I love all pizza types and shapes, thin crust, hand tossed, deep dish, sicilian and any style you can name. However, there is one pizza that I can never forget and I wish I get the chance again to have one more bite from that pizza slice. It is Mr. Maxims pizzeria in Malta. That was my favorite place on earth when I was a kid. I am not even sure if this place is still good or even exists. All what I remember is a tiny place that sells pizza and some other awesome pastries called Mr. Maxims. It used to be down the street from where I live in Malta, so of course I used to buy a slice almost every single day. That pizza slice was square and thick. It is not thin, fancy and crispy but it is the best pizza by far that I have ever tasted in my whole entire life. The dough is little bit crispy at the edges, thick and fluffy as you get in the middle.

That’s why the thicker fluffy pizza has a special place in my heart. The pizza recipe below will not create a thin crispy crust, but it creates good memories for me and remind me of Mr. Maxims. There is a very essential ingredient to make it close to Maxims that is the dry powdered milk “Nido”. I bet they do not even use it, however it works for me! Hope you enjoy it as an exceptional day from the gourmet crust 🙂

This photo of Mr Maxims Pastizzeria is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This is how the pizza looks like:

This photo of Mr Maxims Pastizzeria is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Ingredients
3 cups of sifted flour plus more to flour the surface as needed
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons powdered Nido milk
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon honey

In a bowl, add the warm water and dissolve the sugar in it.
Sprinkle the dry yeast on the top of the water. Set aside until bubbles form, it takes at least 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift the flour.

Mix with salt, nido milk and oregano

Make a hole in the middle.
Add the yeast mix, milk and the olive oil.

Mix with the flour using your hands or in a mixer if you prefer.
On a very well floured surface, start kneading and kneading and kneading.
Now, if the dough is too stiff, add 1 tablespoon of warm water at a time.
If the dough is too sticky to your fingers, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time.
Keep kneading until the dough is smooth and can be formed nicely in a large ball.

Grease a large bowl with a little bit of olive oil, add the dough, place the dough and let the dough touches the oil all over.

cover the bowl with plastic wrap let it rest for 1 hour until it rises.

On a floured surface,you can start to roll the dough, this would make 2 to 3 pies depends on the pie diameter.
Enjoy!