Speck, Goats Cheese, and Heirloom Tomato Pizza

This week was pretty awesome.

And an awesome week means Friday night pizza. Well, to be honest, most weeks mean Friday night pizza, but great ones require it. Celebrating with a nice glass of red, some za, and, because it’s summer (or close enough to it), hang-outs on the back deck.

Here’s a run down…

This week:

1. I recorded a video series!!! Yeah!!! The first one was released this week, and the series  features some of the recipes that I’ve created for my FWx column ‘Stacked’. Super fun project that has kind of being hanging out in the wings for a while, so I chuffed that it’s finally out and available. You can check it out (along with all my ‘Stacked’ recipes) at FWx.com. 

2. Great meetings on a couple SUPER exciting new top-secret(ish) projects happening soon.

3. I bought a new lens. Gear nerds, UNITE! I’ve been shooting a lot of travel/landscape style photography lately, so I picked up a 14-24 lens, that I couldn’t be happier with. So good.

4. As soon as I finished season 3 of Suits, Netflix went ahead and added season 4. Bonus!

5. I went to the beach. Twice.

5. Our fire pit is set-up in the backyard.

I can’t possibly tell you how excited that I am that the warm weather has arrived. Local produce, welcome back. We’ve missed you.

Pizza night, begin…

It’s no secret that we love pizza in our house, and this one is a keeper. The key, as with any dish, is really fantastic ingredients. Best ingredients = best dishes. If you can’t find Speck, Prosciutto would be equally delicious. And if you like the spicy spice, add some red chilli flakes.

Speck & Goats Cheese Pizza

Makes 2, 12 inch pies

For the dough;

2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup Tipo OO flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons dry active yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 cups water, lukewarm

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the toppings; 

1 cup tomato sauce

8 sheets of Speck

2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced

1 mozzarella ball

1 cup goats cheese

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 cup basil leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

In a large bowl (or the base of a stand-mixer), mix together your yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of water. Stir, and allow the yeast to activate (about 10 minutes). Once the yeast has activated, add your flour, olive oil, 1/2 cup of water, and salt, and knead for 10 – 15 minutes, until you have a soft dough ball. Cover, and let double in size (1 1/2 hours).

Preheat your oven, fitted with a Baking Steel (or Pizza Stone) to 550 degrees.

Divide your dough in 2 equal pieces. Roll out your dough into a round 12 inch pie. Top with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, 3-4 slices of tomato, and lay our 4 sheets of Speck. Top with half of your mozzarella ball, and drizzle over 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of dried oregano on top of your pizza.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the crust is perfect. Immediately top with 1/4 cup of goats cheese, so it begins to melt on top of your pie. Top with basil leaves.

Repeat with the second half of your dough.