Pizza, Anyone?
FIRST SOME BASIC
Ingredients:
To make the dough for 2 12-inch pizzas, you'll need:
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm (105-115 F, or 42-45 C) water
3 1/2 -3 3/4 cups (400-430 g) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
A healthy pinch of salt
Preparation:
Begin by dissolving the yeast in the water, in a large mixing bowl; let it stand for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix, either by hand or with a mixer set to low speed, until the ingredients are blended.
Now hand-knead the dough or mix it with a dough hook setting the speed to low for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Coat the insides of another bowl with olive oil and turn the dough in it to coat it too, then cover with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise for an hour, or until it doubles in volume.
For the baking, if you have a wood-fired pizza oven, fire it up. If you are instead using your kitchen oven, preheat it to 475 F (250 C) -- if you are using a baking stone it should heat for at least 45 minutes.
Otherwise grease and dust two flat baking sheets with corn meal. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a ball and let them sit for 15 minutes.
Then shape them into disks, stretching them out from the center on a floured surface. Do not roll them, because rolling toughens the dough.
You are now ready to assemble the pizzas: Ladle and spread a half cup or so of tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes over the disks, leaving an inch of sauce-free rim, add the toppings (see next page), and bake.
If you're using a baking stone and have a baker's peel (a thin metal disk with a handle), lightly flour it, slide the pizza onto it, and transfer it to the stone with a deft yank -- the flour will keep the dough from sticking. If you don't have a peel, use a flat cookie sheet instead, lightly flouring it, to transfer the pizza from the work surface to the stone.
If you're using a metal baking pan you should bake the pizza towards the bottom of the oven. In a recent post to Rec.Foods.Cooking Karen suggested baking on the bottom rack for about 4 minutes, or until the pizza is firm enough to slide off the pan, and then slide it from the pan straight onto the rack to finish cooking.
The pizza will in any case be done when the crust is browned and the toppings are cooked; this takes 3 minutes in a wood-fired oven and about 15 at home. If you discover that the mozzarella begins to brown before the other ingredients are cooked to your satisfaction, the next time add it after the pizza (with the other toppings) has baked for about 5 minutes.
... And Now Some Ideas
Note: The quantities given on the next page will be sufficient for one pizza each, so if you make the dough given above you will need to double the amounts.
Pizza Margherita:
You'll want 1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes, about a quarter pound of shredded mozzarella, and 3-4 fresh basil leaves. Spread the tomato sauce on the dough, sprinkle with the mozzarella, drizzle with a few drops olive oil, add the basil and bake.
Pizza Prosciutto e Funghi:
You'll want about a cup finely sliced Champignon mushrooms, 1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes, 2-3 ounces finely sliced ham, and 1/4 pound shredded mozzarella. Spread the tomato sauce, sprinkle the other toppings over it, drizzle with a few drops olive oil and bake.
La Napoletana:
1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes, 1/4 pound shredded mozzarella, 3-4 anchovy filets or more to taste, 1 tablespoon or so rinsed salted or pickled capers, a dusting of oregano. Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza, dot it with the remaining ingredients, drizzle with a few drops olive oil and bake.
Pizza Quattro Stagioni - The four seasons:
1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes, 3-4 canned artichoke hearts, quartered, 5-6 black olives packed in brine (you'll want the sweet variety), 1/2 cup finely sliced mushrooms, 2 ounces finely sliced ham, shredded, and 1/4 pound shredded mozzarella. Spread the tomato and the mozzarella, arrange the other four toppings each in its quarter of the pizza; drizzle with a few drops olive oil and bake.
Pizza Capricciosa:
Not really, but it seems like that. It's usually the richest pizza offered, and every pizzaiolo makes it differently.
This is based on the Pizzaria Giancarlo, outside Florence's Porta San Frediano. 1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes, 1/4 pound shredded mozzarella, 1 finely sliced hot dog, 1 link sweet Italian sausage (about 2 inches long), skinned and shredded, 8 thin slices salamino piccante (pepperoni in the anglo-saxon world) 2 ounces thinly sliced ham, shredded, 2 canned artichoke hearts, quartered. Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza, sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the sauce, drizzle with a few drops olive oil and bake.
Pizza Vegetariana:
Again lots of variability, though the vegetables used are almost always cooked: stewed peppers, stewed eggplant, artichoke hearts, spinach, and what have you Begin with the standard 1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes and 1/4 pound shredded mozzarella, and go from there, adding the cooked vegetables you prefer. Drizzle with a few drops olive oil and bake.
Pizza alla Bismark:
For reasons unknown to me a pizza with an egg cracked over it so it emerges from the oven sunny-side-up is called a Bismark. Excactly what else goes onto the pizza is up to the pizzaiolo, but ham goes quite well.
So: 1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes, 2-3 ounces thinly sliced ham, shredded, and an egg. Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza, sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the sauce, crack the egg over the middle of the pizza, drizzle with a few drops olive oil and bake.
Pizza ai Quattro Formaggi - Cheese Galore:
1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes, 1/4 pound shredded mozzarella, 1/3 cup (each) shredded pecorino, gorgonzola, groviera (Swiss Cheese), and fontina or asiago, one black olive. Spread the tomato, and sprinkle it with the cheeses; the pizza will look almost white. Dot it with the olive and bake.
Pizza Marinara:
You'll want two cloves (or more or less to taste) finely sliced garlic, and 1/2 cup tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes. Spread the sauce over the pizza, sprinkle the garlic, drizzle with a few drops olive oil and bake.
Buon appetito!
