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As soon as I got home I tore into both flour bags and made large dough batches from both brands. From my research, I knew that the Caputo 00 flour was designed for very high temperature ovens. Since I was making this pizza at home, the best I could do was plan to turn it up to 550 degrees and hope for the best (more on this in a future post). I made the Caputo flour blanks into classic Napoletana magherita pizzas using the La Valla tomatoes and some fresh cheese and basil. The results were good, but I clearly need more heat in order to get this dough to perform.

The real surprise was the All Trumps flour. I used the All Trumps to bake a New York Style pizza in all of it’s glory. Since All Trumps is formulated for lower oven temperatures, it is perfectly suited for the home oven. The dough recipe I used was a modified Lehman recipe which had 65% water. Below is the dough recipe I used:

Flour (100%): 337.4 g | 11.9 oz | 0.74 lbs
Water (65%): 219.31 g | 7.74 oz | 0.48 lbs
IDY (1.36%): 4.59 g | 0.16 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.52 tsp | 0.51 tbsp
Salt (1.69%): 5.7 g | 0.2 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.19 tsp | 0.4 tbsp
Total (168.05%): 567 g | 20 oz | 1.25 lbs

I mixed the IDY into a small amount of the water (water should be around 100 degrees) and let it dissolve for about 10 minutes. Then I mixed that yeast water into the rest of the water in the mixer bowl along with the salt. Next, I added the flour slowly with the mixer on low speed for around 5 minutes until it looked well mixed. Then, I mixed for 5 minutes on second speed. When the dough looked smooth, I removed it and formed 20 oz balls ready for the refrigerator. The dough smelled, looked and felt wonderful after a 48 hour cold rise.

I stretched it onto a pizza screen and topped it with my Traditional Sauce with Escalon 6-in-1 tomatoes for the base. I then layered whole milk mozzerella cheese and chopped pepperoni and baked it for 8 mnutes at 485 degrees.

The pizza had great oven spring, a wonderful chewy crumb and a well darkened crust rim complete with the tiny blisters that are the hallmark of high hydration dough. The flavor and texture of this dough easily matched and probably exceeded that of the pizzas I had made with KASL several months ago. Best of all, I could purchase All Trumps for the same price that I pay for flour at my local grocer. In fact, I think I will change to this flour for all of my traditional style pizza making from now on – it’s that good.

Here are some shots of the various pizzas we made from the dough – Enjoy!

After having success this week with Grandma Pizza, I had leftover San Marzano tomatoes and some remaining fresh basil. When I peeked into the refrigerator and realized that the second dough ball of my double batch remained I was compelled to go another round.

Being somewhat hungry and having no fresh mozzarella I decided to go for a round pie. Since the dough ball was larger than normal, I opted to stretch it for a nice large crust. Next, I coated the dough with olive oil and a healthy heap of shredded mozzarella. I topped the cheese with the last of my chopped basil as well as some salt, oregano and pepper.

I prepped the tomatoes again by squeezing much of the water out and combining them in a large bowl to be crushed. When they were semi-pureed I spread them liberally onto the pizza and placed it in the oven to bake at 480 degrees for 9 minutes.

I was pleasantly surprised by this quick pizza. It had some of the classic flavor from the Grandma Pizza enjoyed the night before even without the classy cheesy and fresh roasted garlic. This pie, however would be much cheaper to make and a bit quicker too. It also had far less olive oil as it was baked on a screen and not fried in a pan.

I’ll keep this little gem in my mind as a great classic tasting option when cost is a consideration. Next time, I’ll try domestic peeled tomatoes and see if that destroys the amazing combination of flavors.

NOTE: I topped the pizza with fresh Parmesan after taking photos and that was a good thing.

The basic approach remained the same. I used my traditional recipe, a bit wet (slightly higher water) for the dough. It was very soft, but not sticky coming out of the bowl. This was allowed to rest in the refrigerator over night in about 22 oz. balls. The next day around noon, I took the ball out of the oven and stretched it into a cookie sheet which was lightly coated with olive oil. Chef Bruno says to use a lot of oil, but I had too much oil on my first attempt, so I cut back this time by simply wiping the pan with an oiled paper towel, rather than allowing puddles to form. I also treated to top of the dough with a very light coat of olive oil in the same way, no puddles. I wrapped the top of the tray with cellophane to keep it from drying out and let it rest at room temperature. Two hours later I came back and stretched the dough gently into the corners of the pan. I could see that it had risen and bubble were forming in the crust. I used care not to flatten or press on the dough, but rather stretch it by gently pulling on it. Two more hours later, the dough had risen just above the tray top and almost completely filled the corners. I pulled very slightly toward the corners and set it aside.

The toppings are very expensive for this pie. I spared no expense this time, but will begin to experiment with slightly less expensive toppings for future trials. It gets topped with mozzarella and Parmesan, whole tomatoes, garlic, rappi (rappini), oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

First up was the roasted garlic and rappi. I roasted this myself while the dough was rising. Simply peel the cloves (I used 1-1/2 small cloves) and place them in aluminum foil with chopped rappi (about 2 TBL). Then place the wrapped ball in the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes until the garlic becomes tender.

