Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza
When you’ve got a good thing, you stick with it, and that’s just what we did when we decided to make this recipe. We used a classic Neapolitan Margherita Pizza as the base for this recipe. With a thin, crisp crust and toppings of rich tomato sauce and melty mozzarella, we’re pretty confident that this would make anything you put on it taste good.
Margherita pizza is a simple dish, consisting of crust, tomato, and cheese, with a bit of fresh basil tossed over it as a garnish at the end. Once you master this recipe, you can make pizzas that cater to your tastes, and experiment with a wide range of flavors. But because of the simplicity of the dish, choose your ingredients thoughtfully. In order to punch up the savory aspect of this pizza we added Porcini Mushroom Powder to the crust, but we didn’t want to overwhelm the crust with too many pungent herbs or blends. The porcini powder elevates the overall flavor without dominating the rest of the dish. Use your favorite mushrooms to bake on this pizza, they’ll add to the rich, umami depth that comes from the powder. Slice them thinly so they take on as much of a roasted quality as possible when they’re in the oven.
Our selected ingredients include San Marzano tomatoes. They are a Roma tomato varietal that was first grown in San Marzano sul Sarno, near Naples and in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. The soil is rich, volcanic, and mineral-laden, and the tomatoes that grown in it have thick flesh and low acidity. They’re naturally sweeter than other tomatoes and deliver elegantly simple flavor right out of the can.
We chose the salty, bold prosciutto as one of the toppings. This type of ham, originally from the Parma region of Italy, takes anywhere between 9 months to three years to fully age. Its flavors concentrate as it cures, creating a symphony between the sweet, creamy fat and the salty, bold meat. To that, we added the crisp snap of baby arugula. The leaves add structure against the fatty bits of the prosciutto and its pepper flavors delivers a brisk contrast against the salty ham. Both of these items go on at the end, over the basil, after the pizza comes out of the oven.
The crust, which often does not get enough appreciation, is as important an element to a successful pizza as the sauce, toppings, and cheese are. We chose type 00 flour to make the dough. It’s very finely ground from soft durum wheat, which gives it a lower protein content. This means the dough is less likely to form elastic protein chains of gluten, so the dough stays crisp rather than chewy. You can use bread flour instead of 00, but with its higher protein content it can make the dough too chewy. Knead the dough until it is smooth and soft and not shaggy or sticky, then set it aside and let it rest.
To generate a crisp, delicious crust, we baked our pizza on a pizza stone. These stone or ceramic slabs absorb and retain heat, creating an extremely hot surface on which to bake pizza. If you don’t have an actual brick pizza oven, this is your next best option. Turn your oven on to its highest temperature and let the pizza stone heat in that oven, without opening the door, for at least half an hour before you want to cook. Leaving it in that steady, high heat allows the stone to absorb as much heat as possible, giving your pizza the hottest cooking surface and the best chance to crisp up.
Once the dough is rested, roll it out on a piece of parchment so it’s beautifully thin. Top the sauce with a light hand, since too much sauce will make your pizza soggy. Place your first toppings—mushrooms and mozzarella, good olive oil and a sprinkling of Smoked Hickory Flaked Salt. Carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven. Toss cornmeal across the stone to create a bit of a sliding surface; the hard, granular nature of cornmeal makes it easier to slip the pizza off the stone when it’s finished. Then pick up the parchment with the pizza on top, and slide from the parchment directly onto the pizza stone. Check the bottom of the pizza after 4 or 5 minutes to see if it’s starting to brown. Remove from the oven once the crust of the pizza feels firm and turns golden, pushing it from the stone onto a large tray or cutting board. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, and then arrange slices of thin, salty prosciutto and peppery arugula across the pizza. Serve right away, and enjoy an original Italian masterpiece, right in your own kitchen.
- 1 1/2cups of warm water (100-110 degrees)
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 3/4 cups type 00 or bread flour
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Porcini Mushroom Powder
- 28 oz can San Marzano whole plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
- 10 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
- 2-3 ounces fresh mushrooms, your preference, thinly sliced
- Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- 2 teaspoons Smoked Hickory Flaked Salt
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto
- Handful of fresh arugula
- Cornmeal to sprinkle on pizza stone
1. Combine water and yeast and whisk to combine. Let rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add flour, Kosher Salt, and Porcini Mushroom Powder to a large mixing bowl and stir well.
3. Pour water-yeast mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or your hands. Once the dough comes together, knead dough. If using your hands, knead for 10 minutes. If using a stand mixer, knead for 5 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, form into balls, and wrap in plastic film. Allow to rest and rise for 2 hours.
5. Put pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 550 degrees.
6. Roll out the dough on parchment paper into 8-inch rough circles
7. Top the pizza with chopped tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and mushrooms. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle Smoked Hickory Flaked Salt across the top.
8. Carefully remove the pizza stone from oven, sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, slide pizza off parchment and onto the stone, and return it to the oven.
9. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the crust starts to brown.
10. Remove from oven and top with fresh basil, sliced prosciutto, and fresh arugula.
