The recipe

1 pizza, about 28 to 30 cmabout 35 minutes, plus dough proofing and preheating

Ingredients

  • 250 g proofed pizza dough, ready to bake
  • 140 g peeled waxy potatoes
  • 60 g mozzarella, well drained
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 small sprig fresh rosemary
  • Salt and black pepper
  • A little flour or fine semolina for shaping

Method

  1. Preheat to 250°C with conventional top and bottom heat. Heat a suitable baking surface according to its instructions. Let the covered dough relax.
  2. Slice potatoes about 3 mm thick. Simmer gently in salted water for roughly 5 to 6 minutes until almost tender. Drain, allow steam to escape and cool.
  3. Finely chop the rosemary leaves. Gently combine potatoes, oil and rosemary, adding a little salt only if needed.
  4. Open the dough to about 28 to 30 cm. Put it on a lightly dusted peel and check that it slides. Add mozzarella and arrange potatoes in a thin layer.
  5. Bake for roughly 8 to 12 minutes, checking from minute six. The base must cook through, the potatoes become fully tender and some edges turn lightly golden.
  6. Remove, season with a little black pepper, slice and serve hot.

Cook the potatoes almost through before topping

This domestic-oven version precooks the potatoes. Their tenderness then does not depend entirely on how quickly your pizza base browns. Weigh 140 g peeled waxy potatoes and slice them about 3 mm thick. Lower them carefully into gently simmering salted water and cook for roughly five to six minutes, until almost tender but still holding together when lifted. Exact timing depends on the variety and thickness. Test one slice with the tip of a knife instead of relying only on the clock.

Drain the slices and spread them on a plate so steam can escape. They should be neither wet nor hot when placed on the dough. Gently toss them with two teaspoons olive oil and a little finely chopped rosemary. One small sprig is enough; discard the woody stalk. Precooking allows a thin, even topping without leaving hard raw potato pieces beneath a crust that is already dark. The aim is a layer of potato on pizza, rather than a deep gratin filling.

Keep the layer thin enough for the base to bake

Start with a proofed 250 g dough ball that is ready to shape. Dough fermentation and preheating a stone or steel are additional to the recipe time. You can prepare the potatoes while the oven heats. Spread 60 g well-drained mozzarella over the opened base, then arrange the potato slices with no more than slight overlap. The potatoes retain some moisture and the cheese provides richness. Adding a layer of cream would change both the baking behaviour and the character of this simple version.

Watch the underside and the edges of individual potato slices during baking. A little golden colour is welcome, but very dark rosemary can taste bitter. Coat the herb with the oil around the potatoes rather than sprinkling it dry on the exposed dough rim. Finish with a little black pepper. If you want a stronger cheese flavour next time, replace a small part of the mozzarella with a more assertive cheese instead of substantially increasing the total topping.