I used 1/2 lb fresh (U.S.) mozzarella for one half and a 1/2 lb ball of smoked mozzarella for the other side of the pie. The cheese goes down first, sliced thickly in about 1/4 inch slices. I left about a 1 inch gap between slices for melting.

Once the cheese in in place, I sprinkled the pie with Oregano, salt and pepper. Next I spread about 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil liberally over the cheese.

Up next were the tomatoes. I purchased Cento brand San Marzano tomatoes in cans. The cans were $3.99 each and I used 1 and 1/2 cans (youch). It hurt to spend that much on toms, but they are San Marzanos, after all. I did my best to hand squeeze most of the water out of the tomatoes before slightly crushing them and laying them onto the pizza. I like lots of tomato, so I covered most of the top leaving about 1 inch gaps between tomatoes.

Lastly before baking, I smashed the garlic and rappi and spread it over the pizza as well. I’ll need a better way to spread garlic as doing it by hand was a messy and inefficient affair. Once done, the pie was ready to bake.

I had raised the temperature to its max for my home oven – 550 degrees. This requires caution when using oil and a cookie sheet on the bottom rack as the oil gets close to it’s burn point very quickly. The idea is for the oil to lightly fry the bottom of the crust. If you begin to see smoke, the oil is burning and you might have to lower the temperature. I baked it for just about 10 minutes and it had just began smoking at that time.

When the pizza comes out it will look and smell amazing! However, stop to finish it with 1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese for a little extra texture and flavor.

I noticed immediately the difference that less oil had made this time. Combined with the wetter dough and longer rise time it made for a wonderfully light airy, yet robust crust. I could almost imagine it being healthy for me! The other observation worth noting was that, for me, the fresh mozzarella tasted better than the smoked cheese for this pie. It seemed to have a tang that complimented the tomato perfectly while the smoked cheese was more subtle and seemed to blend in rather than stand out as a distinct flavor. This pizza seems to explode in your mouth and it’s a truly wonderful experience especially right out of the oven. This is one that you can use to impress even the most snobby of your pizza friends because the taste is classy and timeless. I highly recommend this recipe despite it’s higher cost.

Next up – I’ll try to get the cost down by using other tomatoes and shopping around for fresh cheese. Enjoy!

Ever since I first heard about Grandma pizza I’ve been wondering what it would take to make one at home. Tonight, I gave it my best shot and I was very pleased. The pie is baked in a rectangular tray, similar to my tray pizza. The similarity stops there.

For my first attempt, I used my traditional dough recipe and allowed it to raise in a bowl for several hours. Once it had achieved double volume, I stretched it into the well-oiled tray and allowed it to rise again. Once it filled the tray, I placed it in the refrigerator over night.

The next day, I spread olive oil on the top of the dough, then layered slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese. Next was hand crushed San Marzano tomatoes sprinkled with oregano, salt and pepper. Finally, I spread chopped fresh basil and a whole clove of roasted garlic and rappini.

The pizza went into the oven as soon as it was heated to 480 degrees. At that high temperature, however, the oil was smoking pretty badly. I was afraid that the smoke would spoil the flavor, so I turned the temp down until the crust looked light brown. The bottom looked to be starting to burn, so I turned on the broiler to finish the toppings and brown the cheese.

The result was an amazing mix of flavor. My favorite part was the way that each bite was slightly different because of the way the toppings were placed on the pie. The classic ingredients went perfectly together and the crust had a wonderful light, crisp feel.

I need to find a way to get the cost of this pizza down as the fresh ingredients added up quickly. I may also reduce the amount of oil slightly as it seemed a bit greasy. I am hooked on the taste of this pie and I will be baking another one very soon. It even reheated very well the next day.

Tonight I made two pizzas from my recent test batch of Biga dough (dough made with a pre-fermented starter mix). The first was a Napolena, or as close as I could get, with hand crushed San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh buffalo mozzarella, drizzled olive oil, and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

For the oven prep, I used two pizza stones (one under and one over) with the oven set at 550 degrees. I wanted to have as much heat as possible in order to get a fast bake. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the pizza to bake any faster than normal. It baked in just under 8 minutes. I also ditched the pizza screen in order to get the best heat reaction on the pizza base. As you can tell by the photos, not using a screen allowed the dough ball (20 oz.) to shrink more than normal while on the peel. This caused the crust to be thicker than I wanted it to be. I’ll fix that next time.

As for taste, I can’t say this any simpler… it was the best tasting pizza crust I’ve ever made. The texture and flavor was very near perfect in my opinion. There was a crisp outer crust with tender elastic inside crust. The flavor added by the pre-fermentation was unmistakable. It added a rich pizza bread flavor which most of my other dough batches were missing. In fact, I generally rely on the toppings and sauce to lead the taste of my pies. This dough recipe will allow me to keep toppings very simple and still have an effective overall taste experience. The Napolena in it’s beautiful simplicity really highlighted the flavor of the new dough recipe. Everyone at the table agreed.

