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Pizza Pizza |
The first cookbook from which I ever followed a recipe was Todd English's "The Figs Table," a book a recipes from his pizzeria Figs. The recipe was for a roasted carrot salad with feta and paprika, which was something of a revelation. I had never really tasted anything like it before, but more importantly, I had never realized how a basic ingredient like a carrot could be utterly transformed through different cooking techniques.
Around the same time, my dad and I decided to take on the most elaborate recipe in the book, the tiramisu. I have since found many simpler recipes, which have been revelatory in their own way, but that recipe will always be the definitive one for me, a three-step process involving an espresso syrup, marscapone cream, and a homemade genoise (instead of store-bought ladyfingers). The genoise was the most time-consuming part, especially since I had never even baked a cake out of a box before, and my dad and I stayed up well late into the night to finish it all up.
But for me, the most interesting part of the book was the chapter on pizza. How different they were than the delivery stuff I always ate! In the pictures, the pizzas were so much smaller, thinner, looking ethereally light, almost translucent. And that you could have something other than pepperoni or sausage - like prosciutto and figs, or country ham and asparagus - was crazy too.
My housemates especially love pizza (even more than most, which is saying something) so I'd thought I'd see how they'd like these, which I'm not sure if they had before. I made two kinds, the classic tomato, basil and mozzarella and a richer one with bacon and mushrooms, which instead of tomato sauce had a layer bechamel made with the bacon fat. The bechamel serves two purposes: adding a rich, velvety texture to the pizza, and spreading the bacon flavor throughout.
The trick to getting the crust crisp is to get your oven as hot as possible. Like most of you, I have an oven that maxes out at only 500°F, a good bit lower than you'd want; the best remedy is to use a heavy pizza stone which will hold the heat of the oven and more quickly transfer it to the pizza. But also like most of you, I don't own a pizza stone, though a heavy, inverted sheet pan will work in a pinch. One side is just as good as the other, right?
Pizza Dough
4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon dry yeast (or one package)
1/4 c warm water
1 1/4 c cold water (this is important)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 good pinch of salt
cornmeal, for sprinkling
Mix together the yeast, warm water, and sugar in a small bowl. Let this sit for about five minutes to let the yeast activate; the mixture should get foamy.
In the meantime, sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the bowl, and pour the cold water, olive oil, and yeast mixture into this well. With a fork, gradually mix in the flour from the sides of the well into the liquid in the center. As more flour gets incorporated and the liquid gets to thick for the fork, switch to your hands. Once the flour is all incorporated, move the dough to a floured countertop or cutting board and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic, and not sticky. Divide the dough into fourths, put each piece in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and leave it to rise in a warm place for 50 minutes. Use this time to make your sauce, see to your toppings, and get your oven as hot as possible.
After 50 minutes, the dough should be doubled in sized. Punch down the dough, and let it rise another 25 minutes. Roll out the dough as thin as you want (for me this is as thin as I can get it) on top of a paddle or cutting board (clumsy, but it works) sprinkled with cornmeal. Sauce it, top it, and slide the pizza off of the paddle/board and onto the stone/sheet pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.
Bacon and Mushroom Pizza
4 oz (1/4 lb) bacon, diced
8 oz (1/2 lb) mushrooms, any kind
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tablespoon flour
a pinch red chili flakes
3 slices mozzarella, somewhat thick
Set a skillet over medium-low heat and cook the bacon. It'll take about 10 minutes for the fat to render out and the bacon to become crisp. Remove the bacon, set aside two tablespoons of the bacon fat, and save the rest it in a jar in the refrigerator.
Cook the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of the reserved fat over medium-high heat, and set them aside. Add the flour and the remaining fat, and cook for about thirty seconds. Slowly add the milk a little at a time, whisking to prevent lumps. Let this simmer for another 8 to 10 minutes, until nicely thickened. Add the chili flakes, and season this to taste with salt and pepper.
Top your dough with a thin layer of bechamel, the bacon, mushrooms, and mozarella. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden.
4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon dry yeast (or one package)
1/4 c warm water
1 1/4 c cold water (this is important)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 good pinch of salt
cornmeal, for sprinkling
Mix together the yeast, warm water, and sugar in a small bowl. Let this sit for about five minutes to let the yeast activate; the mixture should get foamy.
In the meantime, sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the bowl, and pour the cold water, olive oil, and yeast mixture into this well. With a fork, gradually mix in the flour from the sides of the well into the liquid in the center. As more flour gets incorporated and the liquid gets to thick for the fork, switch to your hands. Once the flour is all incorporated, move the dough to a floured countertop or cutting board and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic, and not sticky. Divide the dough into fourths, put each piece in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and leave it to rise in a warm place for 50 minutes. Use this time to make your sauce, see to your toppings, and get your oven as hot as possible.
After 50 minutes, the dough should be doubled in sized. Punch down the dough, and let it rise another 25 minutes. Roll out the dough as thin as you want (for me this is as thin as I can get it) on top of a paddle or cutting board (clumsy, but it works) sprinkled with cornmeal. Sauce it, top it, and slide the pizza off of the paddle/board and onto the stone/sheet pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.
Bacon and Mushroom Pizza
4 oz (1/4 lb) bacon, diced
8 oz (1/2 lb) mushrooms, any kind
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tablespoon flour
a pinch red chili flakes
3 slices mozzarella, somewhat thick
Set a skillet over medium-low heat and cook the bacon. It'll take about 10 minutes for the fat to render out and the bacon to become crisp. Remove the bacon, set aside two tablespoons of the bacon fat, and save the rest it in a jar in the refrigerator.
Cook the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of the reserved fat over medium-high heat, and set them aside. Add the flour and the remaining fat, and cook for about thirty seconds. Slowly add the milk a little at a time, whisking to prevent lumps. Let this simmer for another 8 to 10 minutes, until nicely thickened. Add the chili flakes, and season this to taste with salt and pepper.
Top your dough with a thin layer of bechamel, the bacon, mushrooms, and mozarella. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden.
