Thin-Crust Pizza with Poached Eggs, brunching in style. Totally addicted to eggs and pizza? So why not combine those two and have a party in your mouth? We love thin crust pizza and we certainly love eggs, in any form, but poached eggs will always have a special place in our hearts.Totally addicted to eggs and pizza? So why not combine those two and have a party in your mouth? We love thin crust pizza and we certainly love eggs, in any form, but poached eggs will always have a special place in our hearts.
Poaching eggs may seem kinda intimidating but it only takes a bit of practice and you got this. Tips on how to master this art? Fresh – fresh – FRESH eggs. Just bring a large pot to simmer and drop the eggs in, one at a time, cook for about 3-4 minutes and immediately sink them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Many recipes call for vinegar in the simmering water but we highly recommend you skip this step as the eggs absorb the vinegar’s taste and you wouldn’t want that, would you? Others advise you create a vortex and drop the eggs in the middle. This method is quite “vicious”, as it may completely separate the yolk from the egg white. One more tip, once you throw the egg into the pot just stir it continuously with a wooden spoon to help the egg cook evenly.
Prepare your dough and let it rest for minimum 2 hours, ideally overnight. Preheat the oven on the highest setting for minimum 30 minutes, form the base, add your toppings and bake for about 7 minutes. Baking time varies depending on your cooking method. Could take up to 10 minutes if you’re using a pizza tray – just place it at the bottom of the oven so that it absorbs the maximum heat, up to 7 minutes with a pizza stone and about 4-5 minutes with a pizza steel. On this recipe and from now, on we’ll only be using our amazing pizza steel which makes all the difference in the pizza world! Quite heavy -about 7 kilos- but totally manageable, steel absorbs more heat than the stone, is guaranteed for life -unfortunately the stone is not so heat resistant and will break at some point, mine did after 2 years of extensive use and will give your pizza the closest wood fired oven results. If you’re interested in the science behind pizza steel and ways of using it find an in-depth review over at the www.kitchn.com and if you’re ready for this investment, get yours from www.bakingsteel.com
Regarding the sauce, nothing beats San Marzano tomatoes; get a can, remove the core and seeds and pulse till smooth. You can always skip this step and use some concentrated tomato sauce, but it’s worth the effort. Fresh basil makes all the difference, add it to taste and keep some large leaves to decorate the top.
Try different toppings – you can always skip the meat and go for a vegetarian pizza – and enjoy!
Ingredients makes one pizza
- Dough for one pizza, check the ingredients and instructions here
For the pizza sauce:
- 200gr. tomato sauce, or more depending on how saucy you like your pizza
- 1tbsp tomato paste
- 2tbsp olive oil: 1tbsp for the sauce and 1tbsp to drizzle after baking
- spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, fresh basil leaves finely chopped
Toppings:
- Poached eggs
- Grated mozzarella, to taste
- Button mushrooms, sliced
Toppings after baking:
- A handful of arugula leaves
- Cherry tomatoes cut in quarters
- Parmesan flakes
- 5-6 prosciutto slices
Directions
Poaching the eggs
- Bring a large pot of water to simmer.
- Throw in the eggs one at a time and stir with a wooden spoon to help cook evenly.
- Cook for about 3-4 minutes and dip them in a bowl with cold water and ice cubes to stop the cooking.
Baking the pizza
- Preheat the oven, max temp for about 30-60 minutes.
- Form the pizza base.
- Mix together the sauce ingredients and spread onto the crust.
- Add the mushrooms and cover with the mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for up to 10 minutes -read instructions above.
- Take the pizza out of the oven and decorate with the eggs, arugula, tomatoes and prosciutto slices.
- Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and season with some freshly ground black pepper.
