire you to hold a pizza night and get baking for South London Cares, we have asked two pizza specialists in our patch to share their secrets.
Harry, head of the much-celebrated Made of Dough in Pop Brixton shares his recipe step-by-step (see below), while older neighbour Anna has a couple of tips on how pizza is best enjoyed.
I visit Anna, 94, every week through our Love Your Neighbour programme. She comes from Italy’s deep south, Naples, and I come from Italy’s deep north, Verona. But there is one thing we always agree on: good food! And what is the undisputed queen of Italian cuisine? Pizza.
For both of us, pizza is synonymous with the weekend, family, and light-hearted chats. Anna still vividly remembers her trips to one of Naples’ oldest and most famous restaurants, Zi’ Teresa, by the sea.
Her favourite pizza? ‘Ricotta pizza, either with or without tomato sauce. Swap mozzarella for ricotta and make sure you add thinly sliced ham, or stir fried broccoli with lots of chilli flakes. And a drizzle of olive oil!’
With Harry’s dough and Anna’s toppings you cannot get pizza wrong!
Ingredients for 4 pizzas
1kg flour (fine mill flour is best)
600ml water
A small fingernail of fresh yeast and 26g of salt
Instructions:
1. Pour the water in a bowl.
2. Dissolve all the salt in the water carefully, because it kills yeast, and pour the flour.
3. Mix and add the fresh yeast.
4. Mix again till it’s sticky but not too sticky for at least five minutes - you’ll tell the dough is ready because there will be no dough left on the side of the bowl.
5. Let it prove overnight, or for at least 10 hours, at room temperature in a basket covered with a tea towel.
6. Roll it in! To do this, cut the dough into four pieces, and fold them into a ball. This is the difficult bit, so make sure to watch the video!
7. For best results leave on a tray for four hours.
8. Roll it out! Stretch it till its nice and round.
9. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil - or try Anna’s favourite and swap mozzarella for ricotta, adding two slices of thinly sliced cooked ham and a drizzle of olive oil.
10. Let bake till it’s crispy either in the oven (250c) or in a pan.
11. Buon Appetito!
Grazie Harry and Anna! And if you feel inspired, get the dough rolling, and organise a pizza night in aid of South London Cares.