Finally, a Neopolitan pizza crust that works in a home oven!!!

A few weeks ago, we went to Pizzetta in Mystic and I came home wanting to duplicate their light, crisp, excellent crust.  I've been making pizza at home for years and  although I nailed down the toppings pretty early on, the crust has tormented me for almost all that time.  


I've bought dough from good pizzerias, but such doughs are meant to be cooked at a much higher temperature than one can manage in a home oven and yield (in my opinion) too bready of a crust. I tried making my own dough with recipes from cookbooks, pizza-specific cookbooks and the internet.  Everything I read suggested using high gluten flours to get pizzeria results.  I tried bread flour, mixing bread and all-purpose, tried adding vital wheat gluten, and fiddling with the amounts of water and olive oil, but the end results were always the same. A too-thick, bready crust that everyone else said was good, but that I didn't love the way I loved Pepe's or First & Last. To me, it merely tasted "good for homemade", which is never my goal when cooking.  I want good (preferably great), period.  


My first brush with something close to what I was looking for was actually a recipe for Naan bread.  I noticed that the Naan dough cooked up lighter and thinner than pizza dough but still was slightly chewy.  So I began using it if for pizzas with decent results.     


The Naan recipe got me close and after the visit to Pizzetta, I decide to do an experiment. Counterintuitively, I decided to lower the gluten by leaving out the bread flour, and swapping in some cake flour.   This seems to have done the trick (for now), yielding light thin crusts that have as decent chewiness and cook quickly.    I use a pizza stone and a pizza peel to get the best results.  


Pizza Dough

• 1 2/3 cup Unbleached All Purpose flour
• 2/3cup cake flour (I used SoftAsSilk)  *optional 
• 1/2 packet active dry yeast (about two tsp)
• 6oz warm water (105-110°)
• 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Pinch of sugar

Whisk the dry ingredients (flours, yeast, salt, sugar)together. Using a stiff silicon spatula, stir in the water and oil until the dough comes together, about 3 minutes.    Once it does, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes until you have a good dough ball. This something that one only knows with practice, so it might take a little trial and error until it feels right.    Divide the dough into 2 balls and place each in a lightly oiled bowl  Cover with a damp towel and let the dough rise for about 45 minutes before using.  If you're not planning to use use it right away, it can be refrigerated overnight. Just remember to allow it to rise and come to room temperature before using it.  (note: the damp towel is key here, as it prevents the dough from having unworkable dry spots)

Making Pizzas


Now that you've done the heavy lifting and made the dough, It's time to make a few pies. The recipe above makes 2 small pizzas.   Any combination that you want can work, although when putting on toppings, I've found that less is more, especially with mozzarella.   


Place a pizza stone on the lowest rack in the oven (Take the other rack out or move it as high as you can. Making pizza requires room to move) & preheat to 550°.  Once the oven is preheated, give the stone a good hour or so to heat up.    Stretch the dough out to about 12" with a thicker rim and place on a well floured pizza peel.  Make sure that the dough can slide freely and position it a the edge of the peel.  Quickly top your pizza and gently let slide it onto the stone from the peel with a quick pull ( it takes practice, watch this guy).  Let the pizza cook for 8 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and browned to your liking. remove from oven and allow the pie to set for 4-5 minutes before cutting.  


A Basic Pie

• 30oz can Italian tomatoes, crushed and thoroughly drained
• Fresh or dried herbs (Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme & Basil) 
• Grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiana Reggio 
• Fresh Mozzarella, shredded 
• Salt & Pepper

For a basic sauce, I use Vanlia Whole Italian tomatoes (any whole or crushed tomatoes will do), which I hand-crush with a potato masher and drain in a strainer.  This is important, as not draining the liquid will give you a soupy mess of pizza.  Once the tomatoes are drained,  I stir in a tablespoon of Tomato paste and a tbsp of olive oil and a bit of salt.  I don't use garlic on a plain pizza, but if you like it that way, go ahead.


Lightly brush prepared dough with olive oil.  Using a measuring cup, spread out a thin layer of sauce and sprinkle with herbs & pepper( If I have fresh basil leaves, I usually hold those out and put them on top of the cheese). Top with a generous layer of Romano cheese then a sparing  layer fresh mozzarella.  Drizzle a spiral of olive oil over the pie and bake for 8 minutes.

