Ham Pizza with Mozzarella and Tomato Sauce

Dough

1. Make the dough. It is very easy, and the recipe is described in detail in the article “Pizza dough”. The dough turns out good and soft. You can make it thin and crisp, or thick and fluffy.

2. Roll out the ready dough, lay it in a pan greased with olive oil and prick it with a fork.

   

Topping

All the ingredients are easy to get in any store. A little tomato sauce is easy to make from the flesh of one tomato. A ball of mozzarella and hard cheese need no preparation, and the cold cuts will be prepared for you right where you buy them. Adding capers and pickled onions improves the flavor, but they are not essential.

3. Spread an even layer of the tomato sauce you made in advance over the dough and lay out the mozzarella: take it out of the brine, slice it into thin plates and arrange it over the sauce. You can grate it, of course, but ham pizza looks much nicer if the mozzarella is cut into large pieces. Sprinkle 1-2 pinches of dried oregano over the sauce and cheese.

   

4. Arrange the green onion, capers and ham. Chop the green onion stalks finely and do not use the white part. Sprinkle the green onion over the topping, then scatter the capers. Next comes the most important moment: lay out the sliced meat of your choice or the ham sausage. Soft boiled sausage or “ham” sausage is best, and it is better not to use smoked cold cuts. You can have it sliced thinly right where you bought the meat, or do it yourself, cutting it as thin as you can so the slices are almost transparent.

   

5. Arrange small pickled pearl onions on top, whole or halved. If you cannot find them, pickle a little ordinary onion cut into strips ahead of time.

   

6. Sprinkle the topping with grated Parmesan or Grana Padano and drizzle with oil. Try to put most of the cheese around the edges and just a little in the center. Sprinkle a small amount of olive oil over the topping, trying to get it mostly onto the ham.

   

Baking

7. Bake the pizza in an oven preheated to 180°C for a little over 20 minutes. Since no two ovens are alike, start checking the dough after 15 minutes. It comes first. Once it turns golden and slightly firm in the center, the meat pizza is ready. Many people ask what “firm” means. It only means that a slice should hold its shape and not sag.

   

Serving

8. Put the baked pizza on a wooden board, cut it and garnish with basil. A finished pizza slides off the pan easily without extra effort. Cut it with a pizza wheel into 6-8 slices. It is actually convenient to eat it with your hands from the board it was cut on. I have never understood why pizzerias serve a knife and fork. Still, if that is more comfortable for you, put the slices on plates. Just before serving, I recommend scattering a few fresh green basil leaves over the topping.

   

   And one more thing: I would never reheat pizza. It is nicest eaten hot from the oven, fresh. I like to serve tomato juice with lunch.