Gino D’Acampo recipe for Mozzarella, Anchovy, Olive and Sage Pizza

MARKMEETS FOOD FEATURE:

Recipes with Gino’s Italian’. Week 1

After studying and learning his culinary skills at the Luigi De Medici catering college, at the age of 18 Gino moved to London, England, where Naples-born D’Acampo worked at The Orchard Restaurant in London.

Back in 1998 a 21-year-old Gino D’Acampo broke into 80s singer Paul Young’s home, stealing over £4000 worth of guitars and spending two years in prison! D’Acampo previously admitted that the food industry ‘saved’ him, telling Whats on TV: ‘It was a dreadful experience, but in life I’ve learned to make good come out of everything. 

‘I thought, ‘This is not going to drag me down, this is going to make me a better man. So I came out of prison a man with a plan, determined to set up a business importing Italian ingredients.’

He has since gone to to work in TV (D’Acampo rose to fame as a regular chef on the ITV show This Morning) and has written multiple best selling cook books.

Gino’s Italian recipes are a true homage to the country of his birth – this is Italian home-cooking as it should be, using delicious fresh ingredients and with simplicity of preparation at its core.

Each week we are promoting the work of Gino online as part of the MarkMeets recipes with Gino’s Italian.

Week 1:

Mozzarella, Anchovy, Olive and Sage Pizza

The Adriatic coast is not as well known for its pizza as some other regions
in Italy, but you can still find great pizzerias. Like any true Neapolitan,
I’m always on the lookout for great pizza and after a day’s filming I enjoy
nothing more than relaxing with a slice of pizza in one hand and a beer in
the other. The pizza always has anchovies and the beer is always Italian.

Makes 4
400g strong white flour, plus extra for
dusting
2 x 7g sachets of fast-action (easy-blend)
dried yeast
1½ teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus
extra for greasing and brushing

For the topping
400g passata
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 x 125g balls of mozzarella cheese,
roughly chopped
20 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
40 pitted black olives, drained and halved
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
20 small fresh sage leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. First make the dough (see steps 1–3, page
   141). Brush 4 baking sheets with oil and set
   aside. Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7.
2. Meanwhile, make the topping. Pour the
   passata into a medium saucepan and add the
   garlic and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
   Cook over a low to medium heat for 10 minutes
   or until the sauce starts to thicken. Set aside.
3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured
   surface and knead just 3 or 4 times to knock out
   the air. Quarter the dough and roll out each
   quarter directly onto an oiled baking sheet,
   rolling and stretching the dough to make 4
   rounds about 25cm in diameter and 1–2cm
   thick. Make a small rim by pulling up the edges slightly.
4. Using the back of a tablespoon, spread the passata mixture evenly over the pizza bases, avoiding the rim. Scatter over the mozzarella, anchovies and olives. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil over each pizza.
5. Bake for 12–14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, scatter over the sage and return to the oven for 2 further minutes. Grind over some black pepper just before serving.

Extracted from Gino’s Italian Adriatic Escape: A taste of Italy from Veneto to Puglia by Gino D’Acampo (published by Hodder & Stoughton) on 18th October 2018. Photography credit – Dan Jones, Holly Bryson & Trevor Butterfield