Pancetta Pizza
INGREDIENTS
Basic pizza dough, homemade or purchased Fiery Red Pesto (see recipe below)
Thin slices pancetta or thin streaky bacon Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Salt and freshly ground black pepper DIRECTIONS
Heat your pizza oven to 500 degrees. Liberally dust your pizza peel with flour. Roll or pull the pizza dough into a rectangle about 8 inches wide and as long as your peel will take. Transfer to the pizza peel.
Spread a few tablespoons of red pesto over the pizza base, leaving a ½-inch rim around the edge. Lay the strips of pancetta across the pizza — they should be almost the same width as the dough. Season and drizzle with oil.
Working quickly, slide the pizza peel into your pizza oven. Bake for 60 seconds, rotating the pizza halfway through so that it bakes evenly and does not burn. The crust will be golden and the pancetta crisp. Remove from the oven and drizzle with olive oil. Cut into fingers and eat immediately.
Fiery Red Pesto
Makes about 1½ cups
INGREDIENTS
1 large red bell pepper
2handfuls fresh basil leaves
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
6sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped 2 ripe tomatoes, skinned 3tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup olive oil, plus extra to preserve
DIRECTIONS
Preheat a grill or broiler to high.
Place the pepper on the grill rack and grill/broil, turning occasionally, until charred all over. Put the pepper in a covered bowl until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin. Halve and remove the core and seeds.
Place the pepper and the remaining ingredients, except the oil, in a food processor. Process until smooth, then, with the machine running, slowly add the oil.
Spoon the pesto into a sterilized screw-top jar with a layer of olive oil on top to exclude the air. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks, until needed.
— Adapted from a recipe by Maxine Clark, “Fire & Slice” (Ryland Peters & Small, $17)