Italian Essentials Awesome Pizza Tart Recipes

ITALIAN ESSENTIALS: AWESOME PIZZA SAUCE

Steps:

• PREP/PREPARE
• San Marzano tomatoes are great for this recipe; however, I have had good luck with other, local, brands, such as Hunts.
• Baked garlic produces a wonderful earthy flavor to this sauce. If you choose to use regular (not baked) garlic, then use one minced clove; not two.
• What is the sugar for? The sugar aids in removing the bitter taste from the canned tomatoes. My suggestion would be to open the canned tomatoes, and give them a taste, if they have a slightly bitter taste, use the sugar. If they do not, you can leave the sugar out. FYI: The better the brand of tomatoes, the less chance they will be bitter.
• Butter in a pizza sauce? Adding butter to the sauce helps gives it a richer, fuller mouthfeel.
• Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
• Add the butter and oil to a saucepan over medium heat.
• When the butter melts, and stops foaming, give the pan a whirl to mix the oil, and butter, then add the onions.
• Cook until they begin to soften, but not brown, about 3 - 4 minutes.
• Add all the dry spices, and stir for an additional minute.
• Add the garlic, and stir until fragrant, another 60 seconds. Then remove from heat.
• Add the onion/spice mixture to a blender, and then add the sauce ingredients.
• Blend until smooth.
• So, why not cook the sauce ingredients with the spices, and onions? Well, I would, if they were fresh, not canned ingredients. However, canned ingredients are cooked before being canned, and they will be cooked again when they are used on a pizza. The more times something is cooked, the less flavor.
• Do a final tasting for proper seasoning, and then store in a non-reactive container (glass), with a lid, in the fridge, until ready to use.
• PLATE/PRESENT
• Use anywhere you would use a good pizza sauce. Enjoy.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

TORTA RUSTICA WITH RICOTTA AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and pulse until the mixture forms lima bean-size pieces. Alternatively, mix together flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl, then add butter, working the pieces into the flour with your hands, squeezing and pinching them until the mixture looks like oatmeal.
• Add egg, egg white and lemon zest, and pulse after each addition. If working by hand, whisk together egg, egg white and lemon zest in a separate bowl, then mix into the butter mixture. Slowly add iced wine, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse or mix by hand until the dough just comes together. You may not need all the liquid. The dough should be moist, but not wet.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and gather and press it into a ball. Divide into 2 portions, one slightly larger than the other, and shape into disks. Wrap the disks tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 5 days.
• When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Make the filling: If your ricotta seems watery, put it in a sieve and let it drain while you cook the spinach.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and a large pinch of salt, and continue to cook until spinach is very dry, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a large bowl to cool. If any liquid accumulates as the spinach sits, pour it out of the bowl (you don't want it to water down the ricotta).
• In a food processor, purée drained ricotta and eggs until just combined and smooth. Add to the bowl with the spinach and fold in mozzarella, pecorino, ham (if using), parsley, black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, red-pepper flakes and nutmeg. Set aside when rolling out dough (or chill for up to 4 hours).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger pastry dough disk to a 14-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch springform pan, pressing the dough up the sides of the pan. Scrape filling into crust and spread evenly. Roll out second pastry disk to a 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Cut 1/2-inch-wide strips and weave into a lattice on top of the filling. Seal, trim and crimp the edges. Brush the top of the torta with the egg wash.
• Place torta on sheet pan and bake until crust is crisp and brown, and filling is firm, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes before serving.

PUFF PIZZA TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Unroll the pastry onto a large baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Spread over the pesto, leaving a border of roughly 1 inch around the edge. Layer on the salami, top with the torn mozzarella and some seasoning, then bake for 15-20 mins until the pastry is golden, risen and crisp.
• Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, if you like, and scatter over some rocket.