In Another Lifetime

Maybe in a past life I could have been a Pizzaiolo (or maybe that should be Piazzaiola as I’m a female?), anyhow a pizza chef; now if that was in Italy I reckon I’d have been one very happy woman

Not that I’m bragging or anything but I’m so pleased with the pizzas I make, they always get a really good response and I’ve heard comments like “Wow! You must have bought those they look wonderful”, “Oh they’re like I ate back in Italy on holiday”, and simple “Mmmms”, okay that’s enough of singing my own praises, so onwards to the point of this blog post.

It’s Daring Bakers time again and this time the challenge has been set by Rosa and Glenna who had been working with Sher before her sudden death last July.

In Sher’s honour Rosa and Glenna decided to submit the recipe chosen by Sher, which I feel is a lovely tribute to her. Now for the chosen recipe (but I know you’ve already guessed it) — pizza!! The recipe is taken from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Making Classic Breads with the Cutting-edge Techniques of a Bread Master(Peter Reinhart).

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Making Classic Breads with the Cutting-edge Techniques of a Bread Master(Peter Reinhart) is an absolute stunner of a book, especially for the experience bread baker, dealing with lots of different types of dough from a standard basic white bread to continental breads and sweet dough too. Another bonus being that it contains lots of stunning photo’s, giving the home baker an idea of what to aim for when dealing with an unfamiliar bread.

Back to the pizzas, I made too toppings — one a shrimp and clam, the other a simple cheesy garlic bread.

Pizza is the perfect food for a night in with ‘the girls’, a quick supper when a full meal is not wanted and in essence the ultimate in Italian ‘street food’ but not just any pizza will do; for me at least it must be a true Italian pizza. I say Italian because I’m not overly fussed if it’s a Neapolitan version or a Roman version, both being subtly different from each other simply by the thickness of the base but to be truthful there really isn’t much in it. I have no time for the thick, spongy bases passed off as ‘deep pans’ (not that I’ve ever eaten a true Chicago deep pan so maybe I’d change my mind but still I don’t think I could ever think of it as a proper pizza) or the sad specimens passed off in many a supermarket and fast food chain with their ‘cardboard’ bases and dodgy toppings — and no I don’t just mean the quality but the combinations too, there are certainly some weird ones out there.

As part of the challenge we had to toss the dough – great fun but very messy, to begin with at least. I soon got the hang of it though and found it great fun, I also thought the dough was slightly lighter than when I’ve rolled the dough in the past. As for getting a picture of me in action it was nigh on impossible; I was doing it home alone (apart from a very over excitable Irish Setter who insisted on trying to join in – not a pretty sight I can tell you especially when I was trying to keep him out of the way of the flour due not only to hygiene but his gluten allergy) and there was no way I could get my camera set up on timer to capture this, I’m sorry Rosa.

Reinhart’s recipe gave for a lovely crisp edged base with a centre strong enough to hold the topping without being overly floppy and doughy but maybe that comes with using a pizza stone too, something I find essential.

The flour I used was ‘tipo 0′ which is what the Italians would use, a flour stronger than plain flour but not so strong as regular bread flour, does that make sense? If you can’t get it I’d recommend 2/3 plain flour to 1/3 strong flour to get a similar strength and protein content.

I’m not convinced however that leaving the dough in the fridge overnight is a necessary step in getting good pizza or just a good time saving method, it didn’t seem to have any effect on the overall taste of the dough or consistency of the pizza.

I won’t go on and on again about the pizza essentials, you can read about them here where I discussed pizza at length. 

A fabulous challenge, thanks guys! Do check out other Daring Bakers efforts by going to the blogroll here.

The Recipe:

• 4 1/2 cups Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled.
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast.
• 1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 Cups water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

Day One:

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).
2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water. NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water. The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.
3. Flour a work surface or counter.  Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.
4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas). NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.
5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them.  Gently round each piece into a ball. NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.
6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to three days. NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespoons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

Day Two:

1. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.
2. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C). NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a baking tray. Do not preheat the pan.
3. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss. NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time. During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
4. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – f—or a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the baking tray or peel, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.
5. Lightly top it with sweet or savoury toppings of your choice. NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.
6. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the baking tray. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.
7. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.