Home style pizza

[maunahaole]

Eff papa John. His product sucks. Your pizza looks really good.

[GonaSovereign]

This thread is so much more interesting than anything anyone has to say about Serotta. Thank you!

[WadePatton]

This thread is so much more interesting... Thank you!

welcome to the Culinary Arts section. We eat a lot.

[robin3mj]

Made a bunch of pizzas on the Egg on Saturday- we had a full house with both my sibs and their spouses plus my in-laws.

Homemade tomato sauce: onions, garlic, San Marzanos, fresh basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano.
Homemade dough: Jamie Oliver's recipe is my stand-by but I need to either use less yeast or not make it so far ahead of time, as I'd like it to rise slightly less.
Fresh mozz (not homemade) and parm reggiano.

Toppings:
Asparagus and prosciutto
Plain cheese
Red pepper and mushroom
Broccoli rabe and soppressata (highly recommend this- saute the veg with olive oil until you get the slightest char going. Nice and bitter balances nicely with the meat and the sweetness of the dough.)

[Dorman]

Anybody tried aging their dough over a day in the fridge? I've done 1 day and it seemed to build a little more flavor, but am curious if anyone has pushed the envelope?

[Carbon_Cowboy]

I think overnight is a little much. If you like a very sour crust it might be a good thing, however there are some weird off flavors that develop after a while (grassy-aldehydes or something). The lower the fat and protein content of you dough the longer it can "sit around".

[Carbon_Cowboy]

oops...didn't see "fridge". I was talking about on the counter. I've always heard ~3 days or so in the fridge.

[Noteddy]

I usually make a lean (no fat) but highly hydrated dough and age it on the counter for up to three days. Texture is fine after one day. Tang is better after two or three.

Contrarily, here is an article that explains why the fridge might be better. The Food Lab: The Science of No-Knead Dough | Serious Eats

Cooks illustrated emulates the tang by adding a little lager and vinegar.

[Too Tall]

NICE. Throw some arugula in there since you like the bitter balance thaing'.
My best pizzas on the egg have very scant toppings when I make them on a stone. I've been playing with pre-cooking the doughs directly on the grate with excellent results. It is difficult to keep the heat low enough, you have to be quick.

Made a bunch of pizzas on the Egg on Saturday- we had a full house with both my sibs and their spouses plus my in-laws.

Noteddy >>> Big fan of no knead dough. Can't miss.
Homemade tomato sauce: onions, garlic, San Marzanos, fresh basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano.
Homemade dough: Jamie Oliver's recipe is my stand-by but I need to either use less yeast or not make it so far ahead of time, as I'd like it to rise slightly less.
Fresh mozz (not homemade) and parm reggiano.

Toppings:
Asparagus and prosciutto
Plain cheese
Red pepper and mushroom
Broccoli rabe and soppressata (highly recommend this- saute the veg with olive oil until you get the slightest char going. Nice and bitter balances nicely with the meat and the sweetness of the dough.)

[Jonathan]

Anybody tried aging their dough over a day in the fridge? I've done 1 day and it seemed to build a little more flavor, but am curious if anyone has pushed the envelope?

The longer you can let the dough age the more sugar is produced from starches. This adds to both the flavor and color of the cooked crust.

I generally make 30-40 doughs at a time and freeze them. With three kids they go fast.

[j44ke]

I make two pies that I really like. Both are thin and sauceless. Thin like a thick saltine. We just use a heavy duty non-stick baking pan. Cuisinart brand or something. It will work on one of those nice carbon steel pizza pans too. Both go into 500 degree preheated ovens turned down to 450. We buy our dough from Eataly's pizza restaurant.

One is topped with olive oil, garlic, and sliver thin (use mandolin) sweet onion. I sauté the garlic in A LOT of olive oil, and then smear that all over the pizza. Takes the greeny bite out of garlic and leaves just the garlic. The layer on the sweet onion so you have about one and a half layers. Add black pepper. Then cover onions completely with Grana Padano - better than parmesan because it doesn't salt the onion so much. Keeps it sweet. Grate the cheese - I use a hand grater - don't grind it or micro-plane it. Then put the pie in oven and bake until ready. Onions kind of caramelize under the cheese which bakes into a nice stiff coating and the crust is about one chewy step away from being a cracker.

