Rosemary and Sea Salt Pizza

By west757

As an easy way to add variety to her hors d’oeuvre course, Giada De Laurentiis uses at least two other pizza toppings besides the classic tomato-mozzarella, like this one with rosemary and sea salt and another with olive tapenade. If you have two pizza stones, or one large one, you can bake two pizzas at a time.

A refreshing sparkling wine will balance the saltiness in the pizza toppings. Turn to a sleek Italian Prosecco, such as Zardetto di Conegliano Brut. Or try a nonsparkling, high-acid aromatic white with savory flavors, such as the 2000 Antinori Vermentino.

Ingredients

• Two 1/2-pound balls of Pizza Dough or thawed frozen pizza or bread dough
• Flour, for dusting and rolling
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

Step 1

Set a pizza stone or heavy baking sheet in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 550°, allowing at least 30 minutes for the stone to heat.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1 ball of dough into a 6-inch round. Turn the edges of the dough up slightly to form a lip, then stretch the dough out to a 10-inch round. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured pizza peel or upside-down baking sheet.
In a small bowl, toss the rosemary with the sea salt.
Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden; poke the dough to deflate any bubbles while baking. Carefully transfer the pizza to the peel and sprinkle the crust with half of the rosemary mixture, then return to the oven and bake for about 2 minutes longer, or until the crust is golden. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges or squares. Repeat with the remaining pizza dough and topping.