Bulgarian Cheese and Green Olive Pizza with Sesame Crust with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Dough base

1. 8
   Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

   Bowl
2. 9
   Add the lukewarm water and olive oil and Knead about 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth, pliable and doesn't stick to your hands.

   BowlStand mixer

   💡For yeast dough, use the windowpane test: a small piece stretches into a thin, translucent sheet without tearing, and that's the sign the kneading is done. Add flour only by the tablespoon, and only if the dough is still sticky after a few minutes: too much flour makes a tough dough.
3. 10
   Cover and Let rise about an hour in a warm place, until the dough doubles in size.

   Plastic wraporKitchen towel

   💡Let rise in a warm, draft-free spot. The dough is ready when it has doubled, and a gentle finger press leaves a dent that fills back slowly; if it springs right back, wait longer.

For the Tomato sauce

1. 11
   In a bowl, mix the tomato paste, garlic and oregano. Don't cook it: the sauce cooks on the pizza in the oven.

   Bowl

To assemble

1. 12
   Generously grease a 30×40 cm pan with olive oil.

   Baking pan
2. 13
   With oiled hands, stretch the dough in the pan, to the edges and into the corners, and Let rise another 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250°C (480°F).

   Plastic wraporKitchen towelBaking pan

   💡A generous amount of oil in the pan is what gives pan pizza its crisp, almost fried bottom. If the dough springs back as you stretch it, wait 5 minutes for it to relax and continue.

   💡Let the pizza dough rise for 24 hours in the fridge (a long cold rise) — the dough develops a deeper flavor and an airy texture with big bubbles.
3. 14
   Spread the sauce over all of the dough.
4. 15
   Brush the edges of the dough with a little water and sprinkle the sesame seeds over them.

   Pastry brush
5. 16
   Scatter the mozzarella, Bulgarian cheese, chili pepper and olives over the top.
6. 17
   Bake on the bottom of the oven 20–25 minutes, until the dough is golden and crisp underneath and the cheese is bubbling.

   OvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.