Authentic Italian Pizza Recipe: Alici in Tortiera

From the Roman pizzeria Baccio e i Gradini comes this flavorful Alici in Tortiera pizza. This recipe uses an indirect dough method with a ‘poolish’ pre-ferment, resulting in a light and digestible crust.

The topping is inspired by a classic Italian dish of baked anchovies, featuring breaded fresh anchovies, a vibrant parsley sauce, and crispy fried capers for a delightful texture contrast.

🍕 Dough Ingredients (Poolish & Refresh)

• Poolish: 1.2kg Strong Type ‘0’ Flour, 1.2L Water, 1g Yeast
• Refresh: 2.5kg Medium Strength Type ‘0’ Flour, 300g Durum Semolina, 0.9L Water, 65g Salt, 60g EVOO, 3g Yeast

🍕 Topping Ingredients

• 5 Cleaned Anchovy Fillets
• Parsley-aromatized Breadcrumbs
• 1 bunch of Parsley
• 100ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• 10 Salted Capers
• 2 Salt-cured Anchovies
• 1 drop of Apple Vinegar
• Fiordilatte Mozzarella to taste

🍕 Preparation Method

First, make the poolish: dissolve 1g of yeast in 1.2L of water, then whisk in 1.2kg of flour until smooth. Refrigerate at 4°C for 18-24 hours.

For the final dough, combine the flours in a mixer, add the cold water, and mix for 6 minutes. Let it rest for 30 minutes (autolysis). Add the yeast and the poolish, and knead.

After 6 minutes, add the salt, followed by the oil after another 3 minutes. Once smooth, let the dough rest for an hour, then form 280g balls and let them rise for 6-8 hours.

For the topping, coat the fresh anchovy fillets in the seasoned breadcrumbs, place on a tray with oil, and bake at 180°C for 5 minutes. Make the parsley sauce by blending parsley, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt-cured anchovies, and vinegar.

Fry a few extra capers until crispy. Stretch the pizza dough, top with fiordilatte, and bake. Two minutes before it’s done, add the breaded anchovies. Once out of the oven, generously drizzle with the parsley sauce and sprinkle with the crispy capers.

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