Anyone who has visited Buenos Aires knows that pizza is a cult symbol there. Unlike the Italian version, the main peculiarity of Argentinian pizza is that its dough is very high and is generously covered with mozzarella. Since pizzeria ovens reach 400 degrees, it’s very difficult to replicate traditional pizzas in a home oven. But with the secrets detailed here, we can achieve a very good result that will give a lot of satisfaction to those who suffer from “pizza nostalgia”.
Ingredients for a 28 cm diameter pizza:
250 g of wheat flour
175 ml of lukewarm water
300 g mozzarella cheese
250 g of crushed tomato
1 generous teaspoon of salt
3-4 grams of dry yeast (or 10 grams of fresh yeast)
Extra virgin olive oil (or sunflower)
Oregano
Some green olives to decorate
In addition, a pizza mold of about 28 cm is required, as well as additional ingredients for the first secret, the homemade chimichurri: extra virgin olive oil (or sunflower oil) and spices to taste (oregano, ground chili, parsley, garlic, rosemary , thyme, etc.).
The longer the chimichurri sits, the more intense its flavor. Therefore, start by mixing the spices with the oil and keep them in a glass jar in the refrigerator. We can even do it the day before. We will only use it to brush the pizza when it comes out of the oven, so a significant amount is not necessary.
Tomate sauce:
Choose very ripe tomatoes of the “plum” type. Discard the central part with the seeds, where most of the water is concentrated. If we use canned tomatoes, drain them and use the juice for another recipe. In both cases, crush them and season to taste (for example, salt, oregano, ground chili, sweet paprika, garlic, etc.). No cooking is required.
The pizza dough:
Generally, a “soft” flour is used, since its low gluten content allows the dough to be malleable and easy to manipulate. This is one of the secrets to achieve a soft and smooth pizza. However, I have obtained very good results even with soft grain whole wheat flour. The kneading is similar to that required for other bread products, only in this case, a greater amount of salt is usually used and a little oil is added to taste.
Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the salt to the sides, so that it does not come into contact with the yeast. Make a well in the center, add the yeast there, and pour the water over it. Mix with a spoon until integrated, then add a little oil and continue kneading by hand on the table, until you obtain a very smooth dough. Oil the bowl, put the bun inside and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for at least an hour in a warm place, until the dough doubles in volume.
After this period, knead again on the table, to once again obtain an elastic dough bun. Lightly oil the mold, place the bun in the center and begin to flatten it with your hands, stretching from the center to the sides. The goal is to obtain a pizza that covers the entire surface, with as regular as possible height (in this way it can be cooked evenly).
Brush the pizza with one or two spoons of tomato sauce, without reaching the edges. It is not necessary to add much tomato at this point, since we will add it again later.
Cover it again with film and let it rise until it doubles in height (between half and an hour).
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, and bake the pizzas at a medium height in the oven for no more than 8-10 minutes. The bottom of the pizza should still be white but should come off easily, without sticking to the mold.
Transfer the pizza to a wire rack and let cool completely. This step is important, because in this way it will lose much of the moisture. At this point we will have obtained a pre-pizza. It is common to find it with that name in Argentinian supermarkets. We can keep the pre-pizza in the refrigerator for 1-2 days or even freeze it.
How to prepare the typical Buenos Aires “muzzarella” pizza:
In the article about Buenos Aires pizzerias, it was already explained that the term muzzarella is not an error or typo: this is the popular name used in Argentina, instead of the Italian term mozzarella.
The choice of mozzarella is very important. The fresh one that is sold in ball form is not recommended, since it has a large amount of moisture. Ideally, use kitchen mozzarella or even grated mozzarella, which is especially suitable for pizza. If we use a block, it’s essential to grate it very finely, so that it melts complete and evenly. To do this, a good trick is to put it in the freezer for half an hour. In this way it hardens and makes grating much easier.
Preheat the oven to maximum temperature (around 250 degrees). Oil the same mold used previously and place the pre-pizza in it. Spread on the pizza the rest of the tomato sauce, this time reaching the edges. Distribute the grated mozzarella all over the pizza, and bake at a low height for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown. Then, according to each person’s taste, it’s possible to leave it for a few additional minutes in the upper part of the oven, so that the cheese gets browned.
Keep in mind that the times are not precise, since they always depend on each oven.
When removing the pizza from the oven, place it on a board, sprinkle with oregano and paint it with the pizza chimichurri. Decorate with green olives. This pizza is usually accompanied with a portion of fainá.