The recipe

1 pizza, about 28 to 30 cmabout 25 minutes, plus dough proofing and preheating

Ingredients

  • 250 g proofed pizza dough, ready to bake
  • 70 g crushed tomatoes
  • 65 g mozzarella, well drained
  • 40 g ready-to-eat prosciutto crudo, thinly sliced
  • 15 g rocket
  • 10 g Parmesan in thin shavings
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • Salt as needed
  • 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. Keep the dough covered until supple.
  2. Wash and thoroughly dry the rocket. Divide the ham and shave the Parmesan. Keep the fresh toppings chilled until needed.
  3. Open the dough to about 28 to 30 cm and place on a lightly dusted peel. Check that it moves freely. Spread the tomato thinly and add mozzarella.
  4. Bake for roughly 8 to 12 minutes, checking from minute six. Remove once the rim and underside have browned and the centre is cooked through.
  5. Let steam escape briefly. Add loose folds of ham, rocket and Parmesan shavings. Drizzle with olive oil, slice and serve immediately.

Separate the baked topping from the fresh finish

Prepare the cold topping before launching the pizza. Carefully separate the thin slices of cured ham and divide large slices into smaller pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry the rocket so it does not drip onto the finished pizza. Shave a little Parmesan into thin pieces. Keep these ingredients appropriately chilled until you need them. Finishing then takes only a moment after baking: the base stays warm and the leaves do not wilt under the oven heat.

Use 40 g ready-to-eat cured ham for one pizza. Arrange it in small loose folds rather than covering the entire surface with one continuous layer. This distributes its salty flavour and makes the pizza easier to divide. Rocket adds a peppery note, so 15 g is a useful starting amount. Another 10 g Parmesan supplies extra savouriness. Taste the cheese and ham first and season the tomato accordingly. This combination does not need an additional salty dressing.

Finish baking the base before adding rocket

The recipe assumes 250 g already proofed pizza dough. Prepare it separately and leave the ball covered until relaxed enough to open to about 28 to 30 cm. Allow the baking surface its required preheating time. Tomato and well-drained mozzarella are the only toppings that go through the oven. You can then judge whether the base is cooked without delicate leaves or thin ham drying out in the meantime. The timing is a working range for a domestic oven, rather than a promise that every appliance behaves identically.

Let the baked pizza release steam briefly on a board, then add the ham, rocket and Parmesan. A teaspoon of olive oil is enough to finish. When baking several pizzas in succession, add each fresh topping immediately before serving. Rocket that sits on a warm pizza for a long time loses its fresh texture. For a variation, replace some rocket with small basil leaves. Start by changing the herbs instead of increasing the ham and cheese at the same time.