Old-world taste in wood-fired oven

There’s nothing more delicious than fresh pizza from your own wood-fired backyard oven, but they aren’t just for pizza. Here are some recipes to try.

This recipe, developed in Europe, calls for Type 00 flour, which is a European designation indicating very finely milled flour. It’s difficult to find in North America, but experts suggest the best substitute is bread flour or, in a pinch, all-purpose flour. You may have to increase the amount of water slightly.

Makes: 5 pizzas. 1 1/4 cups (310 mL) warm water 2 tsp (10 mL) dry yeast (or 4 tsp/ 20 mL fresh yeast) 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil 2 cups (500 mL) Type 00 flour or substitute 2 tsp (10 mL) salt

1. To get water to right temperature, mix 3/4 cup (180 mL) of cold tap water with 1/4 cup (60 mL) boiled water. That will bring the temperature to around 96 F (36 C). Be careful not to go too warm or hot as that will kill yeast. Combine warm water with yeast and oil.

2. In a separate bowl, sift flour with salt.

3. If using a kitchen appliance to knead, turn on second-lowest setting and gradually add water. Once they’re mixed, time 4 minutes on the same setting. If hand-kneading, knead for about 10 minutes until dough is stretchy and velvety.

4. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes, then hand-knead for about another minute.

5. Cut dough into 5 equal balls. Flatten slightly to make it easier to stretch later. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and leave to proof for 2 hours. (If you want to do cold proofing — highly recommended — use a bit less yeast and leave proofing in a fridge for 24 to 48 hours. Cold proofing brings great, deep flavour to dough as it allows the yeast to work with the sugars in the flour longer.)

6. Once proofed, the dough can be stretched and dressed with your toppings of choice. Source: uuni.net (Uuni is a British-based company that manufactures portable woodfired pizza ovens).