Chef Danilo Cortellini
Pizza is synonymous all around the world of good vibes and friendly get together. For this reason I invite you to make pizza at home with whoever you want, and show them this simple but effective ‘pan-frying’ cooking method to show them how impressive and easy make a quality pizza at home can be.
The ingredients chosen for the topping are a classic seasonal combination that works so well. Rich Grana Padano, sweet honey, pungent pepper and zingy fresh vegs, there is a lot to be happy about here!
Ingredients
- For the dough
- 500 gr of bread/pizza flour (medium strong)
- 15 gr of salt
- 10 gr of sugar
- 4 gr of fresh yeast (or equivalent weight in dry yeast)
- 310 ml of still water (best from the bottle / not cold)
- 10 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- Semolina dough to dust
- For the Grana Padano Bechamel
- 350 ml milk
- 25 g of butter
- 25 g of 00 flour
- 150 g of grated Grana Padano
- Salt and nutmeg to taste
- For the topping
- 200 gr of broadbeans off the pod
- 3 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 150 g of diced fiordilatte mozzarella
- 10 courgettes flowers (optional)
- 1 lemon
- 4 tbps of honey
- 80 gr of grated Grana Padano cheese to garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Herbs to garnish
Preparation
Get the dough going about 3 hours before.
First melt the yeast into the water and then knead all the ingredients together. If you are using fresh yeast this is a fundamental step as the salt can attack the yeast and it will not melt at all. Once you have a smooth and elastic dough let it proof in a bowl covered with a cloth and brush a little oil on the surface to make sure it does not dry out.
The dough needs to proof for a couple of hours to fully doubled in size but if you want to make it the day before is even better, it will mature more flavour, simply let it proof in the fridge.
Now prepare the Grana Padano bechamel. Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Stir well with a wooden spoon and cook until golden. Now pour in the milk and bring it to the boil, mixing often to avoid lumps from the flour. Once the sauce has thickened remove the pan from the heat and stir is the grated Grana Padano cheese and a little salt and nutmeg to taste. The flavoursome cheese will work as seasoning too. Let it cool on the side.
Now, place the risen dough on your floured worktop. Try to not knock out all the air from the dough. With the help of a dough scraper, divide the dough into 200/220 gr portion and roll those portions into dough balls patiently. Dust with a little semolina and place the pizza balls to proof again for about another hour or until doubled in size. Cover with a cloth.
Now prepare the broad beans and the other toppings. Rinse the courgetti flowers gently and remove the pistils and pat dry. Dress the broad beans with olive oil, salt and pepper and let them marinate for 30 minutes.
Time to stretch the risen pizza balls. Dust your working surface with semolina and start working the proven balls with your hand to create large circles. They have to be about ½ cm thick. This part could be tricky, as if overworked, the delicate dough will lose all its accumulated air and become stiff and elastic as it was before the proving. Press with your finger while pulling gently the dough from the centre to the edges and rotate the circle as you go along too. It sounds complicated but is really not, it only takes a few practices rounds to get the hang of it, I promise. Do not press the edges as you want to create a nice risen cornicione.
Now pre-heat a pan of about 28cm diameter and place the rolled pizza to cook inside at high heat. Be gentle and make sure the pizza stays round into the pan. This cooking method mimic the strong heat that comes usually from pizza oven, where the heat comes strong from the bottom stone ensuring a well risen and firm crust. The downside of this method is that you can cook 1 pizza at the time unless you have more pans and a large oven.
As the pizza starts to cook on the pan, place 2 nice spoonful of Grana Padano bechamel on top. Now bake at high heat under the griddle of your oven with the whole pan (as showed in the video) to cook and give color quickly to the top of the pizza. When the pizza and bechamel starts to brown, remove from the oven and quickly add the toppings. Broad beans, courgette flowers and diced mozzarella and drizzle with olive oil. Now bake for 5 more minutes until the mozzarella melts and remove from the oven.
Once the pizza is out of the oven quickly sprinkle it with lots of grated Grana Padano, a scranch of fresh black pepper, a little lemon zest and a drizzle of honey. Garnish with herbs like parsley and marjoram and slice and serve straight away.
Related recipes
Medium
4 per.
45 min
Pizza with Grana Padano DOP, cherry tomatoes, rocket, anchovies and capers
Easy
4 people
45 min
Pizza with mixed fresh tomatoes, basil and Grana Padano
Easy
4 people
60 min
Chef’s tip
If you are making pizza for more than 4 people I would suggest to avoid making doughballs to portion you dough but rather make larger pizza trays to make your life easier.