Florentine Pizza is one of my favourite types of pizza, I’m not sure why but I think the combination of ingredients come together to create a lovely, rich pizza and the perfectly-cooked egg in the centre is just the perfect finishing touch. Traditionally, I believe this is made without olives but I like to include them as I love olives on pizza. But you can just as easily exclude them if you don’t like them. If you’re vegetarian make sure you use a vegetarian equivalent to Parmesan since it’s made with animal rennet which is absolutely NOT suitable for vegetarians.
Florentine Pizza
Print RecipeIngredients
- For the base:
- 250g '00' Pasta Flour
- 165ml Water
- 20ml Olive Oil
- 5g Fast Action Yeast
- 5g Salt
- For the sauce:
- 200g Passata
- 1 x Onion
- 3 x Garlic Cloves
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- For the topping:
- 150g Baby Spinach
- 12 x Pitted Black Olives
- 125g Mozzarella, drained and dried
- 75g Freshly Grated Parmesan (or vegetarian equivalent)
- 1 x Large Egg
Instructions
Firstly, to make the dough, measure out the flour into a large bowl, and then add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast on the other side.
Add in the olive oil, and then the water a bit at the time until it forms a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Add a little olive oil to a clean work surface and knead the dough for around 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove for around 2 - 3 hours or until doubled or even trebled in size.
Next, to make the tomato sauce, very finely dice the onion and garlic cloves.
Place a pan over a medium-low heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and allow to heat up for a minute or two.
Add in the onions and garlic and gently cook for 5 - 10 minuts, stirring all the time until the onions become soft and translucent.
Clear a little space in the pan, and add in the tomato paste and cook it out for a couple of minutes and then stir into the onions and garlic.
Add in the passata along with the salt, pepper and oregano and bring to a gentle simmer and cook for a further 5 - 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7.
Once the dough has proved, remove from the bowl and knock all of the air out. Shape the dough into a pizza shape to your desired thickness depending on if you want a thin crusts or a slightly thicker crust. For this pizza, however, I would recommend a thinner crust. Place the dough onto a baking tray or a baking stone.
Spread the sauce thinly over the pizza base, then tear the mozzarella and place evenly all over the base.
Next, grate the parmesan and sprinkle over the mozzarella and sauce, and then scatter over the spinach and olives.
Finally, crack the egg - doing this into a small bowl helps - and place gently into the middle of the pizza.
Place into the oven and bake for 10 - 12 minutes until the base is golden and crisp and the egg is just set.
