Baby potato + rosemary pizzas

I first had potato pizza in Rome, where you can buy it by the freshly-baked, crispy potato and olive-oil-laden slice at any pizza stall worth its salt. Some people might baulk at the thought of carb-on-carb pizza, but I’ve always been fond of the odd chip butty, and I love the simplicity of this dish: it’s the ultimate comfort food. The combination of woody rosemary with garlic, earthy potato, soft dough and crunchy sea salt is a humble delight.

INGREDIENTS

350g strong plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 x 7 g sachet fast-action dried yeast

225ml lukewarm water

10-12 baby potatoes, washed and drained

1 garlic clove, crushed

4 tablespoons mascarpone, plain natural yoghurt or creme fraiche

extra-virgin olive oil

4 sprigs thyme, leaves picked

4 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Dust a clean work surface with flour. Sift the flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a large mixing bowl. Add the water and mix to form a loose dough. Turn it out onto the floured surface, bring together any crumbs and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. You could do this in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook instead, if you have one. Shape into a ball and put in an oiled bowl. Cover with a tea towel or cling film and leave for about 1 hour in a warm place until it’s doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 220°C and put 2 baking trays in the oven to heat up (or a pizza stone, if you have one). Knead the dough again until smooth and divide it with a sharp knife into two or four balls. Weigh each ball if you want to be precise. Dust a rolling pin with flour, flatten the dough balls with the palm of your hand, and roll them out into thin pizza bases (I like long rectangular ones), rotating and stretching until you have your desired size and thickness. Do not worry too much about being neat!

Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice the potatoes very thinly, and pat away any excess moisture with a clean tea towel. Mix the garlic clove with the crème fraîche, yoghurt or mascarpone. Just before you’re ready to assemble your topping, toss the potatoes in a generous glug of olive oil with the thyme, rosemary, and some sea salt and black pepper. Spoon some of the creamy mixture onto your bases and spread to cover them using the back of the spoon. Lay the potato slices over the pizzas and top with any remaining herbs and olive oil from the bowl. Take the hot baking trays (or the pizza stone) out of the oven, flour them and transfer the bases to the trays with a large spatula. Bake for 16–20 minutes, until the crust is puffed and golden and the potatoes are crisping up around the edges. Repeat with the other pizza(s). Devour.

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