MAKES ONE 12-INCH PIZZA
You know summer has arrived when a regular cheese slice at your favorite pizzeria all of a sudden seems too cheesy, too greasy, too heavy. In an effort to make a lightened-up version of a favorite pizza, I stripped it of its cheeses and baked the dough naked. Unburdened by layers of toppings, the dough baked up with a perfect spring and a craggy texture pocked with crests and craters—the ideal topography to capture a heavy brushing of herb-and-garlic olive oil.
The beauty is in the simplicity; simply bake the dough, brush with herb-and-garlic olive oil, and top with the pesto mixture. It’s also very easy to adapt this recipe to suit your taste and ingredient availability; change up the herbs, add some spices, throw in some nuts. Blogger and Baking Steel fan Alexandra Stafford, who writes the blog Alexandra’s Kitchen, tops her pizza with a bunch of fresh greens. Whatever you do to it, this herb-covered naked pizza makes an irresistible summer appetizer or an excellent complement to a hearty salad.
1 ball Seventy-Two-Hour Pizza Dough or your favorite pizza dough
Flour for dusting
Olive oil
3 or 4 ice cubes (see sidebar)
1 batch Perfect Pesto (here)
Fine sea salt
1. Preheat the Baking Steel in your oven (here).
2. Stretch your dough into a 12-inch circle (oblong or oval is also fine). Lightly flour your peel and place the dough on top.
3. Drizzle the dough lightly with olive oil and place 3 or 4 ice cubes in the center of the dough.
4. Use a generously floured pizza peel to launch your pizza onto the Baking Steel and bake under the broiler for 2 minutes.
5. After 2 minutes, open the oven and use your pizza peel to give the pizza a 180-degree turn. Turn off the broiler, set the oven to its highest temperature, and continue cooking for another 1 to 2 minutes or until the crust has reached the desired brownness.
6. Use your pizza peel to remove the pie from the oven. Working with the pizza still on the peel, spread the pesto evenly on top and sprinkle with salt to taste. Slice and serve.