Durum Wheat Pizza with Red Onion and Tuna

Pizza made with regrinded durum wheat semolina flour is generally a long-rising pizza. Compared to the classic rising pizza with white flour, however, it is easier to digest. Semolina flour comes from the milling of durum wheat and is generally the most suitable for making bread, as well as pizzas and biscuits. Durum wheat semolina flour is less refined than white flours and is pale yellow in colour. You’ll get a rustic pizza with a crunchy yet soft base. White flour can easily be added to it just to make the dough more elastic and to make it a bit softer.

The slow leavening also means that you can made the dough the night before and made pizza the next day.

Makes 2 Pizzas, Preparation 15 mins + 10 h leavenng, Cooking 20 mins

25 to 30 cm round baking tins, 2
450 g regrinded durum wheat semolina flour
50 g Italian 00 flour – Plain Flour / All Purpose Flour, sifted
3 g fresh brewer’s yeast or 1 g of dry active yeast, less than a teaspoon
a teaspoon of sugar
350 ml lukewarm water of which 15 ml is used to dissolve the yeast with the sugar
7 g fine salt
10 ml EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Tomato sauce, to taste
1 slices red onion
100 g tinned tuna in olive oil, drained
Fresh mozzarella cheese, 1
Dried Oregano, to taste

About Yeast:

3 g Fresh Brewer’s Yeast corresponds to 1 g of Dry yeast
1 g Dry Brewer’s Yeast corresponds to 40 g of Sourdough
1 g Fresh Brewer’s Yeast corresponds to 16 g of Sourdough

The more yeast you use the less time the dough needs to rise, but the rising time of semolina flour is different to that of classic white flour, because it is usually longer.

Just to make it easier for you to calculate the fresh brewer’s yeast/dry yeast grams conversion:

Grams of fresh yeast : 3.29 = Grams of dry yeast.
Grams of dry yeast x 3.29 = Grams of fresh yeast.
Grams of 1 g of fresh brewer’s yeast corresponds to 16 g of Sourdough.

Whether you decide to use fresh brewer’s yeast or dry active yeast, both must be diluted in water, which must absolutely NOT be boiling or hot, because too much heat kills the yeast and therefore any chance of leavening is lost. The water must be lukewarm.

Fresh or dry brewer’s yeast dissolves in 10-15 ml of lukewarm water.

Method

Slice the mozzarella and let it drain. In a frying pan, soften the onions with a drizzle of oil and a bit of of water. Do not add salt. Drain the tuna from its oil, break it into pieces, set aside.

Mix the two flours together in a bowl, finely crumble 3 g of fresh brewer’s yeast into half glass of lukewarm water with a teaspoon of sugar, stir it and then add it to the flour.

Start kneading adding the rest of the water a little at a time,then add the oil and salt only at the end, keep kneading on a work surface floured with semolina flour until you get a smooth and elastic dough.

Make dough into ball shape, place it in a floured bowl, cover with a clean cloth or plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to rise about 8 hours.

Remove the bowl from the fridge.

Divide the dough into 2 loaves, dust with flour, let them rest at room temperature covered with a cloth until doubled. Place them on pizza stones or steel baking trays for about 1 or even 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to maximum temperature.

Flat the doughs without using a rolling pin but only with your fingertips lightly greased with oil.

Spread the tomato bases evenly, add a pinch of salt, add the well drained mozzarella slices, bake for 15 minutes in static oven always to max temp.

To prevent them from burning, the onions and tuna should be add at the end once the pizza is out of the oven or just at the last minute on the pizza while it is still in the oven.

Take it out of the oven, then serve scattering on it some dried oregano.