You will never want to eat another pizza again in your life, I promise you. I want Diane (one half of the pizza's namesake) to know that she has ruined me for life ... no other pizza can compare. The first time I had this pizza was at Diane and Frank's house in Edmonton at Christmas time. They invited us over for lunch and drinks - we had no idea what we were in for! Not only were we introduced to this delicious, traditional Italian, thin-crust pizza - but we were introduced to Campari (don't even get me started) and to a home with a couch in the kitchen and cool vintage men's ties hanging on the wall (not to mention Diane's own amazing hooked and beaded art). The pizza was served while we sat on the couch and enjoyed our drinks, one piece each until the pizza was finished and then a new pizza arrived and the process would start all over again. Now, this lunch has become one of the things I look forward to most when going home to Edmonton during the holidays. This year, Diane and Frank gave each of us our own pizza pans, olive oil, and specialty salt and pepper so we would be able to recreate this recipe on our own. We have yet to make them as perfectly crisp and tangy as Diane and Frank do, but this New Years Eve we came pretty close ...
us - full and tipsy at Frank and Diane's (they are on the far left)
Ingredients (the recipe is for 2 pizzas from one dough - half or double or triple as needed)
- 1 pizza dough (this will make two pizzas and will serve between two and three people, I have no problem eating a whole pizza to myself, and no shame as well apparently) - you can make your own dough (I don't because Diane doesn't and I do whatever she does) - or you can buy some from Toninas Deli & Cafe on Main Street in Vancouver or from a variety of other places. My experience has so far been that most doughs are of relatively equal weight. The dough can be refrigerated or frozen before hand but should be left to reach room temperature before using. The more the dough rises the fluffier the pizza crust will be, I like mine as thin and crispy as possible and I have found that a very fresh still slightly unrisen dough seems to do the job best.
For the Sauce:
- 7 or 8 campari tomatoes (small round plum tomatoes)*
- 2 roma tomatoes*
- handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
- 4 cloves minced garlic (or more, I think this might be the key to the tanginess)
- a few tablespoons of olive oil
- a few grinds of grey salt
- a few grinds of tellicherry pepper
* Campari tomatoes are smaller than normal tomatoes but a little larger than strawberry tomatoes - sometimes I have a hard time finding them at my local green grocer. In the event that you cannot find camparis, or if the romas do not look tasty just use any tomato combination you can find - we have made these with many different kinds. The key, according to Diane, is that the camparis are a little softer and juicier while the romas are meatier and drier - the combination of the two makes for a sauce that is not too wet (which will sog up your pizza - don't let this happen) and that has delightful larger tomato pieces throughout.
To top the pizza:
- 6-7 fresh medium sized boccoccini balls (or 3 large balls) or 12-14 tiny balls
- fresh basil leaves
Do it
So, I believe deep down in my pizza loving heart that the reason this pizza is so good is because it is so hands on - please do not be tempted to make the sauce using any electronic device; no blenders, food processors, or potato mashers allowed.
- preheat the oven to 500 C - this is hot, but it may be the most important part of the recipe. We don't have a hood vent at our house and we haven't had a problem yet.
- in a large bowl, squish each tomato (whole, seeds and peel) between your fingers until it cannot be squished anymore (the roma is a tough one, and some inch sized tomato pieces are great in the sauce, so there is no need to pulverize)
- add the minced garlic and squish again
- add the olive oil, salt, and pepper and squish again - now taste - is it tangy and tomatoey and a little salty? no? add more salt, garlic, and pepper
- mix in the torn basil leaves
- grease two pizza pans with a little olive oil
- cut the dough in half and start spreading the dough to the edges of each pan. Make sure there are no air bubbles in the dough and that it is not so transparent that you can see the bottom of the pan. If you make a hole, just pinch the dough together and try it again. An evenly spread, very thin dough with only a little extra at the edges will make for the best pizza.
- now spread some of the sauce on each pizza, you don't want a lot of sauce, just enough to cover most of the pizza (but the dough should be visible under the sauce) - it should look like chunks of tomato and pieces of basil in a very light pink sauce over the dough.
- put one pizza on a lower rack in the oven and one pizza on the rack above (both somewhat in the middle) - bake for 5 minutes and then switch the pizzas and bake for another 5 minutes. The pizza should be browned on the edges and there should not be much if any liquid floating around on the dough.
- top the pizza with cheese - sparingly, it should not be white, but just polka dotted with slices of creamy cheese
- return to the oven - choose which pizza goes where - and bake for another 5 minutes (I usually only leave them in for about 3)
- remove from oven, drizzle a little of the uncooked tomato sauce over the pizza if you like and cover with fresh basil. Drizzle olive oil over the edge of the crust.
- slice it up
enjoy with some red wine and a dance or two ...
photos courtesy of shammy and crammy
