WHITE PIZZA WITH SAUSAGE AND MOZZARELLA

Pizza - Vegetarian and lactose ree options included
(thank you to Vittorio of Viva La Focaccia for this recipe)

240 gr. lukewarm water (1 cup), in winter water should be warm, but not too much (you should be able to keep your hand in it without discomfort).
30 gr. Italian extra virgin olive oil (about 3 tbsp)
7 gr. dry active yeast (1 envelope or 1 tsp)
7 gr. salt (1 tsp scant)
345 gr. Italian 00 flour (2 1/2 cup, quantity estimated)
2 sausage, case removed and crumbled
1 cup mozzarella, shredded

In a bowl, where you'll prepare your dough, put the entire amount of water and dissolve the yeast, then add oil and half of the of the flour. It is very important that salt doesn't touch yeast. Start mixing until you obtain a smooth cream, then add salt and almost all the remaing flour (keep some of it for next phase). Mix and knead for about 4-5 minutes until your dough doesn't stick to the bowl anymore.

Sprinkle remaining flour onto your work surface and transfer your dough onto it, dust your hands with flour and knead for a few more minutes (if dough sticks too much, wait 3-5 minutes, then start again).

When you have a smooth dough, oil your pizza baking dish (mine was 16"). We like pizza a little thiner so we used 3/4 of the dough for pizza and the remaining dough for a small focaccia with onions.

Transfer your dough in the center, then turn upside down. This way, the dough surface will be covered with oil and won't dry out while leavening.

Let it rise for 45-60 minutes, at that point your dough should have doubled.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

With oiled hands, flatten pizza dough carefully without stretching it.

Arrange sausage on top and cover with mozzarella (for the onion focaccia, this is the time to spread raw onions on top).

Bake for 12-15 minutes and serve immediately

- With the exact same dough, last Sunday, I prepared a herb focaccia (that we like thick).

- You can make it with San Marzano Italian tomatoes and whichever toppings you may prefer.
- You can freeze it, before cooking it (I haven't tried that, I cooked ours right away): Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. When you want to cook it, pre-heat oven and, when ready, remove pizza form freezer and transfer in the oven immediately (no plastic wrap, obviously ;-) ). It will take a little longer to cook (about 15-17 minutes)