Pizza for Tea Time, Wild Mushroom and Tea Smoked Cheese Pizza from Artisan Pizza, To Make Perfectly at Home (Kyle Books, November 2015) by Giuseppe Mascoli and Bridget Hugo.

Giuseppe Mascoli is the man who started Franco Manca in Brixton in 2008...

Wild Mushroom & Tea-Smoked Cheese Pizza

Smoked cheese makes an interesting alternative to mozzarella on pizzas, and you can purchase great smoked cheeses from

many producers. If you want to try smoking cheese yourself, and you do not have a wood smoker, try tea-smoking in an

ordinary domestic oven. We have suggested a way to do this, on page 23.

INGREDIENTS, PER PIZZA

1 dough ball (see page 16),

left to rise for

11⁄2 to 2 hours OR

dough 2 for sheet pizzas

flour, for dusting

For the Wild Mushrooms (Makes enough for 4 baked pizzas)

6 ounces wild mushrooms

1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

pinch of sea salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 ounce tea-smoked cheese (see page 23)

2 ounces mozzarella fior di latte, torn into 5 chunks

4 basil leaves, torn

Prepare the wild mushrooms: Rub the mushrooms with a damp towel to remove any dirt. Do not soak them in water or they

become slimy.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a frying pan over low heat and sear the mushrooms for about 3 minutes, seasoning with a pinch

of salt.

Place a rack on the highest shelf of the oven and turn the broiler to its highest setting. When hot, place a greased 10-inch cast-

iron pan on the stove, set to medium heat.

Sprinkle a little flour over your hands and on the work surface and open the dough ball by flattening and stretching the dough

with your fingers, or by rolling the dough with a rolling pin.

Pick the pizza base up and gently stretch it a little more over your fists without tearing it. Drop this onto the hot pan, and allow

it to start rising.

As soon as the dough firms up, drizzle the olive oil over the base.

Add a quarter of the mushrooms, then scatter the smoked cheese, mozzarella, and basil on top.

Cook the pizza on top of the stove for about 3 minutes, then transfer the pan to the broiler for another 3 to 4 minutes.

Serve whole or in slice.

For the Sheet Method

Follow the recipe instructions on page 19. The whole process will take about 90 minutes. Heat the oven to 500°F and stretch

the dough to the edges of the sheet. Be sure to spread your sauce right to the edges before adding toppings. The sheet pizza

dough serves 4, so quadruple the ingredient quantities. Bake for no less than 10 minutes.

(* Recipe excerpted with permission from Artisan Pizza, To Make Perfectly at Home -Kyle Books, November 2015- by Giuseppe Mascoli and Bridget Hugo,  Photography by Philip Webb)