My Brother's Homemade Cheese Pizza from scratch

My brother's pizza tastes incredible. It is really made from scratch with all the important ingredients. As far as I know, he really did his research - the right flour, yeast and fermentation starters, the right equipment (pizza stone, etc.). He uses a variety of high quality cheeses which just tastes delicious when melted into a gooey pizza topping. And the sprinkle of some drops of tabasco sauce at the end is just the tip of the iceberg - everything comes together splendidly.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 220g pizza flour Typ 0* (or bread flour)
• 4-5g baking ferment (a fermentation starter)
• 1 tablespoon barley malt (enzyme active)
• 10g yeast (fresh)
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 230ml water

Toppings (variations possible):

• 2 big tomatoes - cut into cubes and pureed
• 50g of each, emmenthaler, gauda, and parmesan cheese - freshly grated
• 50g gorgonzola - cut into little cubes
• 50g mozzarella and or feta cheese - cut into little cubes
• 1 tablespoon tabasco sauce
• freshly grounded black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven at 270 degree Celsius (520 degree Fahrenheit).

1.  Prepare the dough: In a big bowl, mix the flour, baking ferment and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix the barley malt with the water, yeast and olive oil to activate the yeast. Now, add the water mix to the flour mix and knead the dough for a few minutes. Form a dough ball and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towl. Let proof in a warm area for 1/2 - 1 hour till dough more than doubled in size. 
2. Prepare the fresh tomato sauce: Puree the tomatoes. My brother used fresh tomotoes from the garden, so he also kept a couple of tomato slices as topping. (Important: If you do not immediately use the tomato sauce, you need to boil the sauce in order for it to be durable.)
3.  Toppings: Roll the dough out, 1/2 inch thickness. Fold and press in the edges (Additional tip: I know some people that put additional mozzarella cheese in the edges which tastes delicious!). Spread the tomato sauce evenly on top of the dough. Now, sprinkle the grated cheeses (emmenthaler, gauda and parmesan) on top and add the cheese cubes (gorgonzola, mozzarella, feta). Add the tomato slices (otpional).
4. Baking: Use a pizza stone for the oven. Bake the pizza for 4-6 minutes (depending on the oven). Keep an eye on it, so that it doesn't burn. Take it out of the oven and sprinkle with tabasco and freshly grounded black pepper.

*Note: There are different types of flour that vary in texture due to the amount of gluten. In Europe, they use type 1, 0, or 00 and it refers to the texture of the flour with 1 being the roughest texture. Type 0 or 00 is the "Italian style flour", suitable for "Neapolitan style pizza" (thin in the middle and puffy at the edges).

 

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