A recipe as unusual as it is tasty: here is my pizza with cotechino, enriched with crispy steamed broccoli, creamy stracchino and a drizzle of spicy oil to close the circle.

Apparently it looks like sausage, I know, and instead it is a cotechino pizza: a pantry recipe saves dinner to customize with your favorite soft cheese and seasonal vegetables to your taste.

I was inspired by an old recipe from the blog, the peasant pizza, a favorite of the better half. But I didn't have any fresh sausage at home and so I opened the pantry doors and found a precooked cotechino. In the spirit of the project I open the pantry and cook.

While cooking in its vacuum bag, observing all that steam, I wondered how not to waste that energy and so, bamboo basket in hand, I used that steam to cook the broccoli, keeping it crisp and colorful.

Then I chose to replace the stracchino with mozzarella which, with that slightly acidic note, perfectly balances the greasiness of the cotechino.

Finally spicy oil: an extra boost of flavor.

ingredients for 4 pizzas

THING

for the dough

• 400 g of flour type 0
• 100 g of type 1 flour
• 300 ml of water
• 10 g of fresh brewer's yeast or 5 g of dry yeast
• 40 ml of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• a pinch of sugar
• a handful of durum wheat semolina for the work surface

for the filling

• 150 g of stracchino
• 1 pre-cooked cotechino of 500 g
• 100 g of broccoli tops
• extra virgin olive oil to taste
• a drizzle of spicy oil
• Salt and Pepper To Taste

HOW TO PREPARE COTECHINO PIZZA

First, I dissolved the yeast and sugar in a little warm water, then I poured it into the center of the flour, on a pastry board or in a very large bowl. I combined the lukewarm water with the oil and salt, then, little by little, I poured it into the center of the flour. With the help of a fork I mixed the water from the center, then I gradually incorporated the flour with my hands. I started to knead with energy to mix all the ingredients, until the mixture was elastic but not sticky.

By folding the outer edges of the dough inwards, I created a spherical shape, smooth and compact, which I turned over and turned between the hands resting on the work surface with the palms facing upwards, as if to form a V. This operation is called "pirlatura".

I placed the dough in a bowl greased with oil and covered with a damp cloth, leaving it to rest for about 3 hours in a warm place (I use the "rising" function of my oven which guarantees a constant temperature of 30/35 °) . Finally, I cut the dough into 4 parts, formed 4 balls, manipulating them as little as possible, and let them rest on a baking sheet, always warm and always covered.

In the meantime, I took care of preparing the ingredients for the filling. I boiled the pre-cooked cotechino in its vacuum-packed package in a large pot above which I placed the bamboo steamer basket with the broccoli, washed and divided into tops. In this way, I have optimized time and resources to prepare both ingredients in one go.

Once the cotechino is cooked, I drained it from its cooking liquid, peeled it and put it back in a pan to dry it further. I seasoned the broccoli with salt, pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

I spread the pallets of dough, now completely matured, on the baking sheet and I gave them shape, leaving a thicker edge to create the cornice during cooking. So I stuffed all the ingredients and cooked for 20 minutes at 220 °, first in the lower part of the oven, then moving them higher.

I served with a drizzle of spicy oil to taste.

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