Pizza Kicked Up A Notch

This post is made out of sequence. It refers to new discoveries made early in 2010 that revise comments made in June 2009. This is great information, so who really cares if the dates are screwed up?

There is a very simple way to make luscious pizza. And there is an additional new method on the drawing board which promises to be even better.

The dough part of the pizza can be started around breakfast time of the day you will finish the pizza.

Or you can use the dough you have in the fridge which you made according to the first post on this blog.

The tomato and/or veggie part can be started at the same time in the morning or much later in the day, closer to cooking time.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I use a heavy cast iron Dutch oven to make my bread and pizza. The lid has two numbers etched on the inside: 10 1/4 and 8. My guess is that the oven holds 8 quarts and is size 10 1/4. In any case, I have made bread and pizza in the Dutch oven for more than a year and I have a good feel for how much flour fits inside comfortably.

In the morning of the day I will make pizza or vegetable pie I mix

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or chappati or atta flour)

3/4 cup all purpose flour and semolina, about half of each

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dry yeast

(1/2 teaspoon rosemary, optional)

add 1 cup water (part olive oil, optional)

Mix thoroughly until it is a ball of dough, like what you might see in a pizza parlor. Put in a closed, covered container and let sit until 1 1/2 hour before baking.

Different size kettles accomodate different amounts of dough. You will have to make your own determination to suit your baking vessel. The measurements I use make a medium crust pizza or vegetable pie.

The topping

For pizza I use 2 to 4 plum tomatoes cut into very small pieces. After they are cut I put them in a container (usually a glass jar) and add flavoring. I add garlic, salt, pepper and basil. On a recent trip to Rome I ate at a neighborhood sports club where the only herb used was basil. I have kept my choices of Italian herbs to that one item list since then. You are not obligated to follow me.

To the container I add olive oil to taste. Mix the ingredients gently and let them marinate until you are ready to cook.

Punching down

An hour and a half before baking, scrape the dough out of its container and spread it on the bottom of the baking vessel. Spread the dough as thin as comfortable so it covers the bottom of the baking vessel. Cover with a dry linen cloth for 1 1/2 hour (experiment with times until you find a combination that suits your schedule).

Before baking add the tomato marinade (be careful not to add too much olive oil, although a moderate amount is welcome -- oil adds flavor). Top this with mozzarella and other cheese to your liking. Put the heavy top on your Dutch oven with all the ingredients inside.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes with the lid on. At the end of 15 minutes carefully remove the lid and bake for 15 more minutes at 450 degrees (or less, depending on how well done you like the topping). These times suit the instructions above for the thickness of crust I like. If you like thicker crust and use more flour -- or if your Dutch oven is smaller or larger than mine -- adjust the timing to your combination.

Take out the pizza at the end of the cooking time and allow it to cool on a rack. Eat at your desired level of hotness. How hot you like it is between you and your upper palate.

I recognize that many people do not marinate as instructed above, they use canned or bottled pasta sauce. Try the marinade once or twice and you'll never go back to that canned stuff, trust me.

My next experiment is roasting the tomatoes before marinating. Roasting usually pumps up flavor a few notches. I'll let you know how that works out.