Authentic Italian Pizza Recipes

I know you have been searching for authentic Italian pizza recipes for your home pizza parties, something beyond Pizza Hut,  or your local “authentic pizzeria”  that just happens to be the same old recycled  pizza you can find in just about any town across America.

My love, obsession and passion for authentic Italian pizza recipes started when I was about 12 years old, that’s when my Sicilian Grandma would make old world style pie(pizza) with me. We would use  fresh made dough and crushed tomatoes for the sauce. She always used oregano and good olive oil topped with a imported cheeses.

One of my favorite authentic Italian pizza recipes is pizza with arugula and prosciutto.

Prosciutto and Arugula pizza

I know of many variations of this great tasting authentic pizza, so you can have fun with the concept. Just remember that with artisan style pizza making, less is more. Use a few great ingredients wisely to get a great authentic Italian style pizza. Your dough should be made with a “00″ flour, your tomatoes should be as fresh as possible like plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or tomatoes from the San Marzano region.  The cheese should not overpower the pizza, use a small amount of a high quality cheese like fresh mozzarella, ricotta or imported parmigiana.  I love to sweeten up my sauce with a couple drizzles of a high quality honey. try using sea salt instead of traditional salt.

1/4 pound of pizza dough.
2 tablespoons or so of tomato sauce. Use something like San Marzano Tomatoes with Sea Salt, Garlic, Basil and a little honey)
6 to 8 thin slices of buffalo mozzarella
3 thin slices of prosciutto
2 large handfuls of baby arugula
excellent olive, for drizzling
flaky sea salt, for finishing

Place pizza stone on the bottom of the oven and preheat it to 500 degrees, or as hot as your oven gets. Or if you are lucky like me go buy yourself an authentic wood fired pizza oven and burn a fruit wood like Apple, Maple or Cherry.

On a lightly floured surface and with lightly floured hands, gently stretch the dough until it is almost so thin you can see through it.  Try to keep an even thickness throughout, though a perfectly round shape isn’t so important. I like my pizzas to be misshaped, they look beautiful and organic.

Place the stretched dough on your pizza peel and Spread a very thin layer of the sauce on the dough.  Top with the cheese slices and a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Bake in your wood fired pizza oven or on your pizza stone in your oven until the cheese is melted and crust is done.  When you remove the pizza place the prosciutto on top and  Pile the pizza with the arugula.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired.

If you want the real secrets to making authentic homemade pizza  click here!