"Summer Pie"

Fresh tomatoes, sliced 1/4 " thick  cut in thirds or quarters, depending on size
fresh herbs (Oregano, Sage, Thyme, rosemary & Basil) 
Olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 
Pecorino Romano
Fresh Mozzarella, shredded  (or thinly sliced)

Lay the sliced tomatoes on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.  Lightly brush prepared dough with olive oil.  arrange the tomato pieces evenly around the dough, sprinkle with herbs and garlic. Top with a generous layer of Romano cheese then a light layer of fresh mozzarella.  Drizzle a spiral of olive oil over the pie and bake for 8 minutes.

New Haven Style White Clam

• 1 cup of chopped clams, thoroughly drained
• fresh or dried herbs
• salt & pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• olive oil
• Pecorino Romano

Squeeze excess liquid from clams with a paper towel,then sprinkle with salt.  Lightly brush prepared dough with olive oil.  Arrange the clam pieces evenly around the dough and sprinkle with herbs and garlic. Top with a generous layer of Romano cheese, drizzle with a spiral of Olive oil and bake for 8 minutes.

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Mayan Chocolate Cookies

I made these up after deciding to include a bag of cinnamon chips when taking advantage of sale on chocolate chips.  I was just going to go with the standard toll-house recipe (with cinnamon chips filling in for the chopped walnuts), but then I decided to make some changes to the dough.  I tripled the vanilla extract, added some baking powder, cinnamon and cocoa.  The end result reminded me of the flavor of  Häagen-Dazs' Mayan Chocolate ice cream, with a nice balance of chocolate and cinnamon, so that's what I decided to call them.   The proportion of cocoa is more like red velvet cake than a double-chocolate cookie. 

Mayan Chocolate Cookies

(makes roughly 24 5" cookies or 48 normal-sized cookies)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
tsp salt
tsp  baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder1 
1&1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp cinnamon

tbsp Vanilla extract
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup cinnamon chips




Preheat  the oven to 375°.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. 


Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa in a bowl and set aside.  Cream the softened butter, sugar and vanilla in an stand mixer.  Add the eggs.  Slowly mix in the flour mixture until dough forms.  Stir in the chocolate and cinnamon chips. 


Bake at 375° for 12-17 minutes, depending on size of cookies. I tend to make huge cookies, using 1/4 cup, slightly flattened mounds that run toward 17 minutes. It can be difficult to tell when these are when these are done, as the dough  is already light brown when it goes into the oven and doesn't noticeably change in color.   I recommend setting the timer for 12 minutes then watching them closely.

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Apple Pie. Not "Prize-Winning" But The Best I've made.

I wish I could knew on what world this crust only rated a 6 of 10 in scoring.  I'd also like to try a slice of the winners, partly for comparison, and partly because, well, I like pies.

9" Two-Crusted Apple Pie

Crust
2½
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
½ cup shortening (frozen), cut into ½ cubes
¾ cup unsalted butter (frozen)
8 tbsp ice water

Filling
4-5 Granny Smith apples (peeled & cored, sliced ¼ inch thick)
3  MacIntosh apples  (peeled & cored, sliced ¼ inch thick)
2/3 cup sugar
tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cornstarch
rind of ½ lemon (about a tsp)
juice of ½ lemon
1 egg, beaten with a tbsp of water
½ tbsp coarse raw sugar

Pre-heat oven to 500° with an sheet pan on the bottom shelf.

Mix flour, sugar salt and shortening until combined.  Grate in butter and mix until the mixture resembles
coarse crumbs.  Add water by the tablespoon and stir until the dough comes together.  Separate dough into
2 pieces, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or overnight.   Roll out each dough ball until it's a
few inches larger than the pie plate.  Carefully place the bottom dough in pan and press it into the corners.

Separate apples in two bowls, add ½ of lemon juice, rind, and honey to each bowl and toss until evenly
coated.  Stir sugar, salt, spices, and cornstarch together.  Add some to each bowl of apples and toss. 
Starting with Granny Smith, alternate layers of apples, mounding them in the center.   Top with second crust,
trim excess dough, roll and pinch edges closed.  Lightly brush with egg wash, dust with raw sugar, and cut
four small vent holes in the top crust. 

