Since living in Como, I’ve begun to appreciate deep-dish pizza.
In Brianza and the Como area, many pizzerias make a soft, airy pizza topped with a huge amount of cheese, like the well-known Spontini pizza.
I tried making it with a recipe that I saw on social media by Daniele Veltri. The dough was incredibly easy to make. After a few tries, especially baking it in my new oven, I found the perfect combination. I make it practically every Saturday for supper!
I top it the way I saw it at Masanielli in Caserta, and I absolutely love it.
Spontini-Style Pizza
- Preparation time: 30 minutes+rise+cooking
- For two 30 cm round baking pans (serves 4)
- Difficulty: Average difficult recipe
- Ingredients
- 500 grams of strong white bread flour
- 360 grams of water
- 8 grams of fresh brewer’s yeast
- 12 grams of salt
- 25 grams of extra virgin olive oil
- For the dressing:
- 1 small curly endive
- Tomato puree, to taste
- Anchovies in oil to taste
- Pitted olives to taste
- Confit tomatoes to taste
- 100 grams of diced mozzarella
- Instructions
- In a bowl of the stand mixer place almost 80% of the water, all the flour, and the yeast and knead until the dough begins to become smooth. Gradually add the remaining water and knead until completely absorbed.
Add the salt and oil and mix until completely combined. The dough will take about fifteen to twenty minutes. - Cover to rest 20 to 30 minutes and then refrigerate for about twelve hours.
- Remove the pizza dough from the refrigerator at least four to six hours before baking.
- Let the dough return to room temperature; this takes about an hour in summer and at least three in winter.
- Fold the dough once and let it rise in a warm place at around 26°-28°C (79°-82°F) until doubled in size.
- Stretch the dough with your hands on a lightly greased disposable baking pan and season with the passata. Let it rise for about another 30 minutes, while preheating the oven to 220°C (425°F) fan-assisted.
- Wash the curly endive thoroughly and cut it into julienne strips.
- Drizzle the pizza with oil and salt and bake for about nine to ten minutes on the lowest rack of the oven. Remove from the oven and top with the salad, anchovy pieces, confit tomatoes, olives, and mozzarella. Bake again for about three more minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve it hot.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- Refrigerate the covered dough for at least thirty minutes if the dough is above 24°C (75°F) or the outside temperature is warm. In summer, both the flour and water should be cold from the refrigerator (in winter, cold water from the refrigerator will do).
- Don’t roll out the dough with a rolling pin, but with your hands, starting from the edges, which should be lightly sealed, without breaking the rising bubbles.