The second pizza was an attempt to serve a typical American pizza on the new (3-day old) dough. For this I used the same sauce that I always use and store brand cheese, pepperoni and mushrooms. The pizza was very good, if not somewhat trumped by the first one. I noticed with this pie the natural sweetness of the biga dough as the overall taste of the pie was far sweeter than my normal dough (despite the fact that this dough had no sugar added). I really liked the taste of a sweet pizza as this is something I’ve been after in sauce for quite a while.

Overall, the first run of pizzas using the pre-fermented dough can be considered a smashing success for me. I learned a few things and I have some ideas for the pizzas I will be making from the rest of the batch. The main frustration was not seeing the quick bake that I was looking for in the oven. I’ve seen all sorts of zany ways to handle this, so stay tuned as I continue to tweak that part of my process. Enjoy the pics!

Wow, Anthony might be even more obsessed than me about his pizza (he tried to make pizza in his fireplace as a kid)! Anthony is the owner of Una Pizza Napoletana in New York City. In these short videos he talks about his oven, his ingredients and even gives advice to home pizza bakers. I found them inspiring and educational.

Watch Anthony talk about pizza passion

It’s also interesting to note that mushrooms is beating out pepperoni in the US, but not Canada or the UK. How does your favorite topping fare?

PS: Check out this surprising comparison of Chicago vs. New York Pizza

Thanks Slice

DiFabio gives details about the preparation of this dough which I started last night and will have to wait until Wednesday to bake. The aroma of the dough is remarkable and I know that the next 3 days are going to be very hard for me.

I learned a bunch from the article about DiFabio and his pizza which you can read here:
http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_10110833

Here is the pre-fermentation process for reference:

Ingredients for Phase1:
11/2 tsp. dry yeast
2 oz. warm water (exactly 97 degrees)
2 cups of water (room temperature or cool)
2.2 lbs. of high-gluten flour (not all-purpose)

Ingredients for Phase 2:
2.2 lbs. high-gluten flour 2 cups water (49 degrees)
1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1.5g olive oil (by weight, not converted to ounces)

Phase 1:

• Add the dry yeast to the warm water. Stir slightly. Let stand for 2-3 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the pint of water and the yeast water.
• Add the flour and mix only until the ingredients are blended. The mix will feel slightly dry and lumpy; this is OK.
• Place a dish towel or cheese cloth over the bowl to completely cover it.
• Let stand for 15-18 hours at room temperature. The dough will triple in size and give off an amazing aroma.

Phase 2:

• Uncover your biga and add half the flour and all the water. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
• Add sugar and mix until incorporated.
• Add salt and mix until incorporated.
• Add olive oil and mix until incorporated.
• Add the rest of the flour and mix until incorporated.
• Let the biga rest for 10 minutes covered. This should yield about 5 pounds of dough.
• Divide the dough into sections to about a pound each and roll them into balls.

Note: Keep each dough ball in its own container refrigerated and covered for 3-4 days before using.

Our friends over at my favorite pizza blog, SliceNY.com have raised a challenge to all pizza aficionados to test your knowledge of our favorite food. The Pizza Quiz is full of tough and tasty questions like “What year did the world’s first pizzeria opens its doors?” and “The Margherita Pizza was first created in what Italian city?”. If you consider yourself to be a pizzamaniac, it’s time to put your number 2 pencil where your mouth is…

Take the Slice-Serious Eats pizza test

This summer some friends and I have been enjoying a pizza tour of Carlisle, PA. With over 20 different pizza establishments (including chains) it’s been pretty interesting. We visit one restaurant each week. Here’s a map in case you would like to take your own pizza tour of the area. If I find any interesting pizza, I’ll be sure to report back.

View Larger Map

Well, after spending more on mail order flour than I have on pizzeria pizza this year, I finally had three wonderful dough balls ready to be stretched, topped and baked after a 24 hour rise in the refrigerator. It was time to bake pizzas using the dough made from King Aurthur Sir Lancelot flour rather than the hi-gluten Pillsbury flour that I have been using for almost three years.

The dough blanks looked great out of the containers and still felt like they had a very high water content. In fact, when I began stretching them, it was apparent that they were quite soft. I carefully avoided the crust ring and stretched by hand from the center. When they had reached 16 inches, I placed them on pizza screens.

The oven was pre-heated to 485 degrees. I had placed two pizza stones on the bottom two racks, forming a heat chamber between them. I topped the first pie with sauce and cheese only. The bake took around 10 minutes, which I think was longer than normal because of the two stones. It baked quite well and looked great when it came out. The tiny crust blisters that I love were present and the aroma was wonderful.

The second pizza was topped with extra pepperoni and allowed to bake for the same amount of time.

Both pizzas were cut and served to my hungry family. I have to say that I could tell the flavor difference with the first bite. The crust had a wonderfully soft texture with a crisp outer edge and slightly charred bottom. A friend who was visiting said that it tasted more authentic than other pizzas I’d made for him. I have to agree – the flour brings it’s own unique flavor which adds a great deal to the overall experience.

