Four Seasons Pizza Recipe ( Traditional Neapolitan Pizza Recipe )

TRADITIONAL ITALIAN RECIPE: It is called "Four Seasons" ( Quattro Stagioni ) because each 1/4 of the pizza has a topping which corresponds to a particular season of the year.

The artichokes represent spring, the olives summer, the mushrooms fall, and the ham winter.

Thanks to modern preservation techniques, these items are avaliable year-round, but their traditional association with the seasons represents what season of the year these foods are typically harvested and preserved in Italy.

Around the world each Pizzaiuolo ( Pizza Maker ) has customised this pizza to better represent Italy in the country they are based.

The crust of Pizza Capricciosa should be thinner then the Margherita's one. Of course, having a Pizza Stone really helps.

DO NOT EVER separate the sections with strings of Dough... that's super lame! I really mean it! Four Seasons Pizza should be elegant and with the sections not perfectly separated, just like normal seasons.

Skill Level:	Time: 2 Hours
Price:	Makes: 4 Pizze

Ingredients:

Directions:

01 - Put the Hot Water in a pan.

02 - Add Yeast and stir gently and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the yeast activates by turning into a foam on top of the water.

03 - Now, add the Salt.

04 - Gradually add in the Flour as you stir the mixture simultaneously. You know you have added enough Flour when the mixture becomes too thick to stir.

05 - Knead the dough.

06 - Take the Dough out of the bowl and put it on a clean and well-floured surface ( a marble counter or clean table is best ).

07 - Gather the Dough into a pile and begin pressing it together. Press the heels of your hands firmly into the Dough, pushing forward slightly.

08 - Fold the far edge of the Dough upwards, towards you, and press it into the middle of the ball. Rotate it slightly, too. Repeat this press-fold-turn sequence for the duration of the kneading process.

09 - Let the Dough rise up for 1 hour at room temperature or 5 hours in the refrigerator.

10 - Place on a floured counter and flour the top of the Dough.

11 - Cut the Dough into two round Balls.

12 - Flatten one Ball with your hand until about 2cm - 4cm / 0.7in - 1.5in thick.

13 - Pick up the disk of Dough, and pinch the dough about 1.5cm / 0.5in from the edge. Try and stretch as you pinch, repeat this all around the edge.
When the disk of Dough has been stretched enough to start to be floppy, proceed to tossing.

14 - Make a fist and drape the Dough over your fist. Make a fist of the other hand and slip it under the Dough next to your other fist. Carefully move your fists apart stretching the Dough more. Shift your fists ( left towards your face, right away ) so the Dough rotates while stretching.

Make the Pizza Sauce ( Recipe Here )

15 - When the Dough has reached about 20cm / 8in in diameter, you can quickly move your left fist in an arc that goes backwards towards your face. Do this while twisting your right fist forward away from your face. If you give a a little push upwards with your right fist the Dough will spin like a Frisbee. Practice how it feels to balance the force of the fist twists equally. This will keep the Pizza from spinning off into the corner ( or worse ).

Be sure to catch the falling spinning Pizza as gently as you can with your two fists to avoid tearing. But if tearing just start over and do the spinning process over again.

16 - Preheat the oven at 230C / 425F.

17 - In a frying pan, saute the Mushrooms with Garlic, Parsley and some Olive Oil.

18 - Spread the risen Pizza Base with the Passata to within about 2.5cm / 1in of the edge all round.

19 - Cover one quarter with the sliced Mushrooms. Top with half the Mozzarella.

20 - Top the second quarter with the Prosciutto and the remaining Mozzarella Cheese.

21 - Add the Artichoke on the third quarter.

22 - Put the Olives over the last quarter.

23 - Sprinkle all over with a little Salt and a good Ground Black Pepper and some Olive Oil.

24 - Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden. Serve straight away.

Notes:

- Take some Yeast off if you decide to leave it resting in the fridge for 14-18 hours.

- Don't knead the Dough too long. The texture changes fast. Every minutes counts.

- You can give it a twist with other toppings on each quarter if you prefer.

- You can use some Tuna ( drained and flaked ) instead of one of the toppings listed above.