Pizza: Cook-Off 8

[Rachel Perlow]

STRETCHING THE CRUST:  I can get the center thin enough for neapolitan style now, but it thickens up far more than I want it too at the outer edge, and I just feel awkward & klutzy through the whole stretching process, like I don't know what to do with my hands...  I was just about ready to use a rolling pin!  Is this just a matter of practice, or is there a trick I'm missing?  If it's just a repetition thing I'll go ahead and blow a bunch of yeast & flour, and make 10 of them in a row next time till I get the feel for it.

Hope this video can help. Scroll half-way down.

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Thanks for the link, that was an excellent demonstration.

[snowangel]

So, what does the anchovy "do" to the pizza? Does it dissolve, or are you aware of eating a little fish? Does it impart a fish flavor, or is it just salty? I am really curious, but a little timid to try it.

Also, how long does frozen dough keep in the freezer??? Thanks!

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Anchovies. I buy salt-packed, rinse them, and give them a short time in some olive oil. On a pizza, with tomatoes, cheese, pesto, whatever, they are not at all like a bite of plain anchovy. I can't say the dissolve, but they are great in a pizza, IMHO. I also like a nice sprinkle of red peppers (not bell, but the dried hot variety on my pizza. Nice foil.

I've had good luck with frozen dough for about 3 months, but I have a deep freeze, not one that is opened several times per day, so it probably runs at a more constant colder temp.

[AmyKay]

Thanks so much for your response, Snowangel. I really appreciate the information!

I am making my first attempt at pizza dough as we speak (actually, it's resting as I type). Tomorrow I am going to have my first experience with an anchovy-topped pizza. Thanks again!

[snowangel]

I don't know if this really counts as pizza, but I think it does.

Inspired by a recipe I got from Gourmet many years ago, that I have long since lost or given away.

Phyllo. Between every few layers, a sprinkle of grated parm. Topped with mozz, very thinly sliced onions and tomatoes. I added the basil close to the end and popped it into the oven for a few more minutes (it was quite a bit browner when it finally came out, but I was too busy getting the corn out of the water and kids to the table to take another photo).

This is a real winner in August, when the homegrown tomatoes are finally in and at their best. This is not a candidate for supermarket or canned tomatoes.

.

[Rachel Perlow]

Thanks for the great idea, Susan. I happen to have all that in my fridge or garden right now. I think I'll be making that very soon.

[Chufi]

Very beautiful Susan! At first sight, I thought those were slices of salami Ah, I wish I could get tomatoes like that over here.

[Ninjai Fanatic]

boy, this thread is making me hungry!

I've made bitter-melon pizza before, it was pretty good.. there's just a certain way to cook the bitter melon to make it so that they aren't bitter

[Carlovski]

Re Anchovies - I mentioned this in the Anchovy thread but there is a magic reaction between tomatoes and anchovies (Well I think so anyway!). It brings out sweetness like nothing else and you end up with something not really fishy, just incredibly savoury.

Re the pastry crust, I often make very thin pastry tarts/pies whatever you want to call them in preference to pizza - I am too impatient to make dough and as I have mentioned elsewhere it isn't something readily available in the UK. I think I got the basic idea from a Nigel Slater book, but things I often uses are Caramelized onions and Taleggio (But any softish cheese works well), red onion and parmesan (Lots of parmesan), Roasted veggies of all kinds, softened onion (Less caramelized for this one) and anchovies. Purple sprouting broccoli sauted with anchovy, garlic and chilli is good too.

[Jason Perlow]

Tonight, we made Phyllo Pizza, a la Snowangel:

The topping is basil and arugula, fresh from our garden, as are the tomatoes.

[snowangel]

Thanks, Jason, for telling me just what I should fix for dinner tomorrow night! Beautiful.

[Rachel Perlow]

Thanks for the inspiration, Susan. Here's a link to the recipe Susan provided me with, from Food Network: Tomato Phyllo Pizza.

The little specks are thyme leaves, that added a really nice flavor. I also added thyme to the mix of arugula and basil for the last few minutes of cooking. The herb topped part was good, but I actually preferred the plain part, as the tomatoes were more concentrated. Those under the greens were juicier, being protected from the oven's heat for the last 3 minutes of cooking.

I need to buy more Phyllo.

[Peter B Wolf]

I am very late on this tread, but I found 'Canners" of the San Marzano Tomatoews DOP:

Pomodoro San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese Nocerino Dop

San Marzano Tomatoes ( canned )

PRODUTTORI:

MARRAZZO CARMINE

Via Ammaturo 22

84016 PAGANI

ITALIE

DOMENICO VITALE S.R.L.

Sede e Stab.: Zona ASI loc. Boscofangone

Polvica di Nola –(NA) . Italy

NOCERA CONSERVE

Via Fossa Imperatore 5

Nocera Inferiore (SA)

LODATO GENNARO & C. spa

Fraz. S.Maria a Favore

84083 CASTEL S.GIORGIO

ITALIE

ALFONSO SELLITTO spa

Franzione S.Eustachio

84080 MERCATO S.SEVERINO

ITALIA

F.LLI D'ACUNZI srl

Via Portaromana 85

84015 NOCERA SUPERIORE

ITALIA

ASSOCIAZIONE PRODUTTORI ORTOFRUTTICOLI SALERNITANI – APOC SALERNO

Via Picenza, 76 - 84100 - Salerno – SA

[snowangel]

No photos, but yet another phyllo tomato pizza tonight, with fresh picked (as in from the garden to the cutting board) tomatoes. Accomapnied by sweet corn. There was some mention over the lack of meat at the meal, until they ate it all. Fresh sweet corn. Tomatoes. Basil. Butter. Phyllo. What's not to like?

