Pizza quattro stagioni — artichokes, garlic mushrooms, olives and egg

dairy Italian · medium · 45 min, including 25 hands-on

Two 28 cm pizzas with four distinct quarters, Roman style: artichoke hearts in oil, mushrooms cooked with garlic and parsley, black olives, and an egg added to the fourth quarter halfway through baking, with the yolk still runny. Crushed tomato, fior di latte and a long-fermented homemade dough complete the pizzas.

regular version

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Take the dough out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to 230°C conventional, with a heavy baking tray, for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, tear the mozzarella and drain in a sieve, then pat dry. Drain the tomatoes for 10 minutes, weigh out 180 g and crush by hand with 3 g salt and the oregano; save the rest and the juice for tomorrow's sauce.
2. Slice the mushrooms 5 mm thick. Heat 10 g oil over a medium-high heat with the crushed garlic clove, removing it as soon as it turns pale golden (30 seconds). Fry the mushrooms for 6–8 minutes until golden and their water has evaporated. Off the heat, add 1 g salt, the chopped parsley and 5 turns of the pepper mill, then leave to cool slightly. Drain the artichoke hearts, rinsing them if packed in brine, quarter them and pat dry with the olives. Crack the 2 eggs into two cups.
3. Unroll the dough into a rectangle of about 30 × 40 cm on baking paper suitable for 230°C. Spread with the 180 g tomato and scatter over the 250 g mozzarella in well-spaced pieces. Keep four distinct areas: artichokes, mushrooms and olives; on the fourth, arrange the mozzarella into two nests for the eggs. Drizzle over the remaining 10 g oil.
4. Pull the paper and pizza onto the hot tray and bake for 12–15 minutes, depending on the packet instructions and your oven. After 6 minutes, lift the edge with a wide spatula, remove the paper so the base can brown, and pour the 2 eggs into their nests in the fourth section. It is ready when the base is golden, the edges crisp, the cheese bubbling and the egg whites set with the yolks still runny. Tear over the basil after baking and cut portions so everyone gets to taste all four toppings.

One large pizza to share, with four topping sections and vegetables prepared while the oven heats.

On your plate

Cooking tips

This is a dairy dinner: serve no meat, and choose a pareve or dairy starter. Allow 60 minutes of active work on the day, plus 25 minutes the day before for the dough; the stated 210 minutes cover the dough balls' final rest, preheating and baking both pizzas. You can also make the dough that morning: leave it at room temperature for 1 hour, then refrigerate for 5–6 hours. Never leave it out all day (at 25°C or above, it collapses and turns sour). In a very warm room, check the dough balls after 2 hours: they should stay puffy, not spread into puddles. Baking paper avoids the most common mishap at home—a topped pizza sticking to the peel; remove it after 3 minutes so the base can brown. Cook the mushrooms before topping, otherwise their water will soak the centre. To save work on the day, take the mozzarella out of its liquid the day before, tear it up and leave to drain in a sieve over a bowl in the fridge, covered with cling film. Use the remaining tinned tomatoes and their juice for tomorrow's pasta sauce, and the leftover mushrooms for an omelette. Adding an egg halfway through baking is the Roman capricciosa technique; if you prefer to leave it out, top the fourth quarter with 60 g jarred roasted red peppers (poivrons_grilles_bocal), drained, patted dry and cut into strips.

Equipment : large mixing bowl, lidded container for the dough, accurate scales for the yeast, heavy baking tray or pizza stone, baking paper (both methods), peel: a thin board or the back of a cold baking tray, wide spatula, wire rack, sieve, 24 cm frying pan, 2 cups for the eggs

Roman-style pizza quattro stagioni (carciofini, funghi trifolati, olive, uovo), adapted to be kosher and vegetarian by replacing cooked ham with egg; dough slowly fermented in the fridge and baked on a preheated tray.