PINCHES PIZZAS RECIPES

Steps:

• Make the dough a day or two before you want to bake; the recipe makes enough for three pies. Combine the flour and salt in your largest mixing bowl. In another mixing bowl, combine the water, butter, olive oil and yeast. Mix well.
• Use a rubber spatula to create a well in the center on the flour mixture, and add to it the liquid from the other bowl, stirring with the spatula and scraping down the sides of the bowl to bring everything together. Mix it all together until it is a large, shaggy ball of wet dough, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
• Uncover the dough and, with floured hands, knead it until it is uniformly smooth and sticky, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Move the dough ball into a clean mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 3 to 5 hours at room temperature, then refrigerate, at least 6 hours and up to 24.
• The morning you want to make the pizzas, remove the dough from the refrigerator, divide into 3 chunks of equal size (about 600 grams each) and shape them into oblong balls. Use olive oil to grease three 10-inch cast-iron skillets, 8-inch-by-10-inch baking pans with high sides, 7-inch-by-11-inch glass baking dishes or some combination thereof, and place the balls into them. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature, 3 to 5 hours.
• Make the sauce. Place a saucepan over medium-low heat, and add to it 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, until it is golden and aromatic, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and a pinch of chile flakes, and raise the heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is glossy and just beginning to caramelize.
• Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil, then lower heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Take sauce off the heat, and stir in the honey and salt, to taste, then blend in an immersion blender or allow to cool and use a regular blender. (The sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. It makes enough for 6 or so pies.)
• After 3 hours or so the dough will have almost doubled in size. Stretch the dough very gently to the sides of the pans, dimpling it softly with your fingers. The dough can then be left to rest for another 2 to 8 hours, covered with wrap.
• Make the pizzas. Heat oven to 450. Gently pull the dough to the edges of the pans if it hasn’t risen to the edges already. Use a spoon or ladle to put 4 to 5 tablespoons of sauce onto the dough, gently covering it entirely. Sprinkle the low-moisture mozzarella onto the pies, then dot them with the fresh mozzarella and the pepperoni to taste. Sprinkle with the oregano and lash with a little olive oil.
• Place the pizzas onto the middle rack of the oven on a large baking sheet or sheets to capture spills, then cook for 15 minutes or so. Use an offset spatula to lift the pizza and check the bottoms. The pizza is done when the crust is golden and the cheese is melted and starting to brown on top, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Steps:

• 1. Until recently, I’d always seen this type of pizza as a slightly greedy way of bulking out crusts and toppings. I hadn’t realized Italian immigrants had cleverly adapted their old-world recipes to suit new-world coalfired ovens. Making pizzas in tins to protect the base from the soot of the oven makes perfect sense to me now, and I can honestly say that when it’s cooked and seasoned with proper love and care, I’m more than happy with this representative of the pizza family.
  2. To make your dough, pour 650ml of lukewarm water into a large bowl and use a fork to stir in the yeast, sugar and 1 level teaspoon of fine sea salt. Add your flour, bit by bit, until it comes together. You want smooth springy dough, so keep adding a bit more flour if necessary. Dust a clean surface with flour, then knead the dough with your hands. When you’re happy with the consistency, pop it into a flour-dusted bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm room until the dough has almost doubled in size.
  3. Meanwhile, put a lug of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add your sliced onions and thyme leaves and cook for 15 minutes, or until softened and golden. Take the pan off the heat and put aside. Put all the tomato sauce ingredients into a food processor or liquidizer with a good pinch of salt and black pepper and blitz to a purée. Have a taste and season carefully, adding a bit more salt and pepper if it needs it.
  4. Slit the sausages open and squeeze the meat into a bowl. Bash up the dried chilli and fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar, add these to the meat with the dried oregano and mix well with a fork.
  5. Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Divide the dough in half and oil 2 trays (about 25 x 35cm) with olive oil. Use a rolling pin or clean hands to flatten and stretch the dough out. Roll or push the dough around each tray and really push it into the corners so you get a chubby crust and a base about 1cm thick.
  6. Divide your blitzed tomato sauce between the pizzas and spread around. Scatter over the caramelized onions and dot small pinches of the sausage mixture around the top of each pizza. Tear up the mozzarella and dot the pieces over the sausage, then sprinkle over the fresh basil leaves, sliced fresh chilli, a good pinch of salt and pepper and the grated Parmesan. Finally let your slices of pancetta sort of fall on to the pizzas so they curl and crisp up as they cook. Place in the bottom of the oven for about 20 minutes so the base gets nice and crispy while the top is cooking. Once your pizzas are beautifully cooked, serve right away with a fresh green lemony salad.