Now that I know that King Aurthur Sir Lancelot flour has lived up to the hype, it’s time to find a cheaper way to get it. I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve for that, so stay tuned and enjoy the pics…

After much hype from my friends at PizzaMaking.com, I’d decided to bite the bullet and order King Aurthur Sir Lancelot flour directly from their web site and pay what amounts to $5 per bag in order to do a test. Among other home pizza bakers, this is by far one of the most popular flour brands being used. Despite King Aurthur flour being common in my local supermarkets, I had never seen this particular high gluten mix on the shelves. My only choice was to order from the King Aurthur online store.

The flour arrived today with plenty of fanfare. I unpacked the box and noticed all of the auxillary junk mail that they send along (it appears from the marketing that they think I am a retiring woman who bakes constantly when not buying country furniture). The flour bags are small, containing about 7 cups of flour per bag and costing $3.50 each (plus lots of shipping) online.

I couldn’t wait to give this flour a try, so I tore open a bag and got to making a double batch of Bill’s Traditional dough. The aroma of the flour was immediately apparent. It has a very rich smell which made me quite hungry. The mixing process went well. The mix seemed overly wet which I blamed on my use of measuring cups rather than weight measuring the flour. Once it had mixed for 4 minutes I removed the dough and made two 20 and one 13 ounce ball. I placed the balls into the refrigerator for the 24 hour rise. The dough had a great smell while working with it as well.

I have high hopes for this flour based on the opinions of so many of my friends. It will be hard to justify the cost of this flour if we like it though. I am used to getting 50 pounds of the Pillsbury flour for $14 at the local bakery supply store. Stay tuned for the resulting taste test!

UPDATE: Results can be found here

Imagine this… you come to work at the pizza shop you deliver pizza for, only to find a note asking you to run the shop for a day! Can you handle it? Ok, so I’m not talking about real life, but rather a great new online flash game called Papa’s Pizzeria. The goal is to see how well you can take orders, make pizzas to spec, bake them just right and serve them to your customers. Multitasking quickly becomes the name of the game as you are required to flip between the various stations to get your orders completed.

It’s great fun and has the potential to waste lots of productive time, so be careful! Check out the game here: Papa’s Pizzeria Game

Here’s a tip – pay attention to where the customer wants the toppings on the pie! It’s not just half and half, they actually tell you top, bottom, left or right. Keep you eyes on your oder slip! Enjoy…

My family and I spent a few days in a rental cabin last week. Since no trip is complete without pizza, I packed my gear and ingredients. As I began preparing to bake, I noticed that the oven was a gas powered one. I hadn’t baked pizza in a gas oven before, but I didn’t think it would be much different. I was wrong! Being lazy while packing, I did not take a pizza stone, so the baking took place on pizza screens. I placed them on the bottom rack at 475 degrees for 8 minutes each. The bottom of the crust cooked much faster than normal and one almost burned (gulp)! The top crust edge remained very light and the cheese hadn’t completely cooked by minute 8. I learned a hard lesson about gas ovens that I won’t soon forget. If you use a gas oven, let me know if your experience is similar. I’ll be taking my stones next time for sure.

We still enjoyed the pies, one cheese, one pepperoni and one buffalo chicken. Yum.

Read more about Foraker and his campaign [via: delawareonline.com]

For a long time I’d been wanting to recreate the original style pizza in all of it’s classic glory. One of the experiments I did during my break from blogging was this beauty, the Margherita Pizza! As the story goes, famous “pizzaiolo” Raffaele Esposito was asked by Queen Margherita to present his flatbread delicacy. He created a pizza to represent the colors of the Italian flag, red sauce, green basil leaves and white cheese. It was a great combination then and it still rocks now.

For my variant, I stuck with what I know for the crust – a nice batch of fresh traditional. However, on top I spread blended roma tomatoes very lightly salted and teased with oregano, slices of mozzarella cheese and large fresh basil leaves. After sprinkling the pie with romano cheese, I baked it at 480 degrees for 8 minutes. The result was a quite refreshing change. The simple combination of the fundamental ingredients made for a terrific treat. I will be doing this pizza again – squisito!

I may go back and write about some of the pies that I made in past months, but for tonight I thought I would just post this lovely photo of the Chicago style pie that we enjoyed. The recipe has not changed much, but this time I doubled the recipe. When I did that, I doubled the yeast amount as well. I think that was a bad idea as the dough really seemed to rise more than normal overnight.

The other thing I tried was to press the dough into the pan a bit more to make the crust thin. I tried for about 1/4 inch throughout. I pressed it in and trimmed the edge that hung over the pan sides. I topped her with sliced mozz, sliced provy, pepperoni, Neapolitan sauce and mushrooms on my side. The pizza baked for about 22 minutes at 450 degrees. This photo was taken just before cutting it. Yum.

Sorry to all of you that have been wondering where I’ve been!

Hmm, I wonder how long it would take to bake 8 pizzas in my oven…

 

  

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It was a good day for another tray pizza experiment. Today I wanted to see how it would effect the flavor and texture to allow the pizza to rise in the tray for an hour rather than just 30 or 40 minutes as I had done in other trials. My hope was that more voids would form and that the crust would get taller and lighter.

