Preheat the oven to 550℉ or as high as your oven will go. For best results, preheat the oven for 1 hour before baking your pizza.
Broccolini Topping
Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and allow to warm through for 30 seconds. Add the broccolini and sauté for 3-5 minutes until it starts to soften but is tender and crisp. Remove the baby broccoli and set aside.
If needed, add another tablespoon of olive oil. Add cherry tomatoes, cut side down if possible. Allow the tomatoes to sear undisturbed for 2-3 minutes.
Add the shallot and sage and cook for another 2 -3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Add the white wine and allow to simmer stirring occasionally. Add the butter and stir slowly until melted.
Add the baby broccoli and toss to combine and warm through.
Pizza Dough
Place the dough on a clean and lightly floured counter or work surface. Divide the dough into 2 balls (if using the poolish recipe, divide into 3). With your fingers press the middle of the dough down and out slightly towards the edges. Flip and do the same on the other side.
Then create the crust by pressing the air from the middle of the dough out towards the edge and pinch the dough to seal the air into the crust. This creates an air bubble-filled crust. Place the dough over the back of your two fists and stretch the dough until it is thin and roughly the size of your pizza peel.
Lightly flour (using flour, whole wheat flour, or cornmeal if you have it) your pizza peel. This will help the uncooked pizza to slide off of the peel onto the pizza stone. Place the stretched pizza dough on the pizza peel such that 1 inch of dough hangs off the front edge of the pizza peel. This will help you to “catch” the dough on the back of the pizza stone, helping you to smoothly and slowly slide the entire pizza onto the pizza stone.
Assembling the Pizza
Optional Extra Tomato Sauce: If using (otherwise skip to the next step): Combine the can of San Marzano tomatoes, peeled garlic cloves, and olive oil in a blender. Spoon a thin layer of sauce over the dough. Freeze any remaining sauce.
Add half of the grated mozzarella cheese to the pizza. Then add half of the broccolini cherry tomato topping.
Bake at 550°F for 6-8 minutes. Watch closely, particularly the first time, to ensure that the cheese does not burn. Remove the pizza from the pizza stone using tongs and a pizza peel. Repeat with the remaining pizza.
Notes
Broccolini Florets: Choose broccolini florets that have not yet opened. When they open you can start to see the yellow flours. If the florets have started to open, that’s fine too. You can still use them.
Cooking the Broccolini: Set kitchen timers when cooking the broccolini topping. The broccolini only needs to cook for a few minutes and it’s easy to lose track of that timing and overdo it. The same is true for garlic, which can burn easily if not watched.
White Wine: If you prefer not to cook with wine, leave it out, or add ¼ cup of chicken stock instead.
Optional Extra Tomato Sauce: This sauce is super simple and great for so many different types of pizzas, and I do love it on this pizza. It is a light and thin sauce and does not take away from the flavors of the broccolini topping. However, it is optional. It is extra work and can just as easily be skipped. Choose what works best for you and your schedule.
Pizza Dough: When shaping the pizza dough create an air bubble-filled crust by pressing the air from the center of the dough outwards and pinching it into the crust.
Preheating: Preheat the oven to the highest it will go for an hour before baking if possible.
Using a Baking Sheet: If you do not have a pizza stone, reduce the temperature to 450℉ and use a baking sheet. Most baking sheets are not designed to handle heat of about 450℉. Bake the pizza for longer for roughly 10-12 minutes.
Assembling the Pizza: Use flour or cornmeal to dust the pizza peel. Cornmeal and whole wheat flour are gritter than regular flour which makes it easier for the dough to slide. This enables you to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone.
Pizza Peel: Hang 1 inch of dough off the edge of the pizza peel (if you do not have a pizza peel you can use the underside of a baking sheet (i.e. flip over the baking sheet so the rim is not in the way).
Baking the Pizza: Carefully reach the pizza peel into the oven towards the back of the pizza stone. Be careful not to burn yourself on the oven. Place the 1-inch hanging crust down at the back of the pizza peel and slowly inch by inch slide the pizza peel out, such that the pizza glides onto the stone.
Removing the Pizza: Once fully baked use tongs to help pull the pizza back onto the pizza peel. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.