Pizza Bianca with Grilled Courgette, Watercress and fresh seasonal herbs (makes 6 medium or 2 large pizzas)
Credit: Stephen Jackson
FOR THE PIZZA BASE:
650g '00' flour (or strong white flour), plus a little extra for dusting
7g dried easy-blend yeast
2 tsp salt
25ml olive oil
50ml warm milk
325ml warm water
FOR THE TOPPING:
4 tbsps. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 x 150g balls fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly
2 x 250g tubs soft ricotta cheese
The juice of 1 lemon
A pinch of dried oregano
Sea salt & freshly-ground black pepper
80g freshly grated Yorkshire Pecorino or parmesan cheese
FOR THE VEGETABLE & HERB TOPPING:
2 large courgettes, sliced into 1cm-thick slices
A large handful fresh watercress
A small handful of fresh, soft seasonal herbs (we used lovage, rocket, mew and mint, but feel free to go with what you have growing in your herb patch)
GARNISH:
A few slices of The Burnt Hill Herb Co. traditional cure smoked trout
Olive oil for drizzling
Fresh black pepper
METHOD:
First, make up the creamy cheese topping. In a small bowl, whip together the ricotta, garlic, lemon juice and the dried oregano, and season well with salt and pepper. Set aside. Pan-fry or griddle the courgette slices until golden-edged, and set aside. Now to make up the pizza dough. Mix the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl and stir in the olive oil and milk. Gradually add the water, mixing well to form a soft dough. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic, bouncing back when pressed.
Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel, and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1½ hours, or until doubled in size. When the dough has risen, knock it back, then knead again until smooth, roll into a ball and pop back into the bowl for 30 minutes to 1 hour until risen again. Preheat the oven to its highest setting (220°C or equivalent). Divide the dough into six balls and roll each out on a lightly floured work surface until 20cm/8in in diameter, or divide the dough in two and roll out to make two large pizzas.
Prebake the pizza dough in the oven for 5 minutes. Brush the crust all over with a thin layer of olive oil and spread the ricotta mixture evenly all over, leaving a few centimetres of crust around the edge. Layer around the thin slices of fresh mozzarella, and half the pecorino or Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with remaining pecorino and arrange the courgette, watercress and fresh herbs on top. Finally, lay slices of smoked trout artfully across the pizzas, drizzle with olive oil, add a final grind of pepper, and serve immediately.
Bon appetit!
