Pizza Blanca com batatas e anchovas


Many of us don’t like tomato sauce on our pizza.Never mind those base thoughts you might be having, pizza blanca refers to a pizza without a tomato sauce which removes that topping quandary for you. For a recent mid-week supper I decided to combine potatoes, anchovies and rosemary in what turned out in foodista terms to be the ultimate spring/summer pizza. Potatoes on pizza? It's true. I am sure there are some Doubting Thomas´s amongst you, but I assure you this elegant combination of flavours and textures is so good you will wish you had made two. The Classic Pizza Margherita  is good, but this one is something else… A vital element here is not overloading the pizza with a multitude of toppings; less is definitely more on pizza.Only three or four toppings will also make your dough shine through too.The layers of flavour in this pizza are quite extraordinary. "quite one of the best things I have eaten in ages" was the thespian´s retort.A crunchy crispy base topped with creamy potatoes which echoed  dauphinoise. I must admit I was dubious that the potato would cook but they were meltingly delicious.Oh and the flavour of the anchovies,don´t stint here whatever you do, they make it."can we have it again"?

Pizza Blanca
For the base
250g strong white bread flour
250g plain white flour
5g powdered dried yeast
10g salt
325ml warm water
About 1 tbsp olive oil
1 handful coarse flour or polenta for dusting


In a bowl, mix the flours, yeast, salt and water to form a sticky dough. Mix in the oil, then turn out on to a clean work surface and knead until smooth and silky. (Alternatively, if you have a mixer with a dough hook, mix the flours, yeast, salt and water on a low speed, add the oil and knead for 10 minutes). Shape into a round, and leave to rise in a clean bowl, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven (and pizza stone or substitute) as high as it will go. Take a  piece of dough and roll it into a  round the size of your stone. Dust a rimless baking sheet with coarse flour, lay the dough on it, add your toppings and slip the pizza from the sheet on to the hot stone.
For the topping

new potatoes
3 fat cloves of garlic thinly sliced
plentiful sprigs of rosemary
1 ball of Mozzarella
2 tins of anchovies

Well in advance of baking your pizza,cut enough new potatoes into wafer thin slices and toss them in a large bowl with the garlic and rosemary.Cover with clingfilm and set aside to marinade for afew hours.When ready to bake,crumble your mozzarella over your ready prepared base cover with the potato rosemary and garlic mix and finally arrange the anchovies on top of the potatoes.Cook in a pre-heated hot oven 220C/400F until the potatoes start crisping up on the edges and your pizza base has taken on a good crust

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