← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 400 g strong bread flour or 00 flour
• 230 ml Water, room temperature
• 40 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the tray and top
• 8 g fine salt, plus flaky salt to finish
• 400 g stracchino or crescenza

Method

1. Mix the flour, water, oil and salt, then knead for 8–10 min into a very smooth, elastic dough. Divide into two pieces, one slightly larger. Cover and rest for 1 hour.
2. Heat the oven as hot as it goes, ideally 250°C (230°C fan, 480°F), with a shelf at the bottom. Oil a 30 × 40 cm tray.
3. Flour your hands and stretch the larger piece over the backs of your fists, working outward, until it is so thin you can almost see through it. Lay it in the tray, letting it hang over the edges.
4. Dot the cheese over the dough in walnut-sized pieces about 3 cm apart.
5. Stretch the second piece the same way and lay it on top. Press the edges together and trim. Pinch small tears in the top sheet between the cheese, then drizzle with oil and scatter with flaky salt.
6. Bake on the bottom shelf for 8–12 min, until crisp and spotted with gold. Cut into squares and eat hot.

Tips

• Stracchino melts without going oily; a mix of ricotta and torn fresh mozzarella is the best stand-in.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Great Italian Chefs GialloZafferano Pasta Grammar