Pistachio Pizza

INGREDIENTS

PIZZA DOUGH (for two 10 inch pizzas):

• 3 cups 00 flour (or at least use bread flour - try to avoid all purpose if possible)

• 1 cup warm water

• 5 grams active dry yeast (about half a pack or just about 1 ¼ tsp)

• 1 tsp olive oil

ADDITIONAL NEEDS:

• 3 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano

• ¼ cup very thinly sliced red onion

• Rosemary spring

• Handful of pistachios (roasted preferred)

• Olive oil (to drizzle on top)

• Honey or crema (optional - see notes)

GO FOR IT

PIZZA DOUGH:

1. Combine warm water, olive oil, and yeast - then let sit about 5 minutes to start

2. Combine 1 ½ cups of flour into mixing bowl and pour in liquid with yeast

3. Mix together slowly to combine, then slowly add in 1 more cup of flour (for a total of 2 ½ cups of flour), then add salt

4. Knead with your hands for about 3 minutes until a sticky dough forms (it should be sticky but still pull away from the bowl - if too sticky to pull away, add more flour 1 TBS at a time until it can)

5. Let sticky dough rest in bowl under a damp towel for 15 minutes

6. After resting, you have 2 choices. You can move the dough onto a floured surface and repeatably fold and knead it until a nice smooth, soft, stretchy, and slightly tacky ball forms (may take some time). OR, you can place in stand mixer with dough hook and mix on lowest setting until a nice smooth, soft, stretchy, and slightly tacky ball forms

7. Split your ball into 2 equal pieces and reshape pieces into ball

8. Place balls on a small, slightly floured plate and cover with plastic wrap or damp towel

9. For best results, put in refrigerator for 24 hours (bring to room temperature again before using) OR leave covered on counter for AT LEAST 3 hours before using

TO FINISH:

1. Place a pizza stone on an oven rack (if you don’t have a pizza stone, place an aluminum baking pan large enough to fit your pizza - bottom side facing up - on an oven rack) and heat oven to 450° or the highest it will go.

2. Crush your pistachio handful and set aside for now

3. Meanwhile, place pizza dough ball on a lightly floured surface and start pushing the edges out from the center until your pizza shape forms (if pizza is sticking to surface then throw a little bit more flour underneath). If you’re comfortable get your dough slightly flattened out and then toss it back and forth from one palm of your hand to the other in a circular motion. I promise it’s really easy, and you’ll form it out much faster and obtain a thinner crust as God intended.

4. Place formed pizza dough onto a FLOURED pizza peel (or a FLOURED thin cutting board, rimless cookie sheet, serving platter, or thick piece of cardboard - anything that will allow you to slide this easily into the oven afterwards onto your stone or baking pan)

5. Coarsely grate Parmigiano-Reggiano to form base of pizza

6. Then top with sliced red onion all over cheese (I used a mandoline to slice mine paper thin at 1 ½ mm - if you don’t have a mandoline, try to slice as thin as possible)

7. Then, sprinkle fresh rosemary leaves on top

8. Slide pizza into oven onto stone or baking pan

9. Cook for 5 minutes, then scatter pistachios on top of pizza (if using raw pistachios instead of roasted, put them on before placing pizza in oven and cook the entire time)

10. Cook another 5 minutes (or until done - you’ll know when the crust has is nicely golden and has begun to char)

11. Drizzle olive oil on top before serving

12. If desired, also drizzle some honey (spicy honey if you have it) or Mexican crema for an extra kick (see notes)

NOTES:

I stand by this recipe but I also made it in quarantine so there were some minor adjustments. I could not find a block of Parmigiano-Reggiano so I had to use the pre-grated stuff. It still turned out amazing so if that’s what you have at home then it’s fine, but I would have preferred doing a coarse grate from a block and am asking you to do so here. I also had to use raw pistachios instead of roasted (hence my improvisation of cooking them the entire time if you cannot find roasted pistachios). It was all still incredible and just goes to show you that there is room for flexibility in most recipes. Additionally, some might not like the lack of sauce here. I think it’s fantastic as is (almost like a thinner rosemary forcaccia bread with extra toppings) but I did drizzle a little spicy honey on one slice of my leftovers the next day and thought it was absolutely incredible. You might like it as well (Mexican crema worked well too on another slice).

You may also notice that I only use half a packet of yeast for my dough and be wondering why I’m wasting yeast. This is only because the 2 restaurant recipes I adapted my dough from gave me enough dough for 4 pizzas and I didn’t want 4 pizzas. Maybe you want to double up and make 4 pizzas. If so, then go for it. (If you’re curious, I adapted the recipe for my dough from the dough recipes for Bianco in Phoenix and Roberta’s in Brooklyn. Bianco does not add olive oil or rest for a full 24 hours - Roberta’s in Brooklyn does. However, Roberta’s uses a mix of 00 flour and all-purpose and I like that Bianco uses all 00)

You might also be more disciplined than I am with your dough formation. It seems most of what I found did not call for a stand mixer. But you know what? I paid good money for my stand mixer and got tired of working with the sticky dough so in it went. And guess what, the pizza was incredible - crust and all. Just remember, the longer you let it rest, the better it’s going to be. With that 24 hour rest time, it was lovely. If you’re not that patient then please just wait at least 3 hours before forming into a pizza.