BBQ Aubergine & Burrata pizza

Portions: 4 // Prep time: 40 minutes (plus proofing) // Cooking time: about 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 500 gr of bread/pizza flour (medium strong)

• 15 gr of salt

• 10 gr of sugar

• 6 gr of fresh yeast (or equivalent weight in dry yeast)

• 310 ml of still water (best from the bottle / not cold)

• 10 ml of extra virgin olive oil

For the bbq aubergine:

• 3 or 4 black aubergines

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1 sprig of parsley

• 10 ml of extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tsp of dried chilly

• Salt to taste

For the tomato sauce:

• 600 gr of tinned tomatoes

• 1 sprigs of basils

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• 1 tbsp of dried oregano

• 25 ml of extra virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Other ingredients:

• Semolina flour to dust

• 250 gr of mozzarella for pizza (to top)

• 2 small burrata (to top)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Olive oil

Method

Get the dough going at least 4 hours before. First melt the yeast into the water and then knead all the ingredients together. If you are using fresh yeast this is a fundamental step as the salt can attack the yeast and it will not melt at all.

Once you have a smooth and elastic dough let it proof in a bowl covered with a cloth and brush a little oil on the surface to make sure it does not dry out. The dough needs to proof for a couple of hours to fully doubled in size but if you want to make it the day before is even better, it will mature more flavour, simply let it proof in the fridge.

While you wait cook the Aubergine over the BBQ on medium heat cover with the lid. It should take about 15/20 minutes for them to be soft, fully cooked through and lightly charred on the outside. This cooking method will give them a lovely smoky flavour. Place the cooked aubergines in a covered container, the steam will loosen up even more their skin.

When cold, carefully remove the skin from the aubergine. This step could take time but it will be worth it. At this stage it is fundamental to drain the pulp for as long as you can to lose as much water as possible, you can even pat dry them with kitchen paper.

Now dress the aubergine pulp with whole garlic cloves (remove before serving), a good pinch of salt, a glug of olive oil, chopped parsley and a little pepperoncino to taste. Mix well and set aside.

Now, divide the risen dough into 4 smaller pieces and work them gently into doughballs, and again let them proof for 1,5 hours. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and season to taste. Don’t be shy with the seasoning, no one likes bland pizza 

Set the pizza stone in place on the grill and preheat (or preheat the oven). Check the temperature, ideally between 250 and 300 you are good to go.  

After this time, take the risen dough balls and gently flattened them into pizza (circles) on a floured surface trying to not knock out all the air from the dough. Be gentle, be patience, your hands are the best tools for this job.

Be careful not to press on the edges to have a well risen crust. Spread the seasoning onto the ready-to-bake pizza, remove the whole sprigs of basil and garlic if you’d like. Top the tomato sauce with a few spoons of smokey aubergine and place the pizza carefully over the floured pizza tray provided. Place the pizza over the hot stone and quickly close the BBQ to not loose heat.

At this stage I recommend to turn off the fire directly under the stone to reduce the risk of burning the bottom of the pizza but leave the other flames on. Bake for about 4/5 minutes or until the pizza start to get coloured on the top and the bottom looks like lightly golden too.

Now quickly add the shredded fiordilatte and cook for 1 more minute to let it melt. Remove the pizza from the BBQ, place the burrata on top, garnish with fresh basil leaves, a drizzle of oil, a pinch of salt and black pepper and enjoy straight away.