DenisPizza: Sicilian Grilled Vegetables

Ingredients for two pizza doughs: 
 
    1. Very strong wheat flour for bread  (not flour for cakes!) - 480 grams
    2. Fresh Milk - 400 ml
    3. One level tea spoon of salt
    4. Fresh yeast (the size of a fresh cherry or maybe two)
    5. A drop of extra virgin of olive oil

 Tip: You can use a "half pint glass" to measure the amount of flour. Each glass is one pizza.

  

Instructions

Pour the milk into a jug. Heat the milk in the microwave just barely. Milk should be lukewarm as if it would be meant for a newborn baby to drink. Too much heat will kill the yeast.
Pour the yeast into the milk and add the salt. 

Now stir with a spoon briskly for at least two minutes until milk is frothy and the yeast dissolved completely. Leave the mix milk-yeast-salt to rest for five minutes.

   

Place the flour in a large bowl and pour the jug's content (milk + yeast + salt) over the flour. Now stir with a wooden spoon or even better a spatula. Mix this well with the flour.

Once it is well mixed, the glue effect will be absorbed by the flour. Pour some dry flour on top of the dough and make into a shape of a ball. The dry flour will stop the dough from sticking to the bowl and help separate into the shape of a nice ball of dough.

Sprinkle some dry flour onto your clean and dry worktop and transfer the dough ball onto it.
We are preparing two pizzas, so the dough needs to be separated in half.

Maintain the shape of the ball and crush with your hands to make a nice smooth rim. Then use a rolling pin to stretch it.

The more you stretch the dough, the more likely it is for this to stick to the worktop, hence
the secret is to gradually stretch a little and then sprinkle dry flour onto the worktop and the pizza base while stretching it.

When the pizza base has expanded to the size of a pizza and to form a nice circle, dust off any extra dry flour from it ...

... and pour extra virgin olive oil on it.
 

Now use your  finger tips to scatter the oil on the surface of the pizza base.

When this side has been carefully oiled ...

... grab it, turn it upside down and kindly lay it on the pizza tray. The pizza base should be wider than the pizza tray, to allow this overflow effect you see below ... 

The yeast in the dough is now alive and as sensitive as any living being to temperatures. If it is cold the rising of the dough can be  slowed down considerably, hence if you are not ready or you need extra time to get ready,  a good idea is to place the tray in the fridge to postpone the rising. The ideal temperature is a warm home temperature, in which case around 90 minutes will be enough time for this to happen.

Whilst the pizza bases are quietly rising in the background, it is time to prepare the roasted mushrooms, aubergines and onions ...

Slice them up ...

Place slices on your grill pan (I bought mine in Ikea)...

Careful not to burn them ...

Same with the aubergines ...

Once grilled these shrink and anyone would find hard to believe that you can actually place a whole aubergine on one pizza together with all the rest...

And on the grill, again we are grilling, not burning... Timing is important and there is a perfect moment to pull them out of the fire...

Grilled but yet juicy. They are going back in the oven with the pizza so no need to over cook them twice!

When out of the grill leave them to cool down so that they dont soak in their own steam that will keep on coming out until they have cooled down. As shown below is ideal. Same with the mushrooms.

And for the sake of repetition, similarly also the onions ...

mmm .. I can smell them. Grilled vegetables release amazing scents which start building the appetite ...

Here are the fresh mozzarellas. Remember to check expiry dates and try to buy the freshest. One mozzarella should be enough for one pizza.

Dice them up ...

The grilling usually rises the temperature of your kitchen which also accelerates the rising of your pizza bases. You will noticed they have gained volume becoming particularly soft and delicate, so handle with care.

We are now preparing the filled crust. We should use half mozzarella for the crust and the other half later as topping.

Now time to brush milk on to the edges, this will turn the affected areas into self sticky to wrap the crust around the mozzarella dices ...

Handle with extreme care, no need to apply too much pressure on the rised dough as we want to preserve this softness until they go to they go in the oven.

And this is what we should aim at ...

Now time to spread the tomato sauce (instructions for the sauce are separate in the Pizza Sauce Recipe) ....

Again, careful when applying the sauce on to the pizza. No pressure is required, and the sauce should never spread on the pizza if hot. The shock will deflate the rising. Big tragedy! :)

More fun here, it is time to lay our grilled vegetables on to the pizza ...

Grilled aubergines, grilled mushrooms ...

you may want to switch on the oven. 200 degrees is my favorite temperature, but all ovens are different. Mine for example is not ventilated and I know the ventilation speeds up the cooking.

You can add olives, these are from Sicily...

and very very tasty olives they are:

Sun dried tomatoes are very welcome too ...

And now it is time to add cheese and the other half mozzarella...

Here is the parmisan ...

Parmisan cheese is a very salty cheese, one table spoon sprinkled all over should also replace any need to add  more salt later...

The pizza is almost ready, the last touch before going in is a sprinkle of oregano all around it.

Now it is time to set your alarm clocks! If your oven is ventilated you will have to check the pizza every 10 minutes, and it hsould not take more than 20 minutes. Without ventilation my oven needs a good half an hour, but never leave the pizza unattended. Over cooking is not recommended...

This is me checking the pizza after 10 minutes. As you can see the heat as made the pizza explode and rise even further. The smell of amazing food is becoming really strong in the house and so is everyone's appetite...

Sicilian Spicy Seasoning: I finely grate four cloves of garlic and chop fresh herbs, like basil, sage, rosemary and a couple of red chillies. Then put them in a jug, pour extra virgin olive oil on it and leave for a couple of hours to soak. This seasoning is the final touch and it is poured raw with a spoon on top of the pizza when it comes out of the oven.  

And if you have not forgotten the pizza to burn in the oven, this is what it should look/taste/smell like ...

Enjoy! :)

I will most definitely post more recipes, so, who knows we might bump into eachother again and hopefully soon. Ciao!