Italian
Silvia’s Masterclass
Ingredients
For the Neapolitan-style pizza dough
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
250 ml (1 cup) lukewarm water
450 g (3 cups) plain, 00 or baker’s flour
3 teaspoons salt flakes
semolina, for dusting
For the filling
400 gr tinned peeled tomatoes, crushed
250 g bocconcini
200 gr of pork and fennel sausage, squeeze out of its casing
chili flakes
60 gr thin slices of salame
50 ml of extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling as needed
salt for seasoning
Method
Mix the yeast and water in a bowl and stand for a few minutes to froth up.
Tip the flour into a large bowl, pour in the water mixture and mix until a dough comes together. Add the salt and knead lightly to incorporate. Knead vigorously on a lightly floured surface for up to 10 minutes or until smooth, shiny and elastic. (If you have a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, by all means use it instead of your muscle power!) Dust with semolina, then cover with a damp tea towel and rest for 30 minutes.
Using floured hands, stretch the dough into a rectangle, then fold the top and bottom thirds into the centre like folding a letter and then onto itself into a ball. Place in an oiled container fitted with a lid – make sure the container is large enough to allow plenty of room for rising. Cover and rest at room temperature for 2 hours, then place the container in the fridge overnight (or for up to 4 days), to slow-prove and develop flavour and texture.
A couple of hours before you want to use the dough, remove it from the fridge and take off the lid. Cover loosely with a tea towel and leave at room temperature for 2 hours. (Watch how to make the dough by clicking here)
Divide the dough into two balls.
Pre heat your Ooni Pizza oven to 300C
Place a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface. Using your fingers (not a rolling pin, as you want to avoid crushing the air bubbles that have formed during fermentation), stretch the dough into a 20–22 cm round. Create a rim of dough around the edge to contain the filling. Place the rolled dough on a sheet of baking paper dusted with semolina.
Top the dough with half the crushed tomatoes, bocconcini, half of the sausage meat, chili flakes, salami, drizzle half the olive oil on top and season with salt.
Place the pizza in the oven and continue to rotate with paddle for 3-5 minutes
Take the pizza out of the oven, slide it onto a board and drizzle with olive oil and basil leaves. Serve hot. Repeat with the second ball of dough and remaining topping ingredients to make a second pizza.
Silvia Colloca
Silvia Colloca is an Italian-born food writer, opera singer, TV producer and host. She has authored seven cookbooks, including Silvia’s Cucina, Made in Italy, La Dolce Vita, Love, Laugh, Bake!, Simple Italian (2024), and The Italian Homecook (2025), all published by Penguin.
Silvia’s most recent television work is Silvia’s Italian Masterclass (Channel 10), with its latest season airing in October 2025. The series is currently funding for Season 4. She has also appeared as a special guest on SBS’s Mastermind in 2025. Her earlier TV credits include the SBS Food series Cook Like an Italian, which has screened internationally across three seasons, as well as Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca (SBS), filmed on location in the Le Marche and Abruzzo regions and earning her a 2015 TV WEEK Logie Award nomination for Best New Talent. She also co-wrote, co-produced and hosted the ABC prime-time series Silvia’s Italian Table in 2016.
Outside of food and television, Silvia has enjoyed a career as a celebrated opera singer and actress. In 2022, she released her debut solo classical album with Universal Music, which topped the Classical Charts for over 20 weeks. That same year, she performed with Andrea Bocelli at his Sydney concert, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Inspiration Starts Here
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