Parma Ham & Rocket Pizza

my first time making pizza dough from scratch and i was pretty excited about it. been dreaming about a really good parma ham & rocket pizza ever since i had it earlier this year at bistro senso but i've been procrasting about making my own coz i haven't come across any pizza dough recipe that i felt i could trust (ok i promise to use my bread baker's apprentice book by peter reinhart nx time). so happened i picked up the latest copy of donna hay (yes, again!) and there were lotsa pizza recipes in there. decided to make use of the basic dough recipe and i thought it was quite good tho' it tasted rather similar to the flatbread i made not too long ago. the only mistake i made was not brushing the dough with oil before baking, ended up with burnt bits around the sides :( and since i hv so much leftover dough in the freezer, i'm gonna make a quattro formaggi (four cheese) pizza next :) btw, parma ham is REALLY expensive. at about $2 per slice, i'm never buying again!



recipe source : donna hay magazine, issue 47 (oct/nov 09)


ingredients (makes two 30cm round pizzas or up to twelve 15cm round mini pizzas) :

1 tbsp dry yeast

1 tsp caster sugar

250ml lukewarm water

375g OO flour* (i used plain flour)

1 tsp sea salt flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

70g baby rocket leaves

12 slices parma ham (prosciutto)

1 cup tomato puree (sauce)

olive oil for brushing

shaved parmigiano reggiano or parmesan

directions :

1. to make the basic dough, place the yeast, sugar & water in a bowl and mix to combine. set aside in a warm place for 5 mins or until bubbles appear on the surface. this means the yeast has been activated.

2. place flour, salt & olive oil in a bowl and make a well in the centre. add the yeast mixture and mix together with lightly floured hands to form a dough.

3. knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 3-4 mins or with a standmixer fitted with the dough hook until smooth & elastic.

4. divide the dough into equal size pieces and place on a lightly oiled tray under a clean damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for 30 mins or until the balls hv doubled in size.

5. press each dough ball into a round and roll out on a lightly floured surface to the desired size as per recipe instruction.

6. preheat oven to 220C and place pizza tray inside oven and heat for 5-10 mins.

7. brush olive oil on dough, spread tomato puree on it using the back of a spoon and place on heated pizza tray.

8. bake for 10-15 mins until the base is crispy and crust golden.

9. top with parma ham, rocket leaves and shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese.

* OO flour is superfine flour used for making a good pizza dough to ensure a soft malleable dough and crisp crust when cooked.

* when making pizza its important to preheat the pizza tray or stone at 220C for 10-15 mins before baking. this maximises the amt of heat that reaches the base, ensuring a crispy crust.

* keep rolled out unused pizza bases in the freezer layered between non-stick baking paper and cover well in plastic wrap for up to a month.