The other one is a salty pizza. Olive oil garlic smear like the previous one. Then sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Add sliced (not chopped) Lebanese oil cured olives, a black prune-like olive with a strong salty dark flavor and lots of oil. Then cover with a 50/50 mix of high quality hand-grated Parmesan and Pecorino. I saw hand-grated versus ground so that the cheese has more substance and isn't so powdery or clumpy. Bake until crust and topping is as described in the previous pie.

I also make a potato pie, but I don't have that one down yet. I do know that key parts are slicing the potatoes with a mandolin and then soak/rinse for about an hour to get ride of excess starch. Less is more too, so the layer of potatoes is thin enough moisture can escape from the center. I like it best so far with a cheese called scamorza, which is a relative of mozzarella except that it is bagged and hung until dry. It comes natural or smoked, and it does not melt like mozzarella but holds its shape. Natural is best for pizza. But I haven't worked out the rest.

We also eat scamorza grilled in an oily pan, then topped with a thick slice of bread pressed down on it, then flipped and grilled. Bread sucks up the oil and sticks to the cheese and can then be made into a nice sandwich with a few cornichons.

[Auk]

^^^^^
Killing me.

[Noteddy]

I make two pies that I really like. Both are thin and sauceless. Thin like a thick saltine. We just use a heavy duty non-stick baking pan. Cuisinart brand or something. It will work on one of those nice carbon steel pizza pans too. Both go into 500 degree preheated ovens turned down to 450. We buy our dough from Eataly's pizza restaurant.

One is topped with olive oil, garlic, and sliver thin (use mandolin) sweet onion. I sauté the garlic in A LOT of olive oil, and then smear that all over the pizza. Takes the greeny bite out of garlic and leaves just the garlic. The layer on the sweet onion so you have about one and a half layers. Add black pepper. Then cover onions completely with Grana Padano - better than parmesan because it doesn't salt the onion so much. Keeps it sweet. Grate the cheese - I use a hand grater - don't grind it or micro-plane it. Then put the pie in oven and bake until ready. Onions kind of caramelize under the cheese which bakes into a nice stiff coating and the crust is about one chewy step away from being a cracker.

The other one is a salty pizza. Olive oil garlic smear like the previous one. Then sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Add sliced (not chopped) Lebanese oil cured olives, a black prune-like olive with a strong salty dark flavor and lots of oil. Then cover with a 50/50 mix of high quality hand-grated Parmesan and Pecorino. I saw hand-grated versus ground so that the cheese has more substance and isn't so powdery or clumpy. Bake until crust and topping is as described in the previous pie.

I also make a potato pie, but I don't have that one down yet. I do know that key parts are slicing the potatoes with a mandolin and then soak/rinse for about an hour to get ride of excess starch. Less is more too, so the layer of potatoes is thin enough moisture can escape from the center. I like it best so far with a cheese called scamorza, which is a relative of mozzarella except that it is bagged and hung until dry. It comes natural or smoked, and it does not melt like mozzarella but holds its shape. Natural is best for pizza. But I haven't worked out the rest.

We also eat scamorza grilled in an oily pan, then topped with a thick slice of bread pressed down on it, then flipped and grilled. Bread sucks up the oil and sticks to the cheese and can then be made into a nice sandwich with a few cornichons.

You, sir, have got it down. That salty disk has my name on it.

[j44ke]

You, sir, have got it down. That salty disk has my name on it.

I don't drink, but I have it on expert advice that it goes particularly well with a frosty beverage.

[JoB]

that got my attention. How do you thaw them? fridge, countertop? for how long?

The longer you can let the dough age the more sugar is produced from starches. This adds to both the flavor and color of the cooked crust.

I generally make 30-40 doughs at a time and freeze them. With three kids they go fast.

[Jonathan]

that got my attention. How do you thaw them? fridge, countertop? for how long?

Set them on the counter around lunch and they are ready to go by dinner. I coat them with olive oil and place in a ziplock before freezing.

[Jonathan]

that got my attention. How do you thaw them? fridge, countertop? for how long?

Set them on the counter around lunch and they are ready to go by dinner. I coat them with olive oil and place in a ziplock before freezing.

[JoB]

awesome, I will definitely try that. thanks!

Set them on the counter around lunch and they are ready to go by dinner. I coat them with olive oil and place in a ziplock before freezing.

[Dorman]

Thanks Jonathan. I'm going to have to try freezing the dough as well.

[robin3mj]

Set them on the counter around lunch and they are ready to go by dinner. I coat them with olive oil and place in a ziplock before freezing.

I do the same, tho not 30 or 40 at a time!
If you're in a hurry you can also put the ziploc bag of dough into a tepid bowl for a bit.