Put pie on the preheated sheet pan, lower the oven to 420 ° , and bake about 20 minutes until crust is
golden-brown.  Rotate the sheet pan, lower the over to 350°, and bake until filling start to bubble.  Cool pie
on wire rack to room temp before cutting.

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Beef Stroganoff

I like mushrooms, but I leave them out of this recipe because a lot of people (primarily the one I live with) don't.  If you do, simply add a cup of your favorite mushrooms to the onions when you're sauteing them.

Beef Stroganoff


Ingredients

• 1 lb beef (sirloin tips or chuck steak work best), sliced into thin ribbons
• Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1&1/2 cups beef stock
• 1 tbsp "old style" or coarse Dijon mustard
• Medium yellow onion halved and sliced
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3-4 tbsp butter
• Extra large egg noodles or home-made pappardelle if you're feeling ambitious

Prep work

Marinate beef in Worcestershire sauce and a dry red wine for about an hour. Pat it dry on a paper towel, then slice diagonally as thin as you can manage.   Season with salt and pepper.  Slice the onion in half, then into thin (3/16") slices.

Cooking

Heat a dutch oven over similarly deep pan over medium high heat, brown the beef strips until they have seared crust.  It will only take a minute or so per side, and you're not really cooking it through but going for the ever-flavorful "browned bits".  If you have a lot of beef or a small pan, do it in stages .   Once satisfactorily browned, remove the meat from pan and set aside. 

Heat a tbsp of butter in the skillet . Saute onions with in tbsp butter until translucent and slightly browned de-glazing once with brandy and once with an ounce or two of beef stock.  Remove the onions from the pan, and set aside with the beef.

Heat the remaining three tbsp of butter, add flour and ground mustard seed to make a roux ( you may need to add a little more butter or olive oil if it's too thick.  When the roux is dark golden brown, slowly  add the beef stock and few shakes of Worcestershire  sauce. Whisk smooth and simmer until thickened, add beef (with any accumulated juices) and onions, mustard, cover and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.  While simmering, boil the noodles as you normally would and drain. 

Serving

Remove the beef Stroganoff from heat, stir in the sour cream, let stand covered for a minute or two, then serve over the noodles.

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Pane Salsiccia e Formaggio

This is the recipe for my always popular sausage bread, endlessly tinkered with despite people telling me it was fine.  Well, it wasn't fine for me until my most recent attempt, when I finally got the crust to come out the way I like it by using a tip from America's Test Kitchen.  Instead of brushing the bread with olive oil or an eggwash, I simply sprayed it with water before putting it in the oven, then every two minutes after I put it in, 3 times total.  The end result was the dark, crunchy artisan-style crust I'd been chasing for years.

Italian Sausage and Cheese stuffed Bread

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lbs hot Italian sausage (La Molisana's works best)
• about 1/3 lb grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese (Use freshly grated Pecorino if you can)
• olive oil
• flour
• A spray bottle full of water for misting
• 1lb pizza dough 
• 2-1/4 King Arthur Bread Flour
• 3/4 cup of warm water (110°-105°)
• 1 TSP Hodgson Mill yeast 
• 1 TBSP of Local Honey
• 1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 TSP Salt
• A pinch of sugar to proof the yeast

Making the Dough:

Start by mixing the yeast & the water and add the pinch of sugar.  It'll be ready when it looks a bit foamy.  While the yeast proofs, mix the flour, oil, honey, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the yeast until it forms a standard pizza dough (this is mostly feel) and knead for 15 minutes either by hand, or with stand mixer equipped with a dough hook.   

Place the dough in a bowl and cover.  Let it rise for at least an hour at room temperature or in the refrigerator until it has doubled in size.

Preparing the sausage:

Remove the casing from the sausage (or sausages) and make sure it’s broken up.  Heat a TSBP of olive in a large Skillet or Frying pan.  Brown the sausage over MEDIUM heat (around 5 or 6 on the knob) until it’s golden brown and but not burned giving the pan a quick deglaze with an ounce or two of water.   It can splatter, so be careful.   Remove the sausage from the heat, and after it cools a bit, scoop it from the pan with a slotted spoon.  If you don't, the finished bread will be a soggy mess.