After mixing, rising once and then spreading it into the tray, I sprayed the top of it with olive oil to ensure that it wouldn’t dry out. Then I placed the whole tray in the oven at about 100 degrees for one hour. The dough rose, but I shouldn’t say there was a noticeable difference from other times. After topping and baking the pizza, there seemed to be even less of a difference. I suppose if I am going to get more lift out of this dough I will have to modify the ingredients. Sounds like a project for another pizza day.

We’ll keep this recipe in the experimental list for now.

  

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©2004 pizzamaniac.com

I had some friends over for pizza tonight and decided that it had been a while since we’d done the ol’ buffalo chicken pizza. After stretching a ball of Bill’s Traditional dough, I broke out the Texas Pete’s hot sauce and grilled some chicken so we could toss one. I was out of red onions, so I substituted bits of cooked bacon, naturally.

The flavor of the bacon went very well with the buffalo chicken. Everyone enjoyed the flavor and said it had just the right amount of kick. I’d forgotten how much I like this recipe. I’ll have to make more of these bison cockerel, er, buffalo chicken pies.

Here are the pics …

View the Buffalo Chicken Pizza Recipe …

Good thing I also made a pepperoni pie for the kids – no one went hungry.

 

  

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Read about my flour counter …

  

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My parents were visiting this weekend so I decided to give the tray pizza another shot. This time I applied a bit more patience to the process and increased the rise time of both rise periods. I allowed the dough to rise for 25 minutes in the bread machine and 30 minutes in the tray. I also used more oil in the tray (it completely covered the bottom with some thickness) and left it in the oven for a full 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Lastly, I used a mixture of mozzarella cheese and white cheddar cheese based on a recipe I found online. All of these things made a huge improvement in the taste of this pizza!

The crust bottom was much more browned and had great flavor. All of the oil was soaked into the very bottom edge (similar to Pizza Hut pan pizza). The blended cheese went very well with the flavor of the crust as well. There were 6 adults and 2 kids eating this pie and everyone loved it. I will continue to play with this recipe, but I think it’s come a long, long way. Here are the pics…

  

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©2004 pizzamaniac.com

I know that serving a pizza only 3 times really doesn’t seem like enough to call a pizza done, but the Garlic Chicken and Alfredo Spinach pizza has arrived. I served it again for some more people tonight and it was a huge hit. The main adjustment I made this time was to reduce the amount of spinach Alfredo sauce that I used for the base. This made the base much less heavy and made the slice easier to hold and eat.

After round three with this pizza I think it’s time to move it out of the experimental list. Here is the final recipe:

Spinach Alfredo base:
1-1/2 cups light cream
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 tsp Oregano
2-3 oz Fresh Leaf Spinach, chopped

The cream is heated to boiling then turned down to a simmer while the other ingredients are mixed in. Remove the mixture from the heat when it begins to thicken.

Lightly coat 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into slivers, with flour and fry it lightly in Olive Oil and about 2 cloves of minced garlic.

Spread a thin layer of Alfredo spinach sauce onto the base and top with thinly sliced tomatoes, garlic chicken and mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15 minutes at 475 degrees.

PS, we also made a nice sized pepperoni and mushroom pizza for the kids which turned out to be quite tasty.

American pizza came to be 100 years ago . That’s when Gennaro Lombardi received the first license in New York City to run a pizzeria. The immigrant bread baker opened Lombardi’s pizzeria in 1905 at 531/2 Spring Street in New York City in 1905. Happy Birthday to our favorite food!

Read about this and other interesting pizza firsts Here

Read about Lombardi’s

I built the pizza on Bill’s Traditional dough that was aged to 24 hours. While the dough bench rested, I prepped the alfredo sauce in a large sauce pot and the garlic chicken in a frying pan of olive oil. After things had been cooked down a bit, I added the chopped spinach to the sauce and stirred it in. The resulting mixture was spread onto the pizza blank as the base.

Next, I laid out sliced tomatoes and dropped chicken chunks down covered by a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. The pizza was baked for 10 minutes at about 475 degrees.

Everyone loved the taste of the pizza. The only negative comment was my own. I think there is just too much sauce on the base which causes the pizza to have a heavy taste and makes people need forks to eat it. Though, the upside is that two slices fills the stomach of the average sized adult. In all I think this pie needs only minor tweaking in order to make it to the recipe list. More to come…

 

  

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©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

 

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

I vowed at the end of my last Pittsburgh Square Pizza Tour that I would attempt to discover the formula for these types of tray pizzas. After doing some research, I took my first shot. The result was very encouraging, but more work is needed.

The key to this pizza seems to be lots of yeast, a warm dough temperature and two nice long rise periods. Here’s the recipe:

2 Packets of IDY dissolved into
1 cup hot water
allow yeast to activate and double in volume

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups high gluten flour

The dough mixed in my bread machine for 10 minutes until smooth and I allowed it to have it’s first rise in the machine for 20 minutes. Fill the bottom of a cookie sheet with olive oil, enough to eventually deep fry the crust. Wipe some on the sides of the tray as well. Next, remove the dough and loosely form it into the shape the cookie sheet. I found it helpful to stretch it on the counter then place it into the tray. It should almost touch the edges. Lightly spray the top of the dough with oil to avoid letting it dry out.

