Italian Infusion
Embrace the luxury of alfresco dining as the weather heats up and the light lasts longer! What better time is there to get outdoors and experience dishes infused with Italian flavour than in the glorious summer months? Big Mamma Cucina Popolare: Contemporary Italian Recipes, is a recipe book bursting with flavour. The book offers a tasteful array of Italian classics with a contemporary twist.
Think of pizzas crisped to mouth-watering perfection using the portable Ooni pizza oven. This wood-fired oven allows both the preparation and cooking of dinner to be an experience shared by the whole family!
Preparation time: 20 minutes / Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 large tomato, preferably yellow, peeled and halved
- salt
For the pizza
- 250g pizza dough
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 110g mozzarella di bufala or other mozzarella cheese
- 7 small figs, halved
- 40g walnut halves
- salt and pepper
Cool to know
Don’t think twice about adding a few slices of prosciutto di Parma. A tasty duo of sweet and savoury for summer. It’s a little higher in calories, but after all, you only live once!
Method
- Make the tomato sauce. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over a high heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and fry for two minutes. Add the tomato and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes, crushing it, until you have a sauce. Season with salt.
- Preheat the oven to 250°C/gas mark 9. Cover a baking sheet with baking (parchment) paper. On a floured work surface, roll out the pizza dough into a circle about 30cm in diameter and about 2cm thick.
- Place the pizza base (crust) on the baking sheet. Spread with the tomato sauce and drizzle over the olive oil to prevent the dough drying out while cooking. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into slices 1cm thick. Remove the pizza from the oven. Arrange the figs and mozzarella slices on top. Crush the walnuts and sprinkle on top of the pizza, then drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy!