[rooftop1000]

No photos, but yet another phyllo tomato pizza tonight, with fresh picked (as in from the garden to the cutting board) tomatoes.  Accomapnied by sweet corn.  There was some mention over the lack of meat at the meal, until they ate it all.  Fresh sweet corn.  Tomatoes.  Basil.  Butter.  Phyllo.  What's not to like?

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Now over here, that very same nights pizza was all about the meat. Meatball, pepperoni, and sausage with onions. All made because the store had no name shreaded Mozz on sale

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[eje]

Two pizzas tonight:

House Roasted Niman Ranch Pork Loin, last of the season garden cherry tomatoes, and Aged Provolone.

Backyard Meyer Lemon slices, Farmers' Market Asian Pears, and Bellwether Farms Fromage Blanc seasoned with lemon zest and oregano.

Whee!

[MarketStEl]

So Sunday I had at it again, with a more or less regular pepperoni pizza, only the cheese I used was extra sharp New York State cheddar rather than mozzarella.

The sauce was made with a 6-ounce can of tomato paste, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tablespoon basil, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon onion powder.

The pie came out sweet, but with a bit of a bite from the Cheddar and garlic.

However: I cannot for the life of me get the hang of hand-throwing the crust. Every time I've tried it so far, I get dough bunched up around the edges and holes in the middle, and ultimately I resort to the rolling pin. Should I be doing something else first before stretching it out over my fists?

[Chris Amirault]

Yes, Sandy, basically, when you're working the dough at the start, you really want to work to produce a disk that has relatively thin edges and a thick center. Then, place the dough on the back of your hands, letting it drape over your wrists. That way, the thicker part will expand across the backs of your hands, and you can toss it a little -- with a spin, if you'd like. Click here for some more tips (scroll down).

[Marlene]

It's been a long time since we made pizza. And never in this new house with this new oven. So I thought, why not? Since I have two ovens and two stones (well I have three stones, but that's a different story), I figured I'd make one for Ryan and one for me. I make the dough in my breadmaker and I just find it really easy to work with. I also aquired a pizza peel along the way and that made life a lot easier as well.

Ryan's pizza which had green peppers, pepperoni, and salami with lots of cheese:

Mine which had pepperoni,, ham and bacon.

[misstenacity]

Wow, I made my freakiest pizza yet tonight. Unfortunately I did not take photos of the assembly steps, just the finished product.

Base: whole wheat crust, stretched nice and thin and dusted with cornmeal.

Sauce: pureed cooked beets with a splash of buttermilk and red wine vinegar

Topping: goat cheese souffle (whipped egg white with goat cheese blended in and dill for seasoning)

The result:

Taste? Damn good! Like a beet & goat cheese salad on a cracker. Hehe.

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[snowangel]

Marlene, Ryan is my kind of man. There's nothing better, IMHO, than pepperoni and green pepper. I, however, prefer mine in strips rather than diced. Small disagreement.

[Marlene]

We do normally slice them into strips. I've no idea why I decided to dice them that day!

[snowangel]

It was pizza night at the Fahning's. I have run through most of the dougs in AMerican Pie, with mixed results.

But, tonight I hit paydirt with the Pizza Americana Dough. We all agreed that cutting down on the sugar would be a good thing, but I managed to please a family of 5, which is no mean feat.

Paul and Peter wanted plain cheeze and pep. With canned (shame) sauce). But, that's what they want. And, that's what they got.

Diana and Heidi opted for crushed tomatoes with just cheese. Diana put very small dollops of pesto on hers.

Me, I'm all over anchovies. So, I made sort of a sun-dried (actually, tomatoes dried in my oven last fall) pesto, and smushed some of that around on this small dough roung. I also added a mess of sliced shallots, some cheese, and then those anchovies (salt packed, rinsed, filleted, and soaked it a tad of olive oil for a bit).

.

Yep, I pleased the five of us tonight, which is quite a feat!

[Chufi]

Andrea, that beetroot goatscheese pizza looks fantastic! How did you come up with the idea to have something souffle-ing on your pizza ??

[misstenacity]

Klary,

Technically I guess it was really a flavored meringue, but anyway....

I was in souffle hyper-drive for a few days (see my blog posting here), so I was pretty much souffle-ing everything I could get my paws on.

(Kind of reminds me of the streak that eGulleters did with LARBing everything.... )

Thank technology for powdered egg whites, they certainly provided much of the fuel for my meringue/souffle adventures. For the pizza, I had the beets roasted so I thought they might make a nifty sauce instead of tomato. Then I need to add some kind of protein, of course (since I generally eat Zone ratios), and no meat I had really went with beets, so then I thought a puffy egg-white contraption might work instead of cheese, and I just incorporated the goat cheese because I know it works with beets. That was the thought process, anyway. The pizza really did taste good.... I love my whole wheat crust!

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[Grub]

It was pizza night at the Fahning's. ...

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That looks fantastic. Care to share the recipe for that crust?