Grilled Pizza with Prosciutto, Arugula and Peas
Dough Cheese Vegetables Yogurt
When what you put on pizza doesn't require cooking or some components can be cooked beforehand (e.g., roasted peppers, zucchini, grilled eggplant, boiled chicken), you can bake the pizza dough on a grill (or grill pan) for a taste that comes closest to wood-fired oven pizza. I chose a very light, summery topping for today that requires almost no cooking - I just briefly blanched the peas.
This pizza is a compilation: the dough is Turkish-inspired (from Turquoise by Greg and Lucy Malouf), the cheese is Greek-inspired (similar to a tzatziki from Lefkada), the prosciutto and salad come from the Italians.
Ingredients
Yogurt Dough
250g all-purpose flour (type BL55)
1/2 teaspoon salt
150g Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 packet dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
60ml warm water
a little olive oil (for brushing)
Herb Cheese
250g cottage cheese (cream cheese pearls)
5 basil leaves
5 mint leaves
1 generous sprig of dill
12 thin slices prosciutto crudo
Arugula and Pea Salad
50g arugula
1/4 cup fresh peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
sea salt
Pieces: 6
How to prepare grilled pizza with prosciutto, arugula and peas
- Dissolve the yeast in the water together with the sugar and leave for 10-15 minutes in a warm place until slightly foamy.
- Mix the yogurt well with the oil.
- Sift the flour with the salt. Make a well in the center and add the yeast water and the yogurt with oil. Gradually pull the flour with your hand over the liquids, mixing until you get a smooth dough. Then put the dough in a bread machine on the knead-rise program and leave it there for 1 hour extra after the program ends (so the dough rises well).
* the dough can also be kneaded by hand, then placed in an oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and left to rise in a warm place for 2 hours. - Mix the cheese with the finely chopped herbs and add salt to taste. When choosing the cheese, shake the container to make sure the contents aren't too liquid. There are all kinds of cottage cheese in stores, some more liquid, some more consistent. Here we need the most consistent kind that won't run.
- Put the peas in boiling salted water and cook covered, on low heat, for about 5 minutes, until cooked but still crunchy. Drain and let cool.
- Mix the arugula with the peas. Sprinkle with salt, then add the lemon juice and oil. Mix well.
- When the dough has risen, place it on the work surface and cut into 6 equal pieces.
- Dust the work surface with very little flour. Take each piece of dough and roll it out to whatever shape you like. I rolled them into elongated sheets, using only back-and-forth movements with the rolling pin. The sheets should be rolled very thin. Not so thin that you can see through them, but almost.
- Heat the grill pan (without adding any fat) for at least 5 minutes (it needs to be really hot).
- Place dough sheets in the pan (as many as fit comfortably) and cook for about 2 minutes per side (until you get nice grill marks). If the dough puffs up here and there, prick the large bubbles with a fork.
- Remove the cooked sheets to a platter and brush them with a little olive oil. After you've cooked all the sheets, let them cool for 5 minutes.
- Assembly: spread a not-too-thick layer of herb cheese on each sheet; drizzle the cheese with 1 teaspoon olive oil; artistically arrange 2 slices of prosciutto; top with the arugula and pea salad. Cut into slices (I cut them width-wise, slightly on the diagonal).
Dough ingredients
Kneaded dough
Thinly rolled sheet
Sheets cooking on the grill pan
Grilled Pizza with Prosciutto, Arugula and Peas
