Rustic Village Pizza Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, butter, and olive oil for the crust in a large bowl. Blend butter into the flour with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, pour egg into the well, and mix with a fork until egg is mixed in, about 1 minute. Add cold water and mix briefly with a fork. Switch to mixing with your hands and press mixture into a ball. If it seems dry, sprinkle in some more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until dough comes together.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and press into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for at least 1 hour.
• While the dough is resting, combine drained ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Pecorino Romano cheese, salt, black pepper, beaten eggs, cooked Italian sausage, smoked ham, salami, and pepperoni for the filling. Mix thoroughly until extremely well combined; don't worry about overmixing. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Rub a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil and dust with flour.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut off 1/3 of the dough and set aside for the top crust. Roll out the remaining dough for the bottom crust, using only as much flour as needed, into a 15-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to the prepared pan. Tuck the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, being careful not to stretch it. Remove any excess dough, dampen it with water, and use it to fill in where needed.
• Transfer filling into the pan, press firmly into the edges to ensure there are no air pockets, and smooth out the top.
• Roll remaining dough into a circle that's slightly wider than the pan. Roll dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to the pan. Position the top crust properly and press to seal it with the side edges.
• Mix egg and water for egg wash together in a small bowl.
• Brush egg wash on top of dough to moisten entire surface. Trim off excess dough if desired. Fold the side dough down from the pan edges onto the top crust and crimp edges with your fingertips until fully sealed. Brush once more with egg wash.
• Place in the center of the preheated oven, and immediately reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until top crust is a beautiful golden brown, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the ring and let cool another 15 minutes before slicing into wedges.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cook and stir sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain.
• Mix Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs together in a bowl. Stir in sausage, prosciutto, and parsley.
• Roll 1 pie crust into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Transfer to a pie plate, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Spread cheese and sausage mixture over crust. Roll second pie crust into a 12-inch circle; place on top. Seal and flute edges. Cut several slits in the top crust to permit steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven until center is set and crust is browned, about 1 hour.

RUSTIC VILLAGE PIZZA

Steps:

• You may use a purchased pizza crust or prepare your own. To make a pizza crust, coat a large bowl with teaspoon of olive oil and set aside.
• Stir first three ingredients together and let sit for 10 minutes, until nice and foamy.
• Place 1 1/2 cups of white flour and 1 1/2 cups of wheat flour in large bowl and mix in salt.
• Place one cup of regular white flour on work surface.
• Mix pour olive oil into yeast mixture and then pour yeast mixture into bowl with flour.
• Stir until as combined as possible.
• Turn out onto floured surface.
• With well floured hands, knead dough to work in the cup of flour on the board.
• Continue kneading until nice, smooth dough-ball is formed; approximately four minutes.
• Place in well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel and let sit for 30 minutes.
• Dough should double (at least).
• While the dough is rising, prepare the sauce.
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat.
• Add green onion and garlic to the pan, and cook for approximately 2 minutes.
• Add mushroom and cook until most of the water has cooked out of them.
• Add the alfredo sauce and stir.
• Add lemon juice and zest, and set aside.
• Mix potatoes, olive oil and rosemary in a bowl. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
• Use half the dough to form a large pizza crust (15 inch round), crimp the edges, brush edges with olive oil. Use the other half for another pizza.
• Place all of the sauce on the dough (less if you like, but I use it all).
• Sprinkle with cooked chicken, chopped parsley, spinach, bacon and parmesan cheese.
• Top with potato mixture.
• Top with slices of mozzarella cheese.
• Bake on pizza stone, vented pizza pan or ceramic tile coated with cooking spray at 425 F for approx 15-20 minutes until the potatoes begin to brown.

RUSTIC ITALIAN PIZZA (PALEO)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Mix all crust ingredients until a wet dough if formed.
• Spread the dough on a pizza stone or baking pan.
• Top the dough w/ the toppings of your choice; it's recommended you not use a heavy sauce or heavy cheese -- something like pesto and a sprinkling of romano (not paleo, though) would be best -- OP suggested topping it w/ sliced tomatoes, raw eggs baked right on the pizza, sliced ham, etc.
• Bake for 15 mins or until the toppings look baked to your liking.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Make the dough:
• Blend together flour, butter, salt, and pepper in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.
• Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a 5-inch disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Make tart:
• Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Fit dough into tart pan and trim excess, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Prick dough in pan all over with a fork. Chill pan until dough is firm, about 15 to 30 minutes.
• Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until edges are pale golden, 18 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake until shell is golden all over, about 10 to 15 minutes more. Cool completely in pan, about 20 minutes.
• Make filling and bake tart:
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Stir together ricotta, eggs, Pecorino, provolone, meats, parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread filling evenly in baked shell.
• Bake tart until filling is set and pale golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool tart in pan on a rack, about 15 minutes, then carefully remove sides of pans and slide the tart off bottom. Serve warm or at room temperature.