Stefano Manfredi's modern pizza recipes from New Pizza

• Step-by-step guide to making pizza dough and shaping bases

Smoked leg ham, mushroom and sage

This is a lovely combination of flavours, especially between the smoked leg ham and the sage. Don't buy pre-packaged ham, but rather have it sliced off the bone and ask for it a little thicker for texture.

INGREDIENTS

250g ball of basic pizza dough, shaped

50ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil, for frying, plus 1 tbsp for drizzling

12 large fresh sage leaves

80g (⅓ cup) tinned San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes

100g fior di latte mozzarella

90g smoked leg ham, shaved

90g (1 cup) thinly sliced button or small cap mushrooms

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To assemble

1. Place a large tile in your oven for the pizza, then preheat to full heat (without using any fan-forced function) for at least 20 minutes.

2. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan and fry the sage leaves until crisp. Remove from the oil and drain on some paper towel.

3. Hand squeeze the tomatoes; it doesn't matter if there are pieces left and they're not completely uniform. Spread the squeezed tomato onto the shaped pizza base, leaving the edges clear to about 3-4 cm.

4. Thinly slice the mozzarella and scatter evenly, here and there, on the tomato. Scatter the ham and mushrooms evenly over the pizza. Season with a little salt and a couple of turns of the pepper mill and cook in the oven for 3-5 minutes until cooked, turning to get an even colour.

5. Once out of the oven, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and scatter the fried sage on top.

Makes one 30cm pizza

Patrick Ricci's Capitanata: Ricordo di un viaggio in Puglia (A memory of a voyage in Puglia)

Patrick Ricci's creations are lyrical as well as delicious. As he says, "Pizza is emotion, feelings, sensuality, colour, gastronomic play, infinite exploration. It's courting and study, knowledge, curiosity and endless trial and error."

INGREDIENTS

250g ball of basic pizza dough, shaped

sea salt

100g burrata

1 red chilli, cut into thin rounds

6-8 sprigs of fresh basil leaves

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Yellow tomato passata

3kg yellow tomatoes

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Slow-cooked onion

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3kg sweet white onions, thinly sliced

½ tsp sea salt

200ml vegetable stock

METHOD

For the yellow tomato passata

1. Cut each tomato in half and, using a teaspoon, remove the seeds. Place the tomato halves with the salt and oil in an ample saucepan and heat for about 15 minutes over a medium–low flame with the lid on until softened, stirring every few minutes.

2. Place in a mouli (food mill) and process so the tomato pulp passes through and the skins are left behind. Extra passata will keep for up to 6 days in the fridge.

For the slow-cooked onion

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion and salt. Reduce the heat to medium–low and simmer, occasionally stirring, for about 20–30 minutes until the onion is very soft but not coloured. Add the stock and keep simmering gently until the pan is dry and the onion golden – about 30 minutes or more depending on the heat. Extra onion will keep for up to a week in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before use.

To assemble

1. Place a large tile in your oven for the pizza, then preheat to full heat (without using any fan-forced function) for at least 20 minutes.

2. Spread four tablespoons of the passata onto the shaped pizza, leaving the edges clear to about 2cm. Scatter four tablespoons of the onion on top and then season with a couple of pinches of salt. Place the pizza in the oven for 3–5 minutes until cooked, turning to get an even colour.

3. Remove and spoon dollops of burrata on top. Place one or two chilli slices on each burrata dollop and finish with a sprig of basil leaves. Drizzle with the olive oil.

Makes one 30cm pizza

Chicory, salami and stracciatella

Stracciatella is a mixture of fine mozzarella strands mixed with cream. It can be used by itself and is featured as the filling in the extraordinary burrata cheese, originating in Puglia. Chicory is native to the Mediterranean region and is widely used, raw and cooked, in various dishes. It is bitter, but cooking the green leaves removes much of the bitterness.

250g ball of basic pizza dough, shaped

100g fior di latte mozzarella

6 slices of good-quality Italian salami, sliced and cut into 'straws'

1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

4 tbsp stracciatella cheese

a handful of confit tomatoes

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

a couple of pinches of freshly ground black pepper

Cooked chicory

1 tbsp salt

500g chicory leaves

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, lightly crushed

sea salt

Confit tomatoes

1kg ripe date, cherry or any small tomatoes

6 garlic cloves, halved

3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme or any other herbs

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

150ml extra virgin olive oil

For the cooked chicory

1. Bring 5 litres of water to the boil in a pot with a tablespoon of salt added. Plunge in the chicory and submerge with a wooden spoon. After the water returns to the boil, cook the chicory for 3–4 minutes.

2. Drain and let the leaves cool to room temperature. Squeeze as much water out of the leaves as possible.

3. Place the chicory leaves on a board and roughly chop, then put in a bowl and add the olive oil, garlic clove and a little salt. Mix thoroughly. Any leftover chicory can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.

For the confit tomatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 140C.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half, top to bottom. Place in an oven dish so that the tomatoes fill the bottom of the dish in one layer. Add the garlic and thyme. Season with three to four good pinches of salt and three to four turns of freshly ground pepper. Add the olive oil and mix everything carefully with a spoon.

3. Place in the oven for 30-40 minutes. The tomatoes are ready when they're soft but not falling apart. Any extra tomatoes can be cooled and stored in the fridge, in a covered container, with all their cooking juices, for up to 10 days.

To assemble

1. Place a large tile in your oven for the pizza, then turn the oven up to preheat to full heat (without using any fan-forced function) for at least 20 minutes.

2. Thinly slice the mozzarella and scatter evenly, here and there, to top the shaped pizza base, leaving the edges clear to about 3-4cm. Arrange the salami 'straws' on top and sprinkle over the grated parmesan.

3. Place the pizza in the oven for 3-5 minutes until cooked, turning to get an even colour.

4. Once out of the oven, arrange the chopped chicory over the pizza. Dollop the stracciatella on top and distribute the confit tomatoes over the lot. Drizzle with olive oil and add the pepper.

Makes one 30cm pizza

This is an edited extract from New Pizza by Stefano Manfredi, published by Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99.