Preparing the dough:

Flour your hands and a cutting boards so that the dough doesn’t stick.  Stretch the dough with your hands (don’t use a rolling pin or you’ll flatten out all the bubbles) into a rectangular shape about ¼” thick. Be careful not to go too thin, or the sausage will tear the dough in the next step

Putting it all together:

Once you have the dough stretched out, sprinkle the crumbled sausage onto it, as evenly as you can and right to the edges.  Then do the same with grated cheese so that you can barely see the sausage (think of the yard after a light snowfall, with little bits of grass still poking through and you'll be in the right ballpark).   Now carefully roll the whole thing up and press/pinch the edge of the dough closed. I tend to shape the dough into a ring(which I originally did it so a cup of tomato sauce would fit in the middle for dipping, which I did exactly one time), or just pinch the ends closed to make a standard loaf shape.

Getting it in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 500° (q. George Carlin "There are only two states an oven can possibly exist in: Heated or unheated! "Preheated" is a meaningless term!") .  If you have a pizza stone, start preheating the oven about an hour before you intend to put the bread in, and you can bake it directly on the

Wipe the pizza pan or a baking sheet with olive oil, and then dust it with flour (If you have semolina, or corn meal, you can use it here). Transfer the bread to the pan.  Spray the loaf with enough water to lightly wet the outside before you put it in the over and repeat few times during the first 6 minutes (every 2 minutes or so).

After the final spray, lower the temperature  and bake at 425° for 25- 30 minutes or until the crust is the orange-brown of dark toast, but not burned.  Give the bread at 20-40 minutes (up to a few hours) to settle before cutting it.

You can use this same basic recipe with pepperoni and smoked scamorza,  broccoli and cheddar, cubed Black Forest ham with sun-dried tomatoes and smoked Gouda, etc.

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Proscuitto & Romano Stuffed Mushrooms

This is my recipe for stuffed mushrooms and it's always been well received ( that is, even people who don't care for mushrooms seem to like these) so I thought it would a good recipe to post here.

The stuffing recipe also works very well for clams or shrimp, with the addition of a few diced shiitake or oyster mushrooms.

Ingredients
2 packages of stuffing mushrooms
1/3 lb of prosciutto
8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup of fresh grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 shallots, minced (a medium yellow onion is a good substitute)
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
plain breadcrumbs
A splash of white cooking wine for de-glazing
A few ounces of red wine

Preparing the Mushrooms

Preheat oven to 400. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and widen the cavity with a paring knife if necessary.   If you're a mohel, the technique should be second nature. If not, the easiest way is to put the point of the knife in the rounded edge and trim the portion that covers the gills, being careful to leave a lip to hold the stuffing. Ideally, you want it to look like a shallow bowl.  Reserve about  a third  to half of the mushroom stems, finely diced as they'll be part of the filling.

Making the filling 

Saute the shallots, diced stems, and garlic(start the garlic about 2 min. after the shallots to prevent it from burning) in butter over medium heat until golden brown, seasoning with salt and fresh ground pepper.  Deglaze the pan with white wine, scraping up any of the "browned bits" that cooking show hosts gush over.  I usually like to cook it down and deglaze more than once to really bring out the flavors.  The mixture should ideally be the color of light maple syrup.  Spoon the mixture into a bowl and set aside.  

Finely dice the prosciutto and lightly fry in olive oil, until the pieces have browned edges, taking care not to burn it.  Remove from heat and add to to shallot/stem/garlic mixture.

Using a stand mixer, thoroughly combine the prosciutto, shallot/stem/garlic mixture with the cream cheese and Romano. This should take less than 2 minute with the end result looking similar in color and texture to chocolate chip cookie dough. 

Stuffing the mushrooms 

To stuff the mushrooms, spoon heaping portions of the stuffing into the mushroom caps then roll  the stuffed portion in breadcrumbs to give it a nice crust and round shape. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish, adding the red wine to the bottom (this will soak into the mushrooms as they cook). Sprinkle or spray olive oil over the tops of mushrooms and bake uncovered until golden brown (about 20 minutes).  Serve immediately.

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