You can't top these! Pizza fiorentina with egg and spinach
Why buy a takeaway when you can rustle up your own delicious pizzas.
Pizza fiorentina with egg and spinach
Makes 1 x 25cm pizza
For the base
1 quantity basic pizza dough (see page 66)
Flour, for dusting
For the topping
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1tsp sugar
4tbsp tomato purée
500g (1lb 2oz) tomato passata with onion and garlic (from supermarkets) or use plain passata and add a little crushed garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g (14oz) baby leaf spinach
290g jar chargrilled mushrooms in oil, drained
200g (7oz) Taleggio cheese, sliced
4 large eggs
Olive oil spray
To make the topping, place the garlic, onion, sugar, tomato purée and passata in a large pan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. Season, then leave to cool.
Cook the spinach in a pan of lightly salted boiling water for a minute or so, until wilted, then squeeze out the excess water.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out or stretch the pizza dough into a 25cm round. Place on a large baking tray lined with parchment, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 240°C/fan 220°C/gas 8. Spread the passata mixture over the base and top with the spinach and mushrooms, leaving 4 small spaces in the centre of the pizza for the eggs.
Scatter the cheese over, then crack an egg into each of the 4 spaces. Spritz with olive oil spray, then bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are browned and the eggs are just set – cook for a minute more if you like firmer eggs. Season and serve.
HOW TO MAKE PIZZA DOUGH
You can buy frozen pizza dough and readymade pizza bases at supermarkets, but it’s easy to make your own.
Makes enough for 1 large, 4 medium or 8 small pizza bases
500g (1lb 2oz) ‘00’ flour or strong white bread flour (from supermarkets), plus extra for dusting
1tsp easy bake yeast (from supermarkets)
2tsp salt l ½tsp caster sugar
325ml (11fl oz) warm water
2-3tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Place the flour in a wide bowl, make a well in the centre and add the yeast, salt and sugar. Gradually pour the water into the well, then bring the flour in from the sides to make a rough, sticky dough. Turn out on a floured surface and lightly oil the dough. Knead vigorously for 20 seconds until elastic, then rest for 10 minutes. Repeat twice, using more oil if needed. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for 2½-3 hours until doubled in size. Use according to the recipe instructions or wrap the dough in clingfilm and freeze until needed.