Next, I allowed it to rise a second time for about 15 minutes in a warm dark place. I typically turn my oven on the lowest setting while the dough mixes then turn it off when I place the dough in for a rise period. It should be around 100 degrees and moist.

Once the dough rises to fill the tray, it can be topped. I used Neapolitan sauce and placed pepperoni on half on the sheet pie. The pie baked for 15 minutes at 450 degrees and turned golden brown. The bottom gets nice and crisp while the rest of the slice has a nice soft bite.

This pizza was not bad at all for the first attempt. I should have let it rise for much longer the second time, and also should have baked it longer. These changes should make a huge difference in the overall flavor. I was very encouraged by the texture and taste of the pizza. It’s not very comparable to the ones I had in Pittsburgh, but it’s definitely on the right track! Stay tuned as I work this one out.

UPDATE: Extending the rise time and a longer bake made this pizza turn out much better. Read more about tray pizza round two.

Nothing says love like a classic calzone and some Neapolitan sauce…

 

  

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©2004 pizzamaniac.com

 

  

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©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

In the something-besides-pepperoni category is this great example of a well rounded meal on a pizza that is my latest experiment – the Spinach Alfredo Garlic Chicken pizza. The base is a garlic alfredo sauce containing fresh leaf spinach. On top we have roasted garlic chicken, sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Here’s how it was done:

Spinach Alfredo base:
1-1/2 light cream
2 Tbl butter
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 tsp Oregano
2-3 oz Fresh Leaf Spinach, chopped

The cream is heated to boiling then turned down to a simmer while the other ingredients are mixed in. Remove the mixture from the heat when it begins to thicken.

Meanwhile, I lightly coated 2 boneless chicken breasts with flour and fried it lightly in Olive Oil and about 2 cloves of minced garlic. The spinach alfredo sauce was spread onto a 16 inch blank of 24 hour Bill’s Traditional dough. Next, the chicken, tomatoes and cheese were added.

The pizza baked for about 12 minutes at 480 degrees. When it cooled, I served it to some hungry folks. Each slice sagged with toppings and tasted ridiculously good. In fact, I could only eat one and a half slices before feeling full (this is not normal for me at all). This pizza was a huge hit with my guests and my wife. I can’t wait to try it again. I need to figure out a way to keep the crust from sagging, but this is an otherwise immediate touchdown!

Here are some pics…

  

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©2004 pizzamaniac.com

I got a reader note asking me to settle the difference between a Calzone and a Stromboli. An important question like this requires proper treatment and as such I am still doing my research. However, I’m pretty sure that I can create a whole new foldy-pizza-roll-thing by combining my stromboli recipe with some ricotta cheese.

So, I’d like everyone to hail my original Stromzone! This baby involved ham, pepperoni, sausage, mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta and, of course, a dash of mustard. Everything was rolled up neatly and baked for 25 minutes at 425 degrees. After baking, we devoured it without a hitch. I dipped mine in some home made Neapolitan sauce.

The taste was outstanding! I may be including ricotta cheese on many more of my Stromzones. At least until I figure out what a strombolis or calzones really are!

Stay tuned…

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

I got hungry for a steak sandwich tonight. Not just the kind that you buy here in central Pennsylvania, but the kind I used to eat when I worked at Pizza Outlet in Pittsburgh. These steak hoagies used slab steak for the base – the ones that look like “steak-umm”. My favorite one would be stacked tall with mushrooms, onions, green peppers, mozzarella cheese, lettuce and loads of Hellman’s mayo. To take me back I had to whip up a batch of my hoagie rolls.

While the rolls cooled, I heated the slab steak and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Once cooked, I placed them on the roll with the veggies and cheese and broiled them until the mozzarella melted and browned. Next, I added the cold toppings and served.

The taste was pretty close to the ones I used to eat while on pizza delivery runs. This sandwich is delicious and quick so there’s no doubt I’ll be doing this again soon. It’s no Philly Steak, but it is a very different and tasty steak sandwich experience.

View the Hoagie Roll Recipe used here…

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

I’ve been tossing around the idea lately for a peanut butter and jelly pizza for my kids. I know that this is not an original idea, but it would be a first for anyone in our family. Having a small amount of left over dough, and seeing that the kids had already eaten a healthy dinner, I decided that the time was right to give it a shot.

The pizza was quite simple – I spread the peanut butter on the dough and baked it. Then, I spread some black raspberry jelly onto the now melted peanut butter base. It still looked uninteresting so I made some drizzle topping from confectioners sugar and water. Having drizzled this onto the pizza, I served it up.

The kids and I thought it was one ugly looking pie, but after one bite they were asking for a second slice! I tasted it and I have to admit that it was quite tasty. It almost tastes like hot peanut butter and jelly toast.

I’m sure this pizza would be a successful dessert pizza if I could only find a way to make it look nicer. Until then this gets the ol’ experimental tag…

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

Tonight I was the hungry one of the group so I got to claim half of this pizza by piling on large quantities of thinly sliced mushrooms! They are my favorite non-meat topping, after all. My wife got her own quarter topped with lightly sauteed green peppers and the kids got their four slices of plain cheese. Everyone was happy.

