The day has come for me to pass down my pizza recipe to all of you! This is the kind of pizza you can enjoy now, today, tomorrow, or the day after. It’s one of those pizzas you can reheat in the oven and it won’t turn into a rubbery mess—instead, it’ll taste as fresh as if it had just come out of the oven!
The dough? Simple and… familiar. It’s the well-known yet little-known dough used for pita bread. Yes, that one! The same one that turned into cheese bread… Remember? Well, it’s not entirely my fault (okay, it is partly my fault since I discovered it), but it’s so delicious and versatile! And it bakes quickly too!
Here’s the trick: Preheat your baking sheet in the oven with parchment paper. Spread out your dough on it and bake at 230°C (450°F) for a maximum of 8 minutes! After 8 minutes, take it out of the oven and follow the classic pizza preparation process: sauce, toppings, and so on! Then, bake it just long enough to melt the cheese, because, as I mentioned… The dough is already baked! Yes, those 8 minutes are enough! You’ll have perfectly baked pizza every time!
Check out the photos below, and here’s the recipe!
In the photo below, you can see the dough after 8 minutes, right after I added the sauce (it’s puffed up at the edges because I added cream cheese inside!).
Pizza ala Mamangelic!
Ingredients
For a large pizza (baking sheet size) plus 3 small ones:
For the Dough:
- 1 kg of strong white flour (be careful, not Goch flour)
- 11 g of apple cider vinegar (or regular vinegar; I prefer apple cider vinegar for a mildew smell)
- 45 g of honey
- 15 g of salt
- 45 g of fresh yeast or 15 g of dry yeast
- 575 g of water
- Coarse yellow flour for rolling out
For Whole Wheat Pizza: Replace the white flour with 500 g of whole wheat flour + 500 g of strong white flour and use 600 g of water instead of 575 g.
For the Topping: I used homemade turkey deli meat (see the recipe here), cherry tomatoes, homemade ketchup (with the new variation, see the recipe here) with a bit of oregano, mozzarella, cheddar, and gouda cheeses, red and green bell peppers, and fresh mushrooms (white and brown).
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of lukewarm water (be careful not to overheat it!).
- Mix the dough in a stand mixer or by hand until well combined. We want a nicely kneaded, firm dough—don’t overdo it.
- Let the dough rise until it has roughly doubled in size.
- Punch it down, then divide it into balls.
- Sprinkle coarse flour on your work surface and roll out the dough for your pizzas. If the dough shrinks back, let it rest for a minute before continuing. If it sticks, add more coarse flour to the surface; don’t worry, it won’t absorb too much.
- Once rolled out, let the dough rest for 2-3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 230°C (450°F) with the baking sheet inside (lined with parchment paper) on a rack slightly above the middle.
- Once the oven is hot, carefully transfer the dough onto the hot baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes.
- After baking, remove the dough from the oven, spread your preferred sauce (I use my homemade ketchup, see the recipe here) over it with a bit of oregano (optional), then add your toppings: deli meat, cherry tomatoes, half of the mushrooms, bell peppers, and cheeses. Finally, add the remaining mushrooms on top of the cheese.
- Bake at 230°C (450°F) until the dough is golden and the cheese is melted!
For Gluten-Free Pizza (egg-free, dairy-free, and without additives, etc.)
Ingredients (for 1 large pizza)
- 300 g all-purpose flour (I used the red Ag. Georgiou brand)
- 12 g fresh yeast or 4 g dry yeast
- 4 g salt
- 20 g honey
- 240 g water
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients well (ideally, start with a spoon, and once the dough absorbs the liquids, use your hands).
- On a floured piece of parchment paper, shape the dough with your hands.
- If you want a smooth surface, place another piece of parchment paper on top and roll it out with a rolling pin.
- Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes on the parchment paper.
- After about 15 minutes of letting the dough rise, preheat your oven to 230°C (450°F), including the baking sheet on the upper rack.
- Once the 30 minutes have passed, carefully transfer the dough along with the parchment paper onto the hot baking sheet in the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, spread your preferred sauce (I use my homemade ketchup, see the recipe here) over the pizza, add a bit of oregano (optional), then top with deli meat, cherry tomatoes, half of the mushrooms, bell peppers, cheeses, and finally the remaining mushrooms on top of the cheese.
- Bake at 230°C (450°F) until the dough is golden and the cheese is melted!
- Enjoy!