Classic Pizza Dough
Makes enough for 4 small or 2 medium flatbreads
SHORTCUT: If you are really short on time, you can forgo the second rise altogether; just let the dough rest briefly after dividing it and shaping it...
Adapted from her cookbook The Vegetable Eater: The New Playbook for Cooking Vegetarian
Broccoli rabe sautéed in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes, then finished with a splash of sherry vinegar, is a no-fail combination. With a creamy (and easy) white sauce, Castelvetrano olives and pistachios on a crispy, thin-crust flatbread, the result is totally delicious. Add dried currants for a touch of sweet that balances the salty, bitter, nutty and buttery notes and really bring this flatbread over the top.
Makes 2 thin-crust, 12-inch flatbreads
ABOUT THE YIELD
This recipe calls for dividing the pizza dough recipes into four, using two of the 8-ounce discs of dough to make two thin-crust, 12-inch flatbreads and freezing the other two discs of dough.
SWAPS
• Use ¾ cup whole-milk ricotta in place of the buttermilk and 3 ounces of pulverized mozzarella in the sauce.
• Try Swiss chard or broccoli in place of broccoli rabe—just toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, then pan-roast or roast in the oven until crisp-tender.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 2 to 4 Serving(s)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 12 ounces (1 bunch) broccoli rabe, thick stems trimmed and discarded, remaining stems and leaves cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces
- Fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons dried currants, optional
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, 1⁄3-inch diced
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon well-shaken buttermilk
- ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 discs (8 ounces each) Classic Pizza Dough (recipe follows) or storebought dough
- 2 heaping tablespoons shelled pistachios, lightly toasted, cooled and chopped
- ½ cup pitted Castelvetrano olives, briefly rinsed and drained, torn in half
- Best-quality olive oil (optional)
Preparation
Instructions
1 Heat 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and the garlic in a large skillet over medium-low heat. As soon as small bubbles form around the garlic, stir almost constantly until it becomes golden and translucent, about 90 seconds. Do not let the garlic burn. Stir in the red pepper flakes and cook for another 30 seconds.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the broccoli rabe and ½ teaspoon salt. (If the broccoli rabe isn’t wet from washing, add some splashes of water.) Cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli rabe is tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Add a scant ¼ cup of water and continue to cook until the water cooks off and the pan is completely dry, another 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the sherry vinegar and the currants, if using, and stir constantly until the vinegar is incorporated and any remaining liquid has fully cooked off, 30 to 60 seconds or more if needed. Remove the pan from the heat.
2 Place half of the diced mozzarella on a cutting board. Working against the board, use the side of a chef’s knife to push down and slide it across the mozzarella, smashing it into a chunky paste; transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the cream, buttermilk, ¼ cup of Parmesan, a ¼ teaspoon salt and the black pepper until evenly incorporated.
3 Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle position. Coat a sheet pan with oil. Roll out one disc of dough evenly and thinly with a rolling pin to about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Transfer the dough carefully to the oiled sheet pan, gently repositioning it if it shrank during transfer and stretching and pushing the dough to 11½ to 12 inches.
4 Spread half of the white sauce all over the dough, leaving about a 1-inch border. Top with an even layer of half of the broccoli rabe, then sprinkle with half of the pistachios, half the olives and half of the remaining Parmesan. Evenly scatter half of the reserved diced mozzarella over the top. Bake until the crust is golden on the edges, 13 to 16 minutes.
5 Meanwhile, roll out and top the remaining dough as directed to make a second flatbread.
6 Remove the baked flatbread from the oven and brush the crust with your best olive oil, if using, before slicing and serving. Bake, finish and serve the remaining flatbread in the same fashion.
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