The dough was a 24 hour batch of boli dough and the sauce was made from CENTO tomatoes and the ingredients for my Neapolitan sauce. Good stuff!

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

There has been a few questions about what the recipe for my hoagie rolls is so I’ve decided to post the recipe in a more clear manner. This is a scaled down version of a recipe that I got from the PMQ Recipe Bank. Here are the ingredients and the process:

1-1/8 cup water (about 70 degrees F)
1-5/8 tsp Salt
3-3/8 tsp Sugar
1-2/3 Tbl Olive Oil
16 oz Strong Bread Flour or Hi-Gluten Flour
2-1/2 tsp Yeast

Mix the ingredients until smooth and well-blended. Scale the dough into 3.5 oz balls. I usually get about 7 balls from a batch this size. Allow them to rest for 20-30 minutes then roll them into a thin sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Roll each sheet (jelly roll fashion) to form long slender loaves. Place loaves onto a baking sheet with the seam side down. Keep them 2 inches apart so they do not touch during the next rise.

Place the tray of formed loaves in a warm oven (ideal is 100 degrees with 75% humidity). I usually place a bowl of water in the lower oven to keep things humid. Allow the loaves to rise for 45 to 60 minutes.

Once risen, use a razor to make a 1/4 inch deep slit on the top of the loaves and mist them lightly with water. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees or until they turn brown.

Remove them from the oven and cool them on wire screens or racks. The rolls last only a day or two before becoming stale. They are great for Italian hoagies or Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches.

Enjoy!

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

The third and final stop in our Pittsburgh Square Pizza tour was another well known pizzeria called “Police Station Pizza” in Ambridge, PA. I learned that the real name is Pizza House, but no one calls it that. We almost didn’t make it in time to order as we arrived 10 minutes from closing time.

We were greeted by a friendly employee who asked us how many slices we wanted. You don’t have to tell them what kind you want because they don’t add toppings until the slices are ready. In fact, they only bake the pizza with sauce and cheese. Since we ordered pepperoni and mushrooms, they were piled onto our slices right before they closed the lid on the carry out box! A man next to me ordered extra cheese and was asked if he wanted that “melted”. This is because many people ask for uncooked shredded mozzarella to be added to the top of their pie after it comes out of the oven.

While I waited for the slices to cook, I asked if I could take a few photos. The gang at Police Station were great sports and actually came together for a group photo by the counter. They all said “pizza” and I snapped my favorite shot of the night.

Once our order was up, we headed for the van to eat our pizza before midnight. I must say that this was an outstanding pizza. The flavor of the sauce went perfect with the firm but tender crust and quality toppings. The fact that the toppings were uncooked didn’t bother me at all. The only negative thing about Police Station pizza is that it is about 5 hours from my home town! What a great ending to a perfect pizza night.

Stay tuned here at pizzamaniac.com for some square pizza as I try to imitate some of the inspiring shops I visited tonight!

Visit the Pizza House (aka Police Station Pizza)
1007 Merchant St
Ambridge, PA 15003-2329
Phone: (724) 266-3904

Tell em Pizzamaniac sent ya!

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

Our second stop in our Pittsburgh Square Pizza tour took us to Beto’s Pizza on Banksville Road. As soon as I got to the counter, I noticed a very tall man taking a large tray of pizza out of the oven. It struck me because there was only sauce on top of the dough. He proceeded to cut the sauced dough into square slices and place them in to go boxes. Then, he reached into a large bowl of wonderful looking fresh, shredded mozzarella cheese and placed a huge handful of it onto the slices that he just boxed. After piling cheese on, he loaded the box with pepperoni (there must have been a half pound of it), closed the lid and yelled “order up”!

As it turns out, Beto’s is famous for serving pizza this way – hot square crust topped with delicious sauce and cold but fresh toppings! We ordered four slices of pepperoni and mushroom pizza and the cashier told us that it tastes best if you eat it right away. So, we sat on a bench outside and opened our box. Once we figured out how to hold a Beto’s slice, we were digging in. I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of cold pizza and the cold toppings made me feel like that’s what I was eating. I should say, however, that the flavor and freshness of the cheese and toppings more than made up for the temperature. I can see why it is a favorite for many people.

It would be hard to eat more than two slices of this pie – mainly because of how much was piled on to the top of it. I held myself to one slice and we jumped into the van for our trip to yet another famous pizza place.

Visit Beto’s Pizza
1473 Banksville Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15216
Phone: (412) 561-0121

Tell them Pizzamaniac sent ya!

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

My dad works in Pittsburgh, PA and has been telling me that he wants to take me to his favorite pizza joint for a while now. This weekend, we finally got the chance to go for it! Our first stop was DiSalla’s in Munhall.

As we went into the shop I immediately felt right at home. Maybe it was the friendly people waiting for their pies or the Steelers paraphernalia I saw hanging around or the old world ambiance that was all around. The counter ran the entire length of the shop with a great looking deck oven in plain sight. It was hot and the place smelled delicious.

