Another crowd favourite from my cookbook, this recipe for Potato Pizzetta is a great way to enjoy everyone’s favourite takeaway at home. Don’t a copy of your own yet? You can shop West Coast Wander here.
Essentially a small pizza, a pizzetta involves little more than adding a topping of choice to a thin dough base. If you’re not fortunate to have a wood-fired oven, use a pizza stone in the oven to achieve a crisp crust. Here, Sandveld potatoes are thinly sliced and layered before being drizzled with olive oil and topped with fresh mozzarella or burrata.
Crisp and moreish, the concept of doubling one’s carbs is celebrated through this twist on the Friday night family favourite. I’ve included the recipe for basic pizza dough from West Coast Wander below and it usually makes around 4 to 6 pizza bases. The cream cheese topping (my cheat’s twist of a classic Bianca) means that no tomato passata is needed. One can of course also substitute the potato with whatever might be in the fridge – from sundried tomatoes to chorizo sausage.
Potato Pizzetta
Prep time: 20 mins /Cook time: 10 mins /Serves: 4
You will need:
- 50ml cream cheese
- 6 – 8 new potatoes, scrubbed
- 1 sprig rosemary, leaves finely chopped (or use dried rosemary)
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- Olive oil
- Coarse ground sea salt and black pepper
For the dough:
- 500g Italian “00” flour
- 7g instant dried yeast sachet
- 300ml lukewarm water
- 10ml fine salt
- 20ml olive oil
In a large bowl, combine the flour, dried yeast and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the water. Using hands, mix the water into the flour until it forms dough. Turn out on to a floured surface and knead until smooth. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a cloth for about 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. Knock the dough down and divide or shape as needed.
Preheat your oven to 220°C and if using, heat a pizza stone. Roll out the dough balls to about 20cm in diameter. Stir the crushed garlic into the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread cream cheese across the pizzette bases and spoon over the garlicky oil. Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice the potatoes paper-thin and layer over the pizzette bases. Scatter over the rosemary and if desired, crumble some feta or other cheese over the pizzetta and drizzle with olive oil. Place the pizzetta on the heated pizza stone and bake for 8 minutes or until the crust is crisp and golden.
I paired my potato pizzetta with a bottle of Rietvallei’s JMB Chardonnay – with the wine’s full-bodied complexity and citrus aromas complementing the earthy flavour of the potatoes and the creaminess of fresh handmade mozzarella by Puglia Cheese.
