Kneading Ruby’s Vegetarian Pizza with Eggplant & Stracciatella is the perfect traditional Italian meal, as featured in The Illawarra Cookbook.
Pizza Dough
15g fresh yeast
700ml water, at room temperature
50ml extra virgin oil
25g sea salt
1kg ‘00’ flour
Topping
1 eggplant, thinly sliced
olive oil
500ml San Marzano peeled tomatoes
2 balls fior di latte
500g stracciatella
basil pesto
salt & pepper
For the dough – dissolve the yeast in 150ml of water. In a bowl, mix with the remaining water, oil and salt until dissolved. Add half the flour and combine into a soft pliable dough. Add the remaining flour and knead until smooth, being careful not to overwork the dough.
Shape the dough into a large ball and rest for 30 minutes. Separate into smaller balls large enough to match the size of your pizza bases, cover and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and rest for 30 minutes. Place one ball on a well-oiled pizza tray and slowly stretch to cover the surface using your hands or a rolling pin.
To finish – preheat an oven to 185⁰C. Chargrill the eggplant with some oil on a barbecue or griddle pan. Pass the tomatoes through a sieve, then spread onto each pizza base. Tear the fior di latte over the top, then cover the pizza with eggplant. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the base is crisp.
To serve – arrange chunks of the stracciatella over the pizza and dollop with pesto, then drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Go behind-the-scenes of the Illawarra’s vibrant culinary industry with The Illawarra Cookbook (2017), featuring Kneading Ruby’s Vegetarian Pizza with Eggplant & Stracciatella.
Visit https://www.quicksandfood.com/product/the-illawarra-cookbook/ for more information