With a big smile on his face, my dad ordered 8 slices. It didn’t matter that there were only three of us, or that it was 8:00 PM, or even that we had at least two more pizza stops to make on our tour. The truth is, now that I’ve tasted the pie, I can understand. We got 4 sausage and mushroom and 4 pepperoni and mushroom.

I looked around while we waited and they had some great signs and posters on the walls. I snapped a few shots (with permission) and before I knew it our slices were up.

The pizza shops on our tour all served pizza in trays. I saw a stack of what appeared to be partially baked trays of dough which get topped and baked to completion when an order is placed. The slices are square and the toppings are placed on top of the cheese. I was delighted to see sliced sausage rather than balls of it. I knew from looking at it I was in for a treat.

The pizza was amazing. I think I can safely say that I’ve never tasted pizza like this. The sauce was sweet and the toppings were fresh. The dough had a light, crispy consistency but it wasn’t totally crunchy. It was far from the bread-like crust that you find in most New York style shops. It was love at first bite.

Needless to say, we devoured the slices as soon as we got to the car. Disalla’s square pie was worth the 3 hour trip to Pittsburgh in my humble opinion. It has inspired me to figure out how to bake this style of pizza and I promise you’ll see me trying that real soon.

Visit DiSalla’s Pizza Parlor
948 E 8th Ave
Homestead, PA 15120-2150
Phone: (412) 462-5070

Tell them Pizzamaniac sent ya!

Stay tuned…

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

I promised my friend (and summer intern) a night of all the free pizza he could eat. Eric wasn’t picky about toppings, so I tossed a large pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pie and got the toppings together for a cinnamon peach dessert pie. We baked them up and dug right in.

Eric showed that he has pizza skills by eating lots of slices. Then, I served the dessert pie and we ate it just about entirely. As you can see by the pictures, he was one happy pizza ninja. You’re welcome for pizza anytime Eric!

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

It’s official – my white pizza recipe has passed the deliciousness test and can be moved to the recipe list from the experimental list. We tweaked it a bit tonight, added some ricotta cheese clumps and BAM! The pictures make my mouth water just thinking about it.

Here are the instructions for the (modified) white garlic sauce base:

2 cup whole milk
2 T cornstarch
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
2 T Parmesan cheese, finely grated

The ingredients were mixed in a medium sauce pan and brought to a boil. Once they had boiled for 2 minutes, I allowed them to simmer on medium heat until the sauce began to thicken.

I coated the blank with a light coat of olive oil then spread the white sauce onto it, thickly. Next, I topped it with thinly sliced tomatoes, 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, several clumps of fresh ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of oregano. Bake for 9 minutes at 450 degrees.

If you’re looking for even more garlic, consider lightly brushing the crust rim with olive oil and sprinkling on some garlic salt.

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

As mentioned in an earlier post – I’ve been pre-cooking Italian sausage and freezing it. Even though I froze almost a pound of sausage, my supply has come to an end today. The last bag of sausage found it’s way onto a large pepperoni and sausage pie topped for the first time with an Italian blend of cheese that I found at the market.

The pizza was tasty, but I think the cheese is better used in some other Italian dish. It melted poorly and had a watered down taste. I have yet to find the perfect pizza cheese locally. More to come on that.

The pizza baked for about 9 minutes and looked very good coming out. The boli dough crust was strong enough to hold the toppings but not too thick. I enjoyed the pork topping which is a good thing since I bought enough to make many, many more pizzas.

View the Pizza Sauce Recipe used here…
View the Pizza Dough Recipe used here…

 

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

 

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

With the small amount of dough left from my last double batch of boli dough (I’ve been making two 22 ounce balls and one 13 ounce ball from a double batch) I thought it might be an opportunity to hone my daughter’s pizza skills. Both of them got a 6 ounce ball to toss, top and bake for themselves!

They both chose pepperoni for their topping since bubble gum was not an option. Each girl successfully tossed and caught their dough blank (with a little help from dad) and spread on their own sauce. After topping them, they helped me slide them off of the peel and into the oven. A few minutes later, they held their pies proudly for a photo.

We had already eaten dinner, so the girls decided to deliver their pizzas to our neighbors. I hear they enjoyed them very much. Way to go girls! As soon as I can convince your mom, you’ll be tossing dough in your own pizza joint. I know I can’t wait.

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com

A double batch of boli dough and a package of great sweet Italian sausage from the local market came together tonight for a delicious pizza feast. I purchased the Italian sausage in a link and balled it by hand. Next I fried it and let it cool. Incidentally, this stuff can be cooked and frozen in bags for later use. I put almost a pound of it away for another day since prepping it makes a mess of my stove.

Once the blank was stretched onto my pizza screen, I topped it with Neapolitan sauce, pepperoni, sausage and mozzarella cheese. After 8 minutes of baking at 485 degrees she was ready to eat. The sausage was full of flavor and set off the pizza very well. Here are the pics…

The result was outstanding despite the rather thin outer layer.

View the Stromboli Recipe used here…

 

  

©2004 pizzamaniac.com