A good pizza dough is almost entirely water, flour, salt, and time. The technique matters but the variables are few. What changes the dish is what you put on top.
Most Italian pizza uses a light, quickly-cooked fresh tomato sauce as the base. This one starts instead with sun-dried tomato pate spread thin across the dough. The pate carries a depth the fresh tomato doesn’t: it’s already had most of its water driven out, so it concentrates in the oven rather than steaming the crust. The result is a drier, more intensely flavored base.
Top it simply: fior di latte mozzarella, capers scattered after the bake, a handful of arugula. The pate does the heavy lifting.
Set servings and units first. You can change them anytime.
Combine the flour, yeast, and 1.5 tsp salt in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cup cold water and 1 tbsp olive oil. Mix into a rough dough, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Form into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and rest at room temperature for 60 minutes until roughly doubled.
Place a heavy baking sheet or pizza stone on the top rack of the oven. Heat to 480°F or as high as your oven will go. Allow at least 30 minutes for the tray and oven to reach full temperature.
On a lightly floured surface, stretch the dough into a 12 in round using your hands. Place on a sheet of parchment paper.
Spread the Gusta sun-dried tomato pate across the dough in a thin, even layer using the back of a spoon, leaving a 0.5 in border at the edge.
Scatter the torn mozzarella over the pate. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil over the surface.
Slide the pizza (on the parchment) onto the preheated tray. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the crust is golden at the edges and the cheese is bubbled and browned in spots.
Remove from the oven. Scatter the drained capers and fresh arugula over the hot pizza. Serve immediately.
You made Pizza al Patè di Pomodori Secchi. Time to eat.
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Spread the pate thin. It concentrates in the oven and a thick layer will overpower everything else. Think of it as you would tomato paste, not tomato sauce. A thin coating is enough.
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