Yes, I do. What’s the point of having
great ingredients and then putting
them on a store-bought base full of
preservatives? It doesn’t take a lot of
actual handling time to make dough.
Most of the time it does its own thing
either proving or sitting in the fridge
for a day maturing.
What are some of your favourite
healthy ingredients?
I love good cheeses like smoked
mozzarella, fontina and gorgonzola. I
also like vegetables such as eggplant,
confit tomatoes, artichokes, chilli
and zucchini. Most seafood goes
nicely on pizza and good anchovies
are indispensible.
What are your top tips for creating
authentic pizza at home?
Start with finding good f lour. This
will be the most difficult thing. In
Australia it can be hard. Laucke
Organic Wallaby f lour from South
Australia is excellent for the home
pizza maker as is Demeter’s range
of f lour. If you’re making the round
Naples-type pizza and you have a
woodfired or gas-fired pizza oven then
you’re seriously set up, but you can
still make great pizza at home in your
domestic oven. As for the toppings,
concentrate on quality ingredients
and don’t overdress your pizza. Less
is more.Do you think your own diet resembles
the Mediterranean diet?
Yes, it does. I’ve never been a big
drinker but I enjoy drinking the best
wine I can afford. With everything,
I’m a quality over quantity person.
I don’t eat a lot of meat but when I
do it needs to be excellent. I look for
growers who raise animals ethically.NAPLES VS. ROMAN PIZZA
Naples pizza is pizza as most of us know it: round, puffy crusted, wood-fired, etc. Roman-
style pizza (pictured) is a rectangular, focaccia-style pizza that is famous in Rome. It is
lighter and airier than Naples pizza, and can be filled or topped (before or after cooking)
and generally isn’t cooked in a wood-fired oven.BASIC DOUGH
This pizza dough is made using easily
available dried (powdered) yeast, which
gives very consistent results. Each
250-gram ball of dough will make one
30-centimetre pizza, giving you six pizze.
1 kg unbleached, stoneground whole-wheat
flour or strong bread flour
550 ml water at room temperature
2 g dried (powdered) yeast
20 g sea salt
30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
Place the flour and 500-millitres (2 cups) of
the water in a mixer fitted with a dough hook
attachment. Begin mixing on a low speed
and keep mixing until the flour has absorbed
all the water but is still not smooth. This
should take only 3 to 4 minutes. Stop the
mixer and let the dough rest in the bowl for
15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, dissolve the yeast in the
remaining water. Once the dough has rested,
turn the mixer on to medium and add the
dissolved yeast. Two minutes later, add the
salt, mix for 2 minutes and then add the olive
oil. Keep mixing until the dough is shiny and
homogenous, about 6 minutes. Turn the
speed up a little and mix for 2 minutes more.
A good way to check the elasticity is right
is to stretch a piece of dough and if it forms
a strong, transparent membrane without
breaking (similar to blowing a bubble with
gum), it is ready. Let the dough sit, covered
with plastic wrap, for 30 minutes in winter
or 15 minutes in summer. The dough is now
ready to be shaped into balls and then
rested further in the refrigerator before
shaping into discs. (See p.57)