Pizza Portuguesa

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Pizza stone, baking steel, or heavy upside-down baking sheet
• •Rolling pin, optional
• •Parchment paper
• •Pizza cutter or sharp knife
• •Small pot for boiling eggs

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the dough

   Put the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and stir with your hand so the yeast isn't sitting in one salty corner. Add the warm water and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix until no dry flour remains and the dough looks shaggy. Warm water wakes the yeast gently; hot water kills it, and then you'll stare at a sad lump wondering what you did wrong.

   If you have active dry yeast instead of instant, stir it into the warm water with the sugar and wait 5 minutes until foamy before mixing the dough.
2. 2

   Knead until smooth

   Tip the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, pushing it away with the heel of your hand and folding it back. Stop when it feels smooth, stretchy, and a little tacky, not dry. Kneading lines up the dough so it can stretch without tearing; dump in too much flour and you get a stiff crust with no kindness in it.

3. 3

   Let it rise

   Oil the bowl lightly, put the dough back in, cover it, and leave it in a warm corner until doubled, about 1 hour. Look at the dough, not the clock. If your kitchen is cool, it takes longer. Yeast works on its own schedule, which is annoying but honest.

4. 4

   Boil the eggs

   While the dough rises, put the eggs in a small pot, cover with water by 1 inch, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover, and wait 10 minutes. Cool in cold water, peel, and slice. This gives you firm yolks that slice cleanly; boil them hard forever and the yolks go dry and chalky.

5. 5

   Make the sauce

   Stir the tomato, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Taste it. It should be bright and a little salty because it has to season the dough too. Don't cook it down into paste; in the hot oven, a thin layer will taste fresh and keep the crust from getting heavy.

6. 6

   Heat the oven

   Put a pizza stone, baking steel, or upside-down heavy baking sheet in the oven and heat to 250°C (475°F) for at least 30 minutes. A hot surface hits the dough from below and sets the bottom fast. Skip the preheat and the toppings melt before the base crisps, which is how loaded pizza turns floppy.

7. 7

   Prep the toppings

   Pat the ham, peas, and olives dry with a clean towel. Slice the onion as thin as you can. Moisture is the quiet thief here: wet toppings leak onto the cheese and sauce, and suddenly you're baking a puddle. Thin onion softens and sweetens before the crust overbakes.

8. 8

   Shape the pizzas

   Divide the dough in half. On a floured counter, press one piece into a round, then stretch it to about 30 cm, 12 inches, leaving the edge a little thicker. If it snaps back, cover it and wait 5 minutes. That's not failure. That's dough asking to relax so it can stretch without tearing.

9. 9

   Top with order

   Move the shaped dough to parchment. Spread 1/4 cup sauce in a thin layer, leaving the edge bare. Add 1 cup mussarela, half the ham, half the onion, half the peas, and olives if using. Keep the egg slices aside for now. Cheese under the toppings helps hold them in place, and holding the egg back keeps it tender instead of rubbery.

10. 10

    Bake and finish

    Slide the pizza, parchment and all, onto the hot stone or sheet. Bake 8 minutes, then add the sliced egg and a pinch of oregano. Bake 3 to 5 minutes more, until the edge is golden, the cheese is bubbling in little spots, and the bottom feels crisp when lifted with a spatula. Finish with a thin thread of olive oil. Repeat with the second pizza.

11. 11

    Rest and slice

    Let the pizza rest for 2 minutes before slicing. I know. Cruel. But those 2 minutes let the cheese settle so every slice doesn't drag half the topping across the pan. Cut, serve, and watch the person who said isso não é pra mim take the corner piece.

Chef Tips

• •Use low-moisture mussarela, the kind made for melting. Fresh, watery cheese belongs somewhere else today. Here it leaks and makes soup, and then the crust gets blamed like an innocent person.
• •A Tuesday shortcut: use good bakery pizza dough or plain store-bought dough. The cost is that you won't learn the feel of dough under your hands that night. Fair trade sometimes. Just don't use a powdered crust mix pretending to be cooking.
• •Peas are not decoration here. They give a small sweet pop against the ham and onion. Use frozen peas, thawed and dried. Canned peas are soft and tired, and this pizza already has enough going on.
• •Onion has to be thin. Thick onion stays sharp and bossy while the crust finishes. Thin onion murcha, softens, and turns sweet in the oven.
• •If you're making this for a dinner party, bake two smaller pizzas instead of one crowded giant one. Crowding works badly in pans and badly on pizza: too much topping traps moisture and gives you a pale, limp middle.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can rise slowly in the fridge for 8 to 24 hours after kneading. Bring it to room temperature for 45 minutes before shaping.
• •The eggs can be boiled up to 2 days ahead and kept peeled or unpeeled in the fridge.
• •The toppings can be sliced and dried a few hours ahead. Keep them refrigerated and uncovered for the last 15 minutes so surface moisture dries off.
• •Baked pizza keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat slices in a dry skillet over medium-low heat until the bottom crisps and the cheese softens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 225g)