Pinsa primavera with anchovy

For ➍ 

2 pinsa bottoms

400 g baby spinach

1 clove garlic

140 g green pesto

125 g marinated artichoke hearts

50 g anchovy fillet

250 g mozzarella

2 tbs dried oregano

spicy olive oil

nutmeg

salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to the highest setting. Rinse the spinach and drain well. Peel and chop the garlic. Stew the garlic and spinach in a pan with olive oil, season with pepper, salt and nutmeg. Scoop them out of the pan and drain well in a colander. Press out all the liquid with the rounded side of a spoon.

Drain the anchovies and artichoke hearts. Halve the artichoke hearts. Spread a layer of pesto on the pinsa bases and spoon the spinach in heaps on top. Finish them off with the halved artichoke hearts and anchovy fillets. Tear the mozzarella into pieces and top the pinsas with it. Season the pinsas with the oregano and bake them in the oven for 10 minutes.

Finish the pinsas with a little (spicy) olive oil and the extra spinach. Cut them into pieces and serve.

Pomodoro torte di Amalfi (tomato & olive tarts)

For ➍

dough:

120 g Italian '00' flour, plus extra for dusting

55 g polenta/cornmeal

70 g ricotta

70 g cold unsalted butter*

large egg (yolk only)

topping:

250 g plum tomatoes

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1 tbs fresh oregano, chopped

125 g goat cheese**

handful of olives, pitted olive oil,

to sprinkle basil leaves, for garnish

sea salt &freshly ground black pepper

For the dough, place all ingredients in a food processor and mix until smooth. Place the dough on a floured work surface and shape into a large ball. Divide this into separate pieces (1 per person) that you flatten a bit. Wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the can of tomatoes into a sieve and collect the juice for a drink. Chop the tomatoes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

When the dough is chilled, roll it out into 3mm thick circles on a floured work surface (the dough should be a little rustic around the edges). Top each circle with some drained tomatoes, chopped cherry tomatoes and season to taste. Add the thyme and oregano and crumble some goat cheese over it. Decorate with olives and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Bake for 20 m in the preheated oven, garnish with basil.

*Use same amount olive oil instead.

**Use melting light cheese instead.

Green pizza gorgonzola

For ➍ 

350 g frozen fine garden peas 

90 g chilled pesto 

2 zucchini 

100 g Gorgonzola piccante 

2 rolls of chilled pizza dough round and thin 

3 tbs mild olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. 

Place the peas in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. Drain in a colander. Place the peas and pesto in a tall cup and mash with the hand blender until smooth. Season with pepper and salt if desired. Use a cheese slicer to cut wide ribbons off the zucchini. Cut the crust off the gorgonzola and cut the cheese into pieces of about 2 cm. 

Roll out the pizza dough on a baking tray covered with baking paper and spread with the green spread. Divide the zucchini ribbons in a kind of loose florets over the pizza and divide the Gorgonzola over it. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Bake the pizzas 15-20 m until golden brown.

Pizza bianco (white pizza)

For ➋
300 g all-purpose flour
1 ts salt
¾ ts sugar
1 ts instant dry yeast
3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 sprig fresh rosemary
25 cl water
some cornmeal

Mix flour, ½ ts each of salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer, and slowly add 25 cl of cold water. Mix on low speed until ingredients begin to combine, increase speed to medium-high, and continue to mix for about 10 m until the dough is smooth, elastic, and cleanly pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, and allow to rest for 2 to 4 h until it has doubled in size. Split the dough into halves, and form each into a log. Place each log on a generously floured surface, and allow it to rest until the formed dough doubles in size again, at least 1 h.
Put dough on a lightly floured baker’s peel. Dimple dough by pressing it down with your fingertips. Work the dough outward toward the edges of the peel until you reach your desired size and thickness, about 5 mm. Drizzle with remaining olive oil, rosemary and sprinkle with remaining salt.
Put a baking plate, with holes or some undulation relief in it, to allow hot air to spread under the dough, in the lower part of the oven. Set oven to broil, about 270°C (or as warm as you can get). Slide pizza onto the plate with the back of a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Bake until the bubbles range from golden to deep brown in color, 10 to 12 m. Serve with some salad or eat lukewarm with a tasty glass of summer wine.

This, in fact, is a variation on the traditional Tuscan schiacciatta or flat bread, which often is rather sweet and served as a dessert or sweet-bread such as schiacciata con l'uva or even a sweet cake such as schiacciata alla Fiorentina, but it is popular in the USA by this, slightly misleading, name.
There are more complicated, and more Italian-like, recipes for pizza bianco, making a white stuffing with cheese. Pizza bianca uses no tomato sauce, often substituting pesto or dairy products such as sour cream. On the East Coast of the USA, the toppings may consist of mozzarella and ricotta cheese drizzled with olive oil and spices like fresh basil and garlic. In Rome, the term pizza bianca refers to a type of bread topped with olive oil, salt and, occasionally, rosemary leaves. Or even with summer figs.
Instead of figs, use tomatoes and basil to add some colour to this appetizer.

Schiacciata con l'uva (Etruscan grape-filled bread)

For ➏
1 kg blue grapes (or blueberries)
500 g flour
1 package dry yeast
100 g sugar
4 tbs olive oil
1 branch rosemary
25 cl warm water
honey
grape juice

Heat the rosemary branch in olive oil. Let it cool.
Dissolve the yeast in 25 cl of warm water.
Place the flour in a large bowl. Pour yeast mixture into the center and stir.
Remove the rosemary from the oil. Add the cooled oil to the dough.
Add 4 tbs of sugar and knead until smooth, for 10 m.
Put in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch down the dough and divide in half.
Roll out half of the dough to fit in a round or rectangular pan.
Cover with half the grapes, removed from their stems.
Sprinkle with half the remaining sugar and drizzle with olive oil.
Roll out the other half of the dough to fit. Cover the grapes, sealing the edges with the bottom layer of dough. Push down to crush the grapes. Cover top layer of dough with remaining grapes and repeat the process. Sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with olive oil, and crush the grapes.
Sprinkle with sugar and drizzle with olive oil. For an Etruscan touch, drizzle with honey.
Bake at 180°C until golden. Baste with some grape juice while it's baking. Bake for 45 m.

Nowadays, this is traditionally served as a dessert bread, or a nice comfort bread, and some special treat during the Tuscany wine harvest season. As is often the case in Tuscany, it is said to have already been popular with the Etruscans, well known for their lust of life. Schiacciata comes from the Italian verb 'schiacciare' meaning 'flattened' or 'crushed'. The recipe is related to the American pizza bianco and to the schiacciata alla Fiorentina.
Image shows dancing Etruscans with a wine flask on a tomb wall in Tarquinia.
Read more on 'Etruscan' food: Etruscan tuna fish.

Pizza e fichi (pizza with figs)

For ➋
It's also a Roman style, to top the pizza bianco with figs, served on a bed of some gorgonzola dolce cheese and decorated with some thinly sliced prosciutto.