FLOWER POT KITCHEN: WOOD FIRED AUTHENTIC MARGHERITA PIZZA

16 Mar 2014

WOOD FIRED AUTHENTIC MARGHERITA PIZZA

The gorgeous simple Margherita pizza one of the best mouth watering pizza's it is so much more than it states, it has a wonderful history with links as far back as 1860 where it is mentioned in Francerco Debouchard's book of customs and traditions of Naples.

The Margherita pizza has remained honest and true to Naples and when using only the local ingredients from Naples you get to make the STG (specialita Tradiionali Garantite) Margherita, you have to use the local ingredients grown in Campania Italy, the tomatoes have to be San Marzano and they will have been certified with a DOP certificate stamp, the flour has to be Caputo 00, and the buffalo mozzarella will be di Campania.

I was supper excited to find a supplier who can deliver from Italy the Caputo 00 flour in a 25kg sack, fresh Naples Campania buffalo mozzarella and the San Marzano DOP certified tomatoes, so I can truly cook a authentic Margherita pizza in my wood fired oven.

INGREDIENTS

(makes 6 pizzas)

For the dough

15g yeast

500g 00 flour

10g salt

50g olive oil

320g water

semolina for handling

For the toppings

1 tin San Marzano tomatoes

1 shallot

1 sprig of thyme

1 sprig oregano

3 balls di campania buffalo mozzeralla

fresh basil

Mix all the ingredients together and knead for 5-7 minutes until the dough becomes springy and smooth, cover and leave to rest at room temprature for 1-3 hrs, this is then ready to divide into six balls ready to roll out on a flour dusted worktop. Once you have rolled out your pizzas sprinkle with semolina to make handling easier and use immedaitly.

SAN MARZANO TOMATO BASE

1 tin of san marzano DOP tomaotes

glug of olive oil

1 shallot fine diced

2 springs of thyme chopped

1 sprig oregano chopped

salt and pepper

Soften the shallot in a pan with the olive oil for a few minutes, add all the other ingredients and simmer until you have a medium thick base sauce, season to taste.

MARGHERITA

Place your dough on your pizza peel or wood board and spread on the San Marzano tomato sauce, not to much and leave at least 1-2" gap around the edge, this is so that the pizza rim can puff up, tear the buffalo mozzeralla and place on your pizza, pop in your wood fired oven for 2 minutes at 400-500 degrees or if cooking in the oven use a pizza stone and crank your oven up as hot as it will go, the pizza will take approx 6 minutes at 230 degrees. I can not tell you how good this pizza is!

No comments:

LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.