Escarole pizza

Pizza: "a great love and nothing more"! We worked it to obtain a fragrant and long-matured dough; We fried it in the Neapolitan way and presented the mini version of the fabulous pizzelle (or montanare). We could not fail to offer you another cornerstone of this family of leavened products from Campania: the escarole pizza! A fragrant shell that hides a filling of steaming escarole, Cetara anchovies and Gaeta olives. All kneaded and assembled artfully by the Master baker Franco Pepe. If the casatiello is the king of the table in the days of Easter, the escarole pizza is a specialty that the most "true" Campanians love to taste for lunch on Christmas Eve, but which can also be prepared during the rest of the year in particular in the months when escarole is on the market with a bright and lively green color! Your escarole pizza while still hot will certainly have an edge, but it will also be fragrant if served at room temperature for an original appetizer! We are sure that you will fall in love with this dough by following Franco Pepe's instructions and if it is not escarole season, don't worry: you can use it to prepare delicious fried pizzelle!

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for the dough

Flour 700 g

Water at room temperature 500 Ml

Fresh brewer's yeast 4 g

Salt up to 20 g

for the filling

Raw curly escarole 100 g

Pitted Gaeta olives 60 g

Desalted capers 20 g

Anchovies in oil in fillets 10 g

Extra virgin olive oil 10 g

for brushing

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Preparation

To prepare the escarole pizza, first pour a little of the amount of water at room temperature indicated into a small jug. Add the fresh brewer's yeast and stir with a teaspoon until it dissolves completely. Let the yeast rest and in the meantime place about 30% of the flour on one side of the cupboard (or the wooden or glass bowl that you will use to knead); The sideboard is a rectangular wooden container, which can withstand the temperature of the dough well and allows it not to stick to the edges. Also pour the water at room temperature into the other side of the cupboard, avoiding pouring it directly on the flour. Then add the salt to the water and with your hands untie it. When you no longer feel any grains to the touch, start mixing the flour inside the cupboard with both hands. Pour in a little more flour and gradually mix it with the water with your hands, with rotating movements. When you have inserted about 50% of the flour, add the previously dissolved yeast. Continue adding more flour a little at a time. Continuing to knead with your hands making a rotating movement until you have incorporated it all. Making the dough by hand allows you to better adjust its consistency in order to understand if it is necessary to add flour or not. At this point, continue to work the dough inside the cupboard for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth and homogeneous. Now all that remains is to let the dough rise, leaving it in the cupboard (or bowl) and gently cover it with a slightly damp cloth in contact with the surface of the dough. Let it rest for at least 4 hours at room temperature, away from drafts. After this time, the dough will be well risen; Sprinkle with a little flour and with the help of a tarot transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half then add a little flour and give each portion a spherical shape. Place them in two different bowls, previously sprinkled with a little flour. Cover again with damp tea towels and let it rest for another 2 hours. In the meantime, preheat the oven to maximum power. Desalt the capers by rinsing them several times under running water, cut the escarole by removing the most tender part, then rinse and dry it. Then take one of the two doughs, transfer it to the lightly floured surface and flatten it with your hands, giving it an oval shape and helping yourself with a little flour. Repeat the same operation with the other loaf, taking care to obtain two discs of the same size. Place about half of the escarole in the center of one of the two discs, leaving at least a couple of cm free around the edge. Then add the whole desalted capers, pitted Gaeta olives and season with a drizzle of oil. Add the anchovy fillets by breaking them up with your hands and finish with the escarole kept aside. Place the other disc of dough on top and by pressing lightly with your fingers, seal the end well. Using a pastry cutter, trim the edges by cutting the excess of dough and remove it by gently pulling it with your hands. Paying close attention to the curly escarole that could pierce the dough at this stage, lift the escarole pizza and transfer it into a non-stick pan. With a brush soaked in oil, grease the surface of the pizza very gently. Bake the pizza in a preheated static oven at maximum temperature for about 12-15 minutes. Then take it out of the oven and serve your escarole pizza. 

Preservation

Once cooked, the escarole pizza can be kept for a maximum of 2 days; alternatively it is possible to freeze it once it is completely cold. The dough alone can be stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours; alternatively it is possible to freeze it before the second leavening.

Advice

Add raisins and pine nuts to the filling for an even richer taste! Do not throw away the dough scraps! They are perfect for making small calzones!