It seems pizza is always better when you get it from outside (as opposed from making it at home). Or is it just me? Either way, I was determined to get to the bottom of it (and hopefully learn a few tricks along the way)!
So last week, I joined a group of overexcited Yelpers (because PIZZA!) for a pizza masterclass at Pizza Rossa.
I was a bit early, so I walk around Leadenhall Market for a while and took in the views (did I ever tell you about this weird obsession of mine with The City’s buildings?) before heading to Pizza Rossa. “Passion by the slice” the sign said. Good sign (geddit?). I believe people who love what they do always do it better. Time to taste-test my theory (and my pizza-making skills, obviously!).
Everybody was handed glasses of wine (when in Italy, party like the Italians!) and we got stuck in. After being told about how Pizza Rossa all started out and being promised we were going to make the lightest pizza dough of all times, it was time to get our hands dirty!
As for all good things, it started with flour…
Trying really hard the urger to start a flour fight there!
Adding in some water…
Sofar, so good. But then we added yeast, and that’s when it all got a
bit lot more… sticky!Resulting in me having to go halfsies with my partner, whose dough was too dry, for the two of us to have more managable balls of dough! From then on, our newly separated siamese pizza dough babies behaved (we were both really proud)!
All it took to finish the prep was a bit of oil and some salt. And a lot of arm workout! And then some more to roll it all out!
After this, there was A LOT of pizza (and the dough was indeed very light, which might have led me to eat even more than I intended to) and quite abit of wine too (the Italians sure know how to party!). And of course, that’s when my phone decided to stop working. Which might be for the best as you won’t be able to tell how many slices I’ve had…
I have no picture to prove how delicious everything was, but take my words on it and next time you’re in the City for lunch (or dinner, or anytime inbetween really!), just go get yourself a few slices (my favourite was the prosciutto & butternut squash one!)!
I, however, went home with my own little pizza dough ball (which wasn’t little at all!). So I had to make more pizza (oh no!). And I can tell you, making pizza with your fingers crossed (hoping for it to be as delicious as the ones I had the day before) is not easy!Either I was lucky or I’m some sort of pizza genius because the dough ended up being so fluffy and soft! Or maybe I was just taught really well! Rolling it was a bit challenging but really fun since air bubbles were desperately trying to kind their way out!
The pros at Pizza Rossa advised to follow several steps to bake your pizza. First you roll the dough out and bake it for about 4 minutes at a really high temperature (250 °C).
Then you add tomato sauce and bake it for another 4 min.
After which you should get something looking a bit like this!
All that’s left to do afterwards is to pile your toppings high and bake for a further 2-5 minutes (we went for red onions, red peppers, chorizo dice, basil and sausage leftovers. And LOADS of mozzarella!).
And tadaaaah! Does that look like a majestic homemade pizza or what?
I definitely have Luca & Corrado from Pizza Rossa to thank for it! Now to see if I can do as well by myself…
Pizza Rossa, 4-12 Whittington Avenue London EC3V 1AB
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