A DOLCE VITA AFFAIR

Step into the world of culinary maestro Gino D’Acampo as he takes us on an exclusive journey through Italy, revealing tantalising secrets, upcoming ventures, and a deep love for food. In this captivating interview, Gino shares his passion for exploring Italy’s diverse regions, crafting delectable recipes, and uncovering hidden gems in the realm of Italian cuisine. Get ready to embark on a mouth-watering adventure as Gino spills the beans on his latest culinary creations and the unforgettable dining experiences that await.

The Real Neapolitan Pizza Made At Home

La vera pizza Napoletana fatta in casa

Over the past 25 years I have tried so many different recipes for traditional Neapolitan pizza using a domestic oven, and I can now confidently say that… this is the one! As you can see, I am including two ingredients not commonly used to make a traditional Neapolitan pizza base: oil and sugar. Both give the base a beautiful golden colour, considering we cook it in a domestic oven and not a proper wooden pizza oven. You will, though, need a pizza stone to bake this. If you’re going to make a lot of pizza, it will be worth it, and they often come with a pizza shovel, too. If you can’t find fresh yeast in a deli or supermarket, ask at your local bakery.

Makes 5

Ingredients

For the neapolitan pizza dough

3g fresh yeast

• 550ml water

• 800g ‘00’ flour, plus more to dust

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the measured water in a large jug. Tip the flour into a large bowl and sprinkle over the sugar and 25g salt. Pour over the yeasty water and start mixing all together for about 1 minute. Drizzle over the oil and continue to mix for 2 minutes. Once all the ingredients are combined, transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle over a little more flour.

Gently knead with your hands for 10 minutes until you create an elastic and smooth dough, which should still be slightly sticky. Gently roll it into a big ball on the work surface and cover it by placing the mixing bowl upside down on top. Leave for 1 hour.

Remove the bowl and divide the dough equally into 5 pieces. Each piece should weigh about 290g. Roll each piece into a tight ball, making sure there are no air bubbles in the middle.

Lightly dust a large, deep tray (it should be at least 10cm deep) with flour and place the balls inside, about 10cm apart from each other. Cover with clingfilm, making sure the clingfilm does not touch the dough balls. Place a large tea towel over the tray and let rest at room temperature for 5 hours.

Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the topping, except the mozzarella, into a medium-sized bowl, with 1 tsp salt. Using your fingertips, crush the tomatoes into a fine pulp, mix and set aside. Preheat the oven grill to maximum, as hot as it will go. Place a pizza stone on the top shelf of the oven, about 10cm away from the grill element.

Make sure you preheat the grill and the pizza stone for 30 minutes before you are ready to cook the pizza.

Gently pick up a dough ball and place it on a lightly floured surface. Use your fingertips to gently push the dough ball out from the centre, creating a ‘crown’ or border around the rim. The pizza should be about 30cm in diameter.

• 10g caster sugar

• 25ml extra virgin olive oil

For the topping

2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes

• Salt

• 15 basil leaves, plus 10 leaves to scatter on top

• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus 10 tbsp more to drizzle on top

• 3 mozzarella balls, drained and cut into 5mm strips

Lightly dust a pizza shovel, or flat baking sheet with no lip, with flour and gently slide the pizza base on to the shovel or baking sheet. Use your fingers to neaten up the shape of the base. Use a large kitchen spoon to spread 1½ tbsp tomato mixture on top of the pizza base. The best way to do this is to pour the tomato mixture into the middle of the pizza and spread it from the centre outwards, using the back of the large kitchen spoon. Leave the crown clean.

Equally scatter one-fifth of the mozzarella over the tomato mixture and evenly drizzle over 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Finally place 2 basil leaves on top.

Slide the pizza on to the very hot pizza stone and cook for 5–6 minutes.

Congratulations: you have just made a traditional Neapolitan pizza.

Congratulations on your new venture, Gino Pizza Ovens! Can you tell us what inspired you to start this project, and what sets it apart from other pizza ovens in the market?

This all started just before covid, I had seen pizza ovens before and I was fascinated at how many people were buying into it, so I thought ok… but what about a cool design? Or a different shape? So what I did was play around with it for a while, and kind of saw all the faults the other ones had. For example, the temperature control. Usually, it’s on the back or the side, but with mine, it’s on the front, then I made mine rounded, like a traditional pizza oven so the heat can stay in much better. I have added one extra leg, so mine has 4 legs that can be folded, so it’s easy to store and very steady. The other thing is the measurement of the oven. The 12 inch was too small, the 16 inch was too big, which will make the heat escape, so the 14 inch was the absolute perfect size for me. So you preserve the heat loss, and also the look, because people will put this in the garden so the look was very important to me, I wanted a very Italian look. One is black, one has an Italian flag on it, the other one is carbon fibre, so I thought, you know, what if this is going in the garden, you want to be proud of the way it looks, it’s a beautiful piece. So, it does both, it’s very beautiful and super cool, it also works really well, I have done many adjustments, and this is the one.

As a renowned chef, what made you choose pizza as the focus of your latest endeavour? What do you think makes a truly exceptional pizza?

I think, first of all, the reason why I chose pizza, is because I have seen lots of changes in the market with pizza in the last 5 years, people are starting to realise what it means to have a good pizza, a good Neapolitan pizza. And they also finally realised how easy it is to do. And since covid, a lot of people have tried to make pizza at home, which has finally made them understand the difference between a crap pizza, you know the big deep fried pan pizza but I won’t name and shame anyone, and the original; Neapolitan pizza. To make an exceptional pizza, it starts with flour. You need to choose the right flour, and whatever you do, use fresh yeast! So, you need the best flour you can get, and fresh yeast. You can get this in the supermarket.

Once you have the base right, for me, the perfect topping always stays the same, which is a beautiful tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella on top, and fresh basil. Nothing beats a classic pizza A ’La Margherita.

In addition to your culinary ventures, you’ve also made a name for yourself in the entertainment industry. Are there any new shows or projects you’re currently working on that you can share with us?

Well, I’m filming family fortunes again in September for the new season which is great, I love that show. And then I can’t tell you a lot, but I am going to tell you a secret, I have a new show that I’m doing with Fred. We’re going to be travelling, and we will be filming this in September. That is as much as I can tell you!

How exciting! We can’t wait to have you both back on our screens. We often see you sharing glimpses of your family life on social media. How do you balance your professional commitments with spending quality time with your loved ones?

In the last 10 years I finally realised that I’d rather bank memories than money. I only work 6 months of the year, the other 6 months I’m on holiday with my family. I feel very blessed and I feel that the biggest achievement of my life is that my two boys and my daughter are still with me, they love to be in the house with me and my wife, they love to come on holiday with us and that to me is something that money can’t buy. I have a son that is 21, and a son that is 18, and they have no intention of leaving because they feel happy, and that makes me very proud and that is the reason why I only work 6 months of the year, because I invest a lot of time. In my line of work, it’s very easy to get caught in the money, because everyone offers you money all the time, you need to be strong and remember to bank memories.