Here I am again, back to the basics. A pepperoni pizza. Yes, we have done this before, but not with this crust, and not with this sauce. Sometimes, little changes, little nuances can make all the difference in the world. This crust that I have been making out of The Pizza Bible has been outstanding. I thought my crust was good before, but this just takes to a whole new level. This little gem of a pizza recipe was hiding in the introduction to the book. I had already skipped over it, thinking it was instructions on the basics. I didn't need to read about the basics - I have been making pizzas for years!
In my opinion, there are several reasons why restaurants (or any other business, for that matter) fail, but one of them is the resistance to change. If you have done something successfully, why change? However, I believe that by changing, learning new things about old things, and combining them with your knowledge of how things always used to be, you can really create a masterpiece. I decided to read the introduction and see if I could learn anything new. And, here was this tutorial on how to create a great pizza. I wanted to try it and see how it compared to the "old way" of doing things. That, and I do really love pepperoni.
The instructions started on day one of a three day process. So, I started on Monday. Monday's events started with weighing and measuring ingredients for the dough. Okay, I didn't do that (the weighing part) before with the first couple of recipes I tried in this book, but I was willing to try to get down to the letter and try the author's methods.
The weighing of ingredients was a little tough, considering all I have for a scale is a $19 jobbie that I bought at Costco on a whim one day. It does measure grams, as the author instructs to measure everything by, but it only reports in two gram increments, and it starts at four grams. So, measuring 4½ grams of active dry yeast was not going to be exact, nor 9 grams of sea salt, 9 grams of diastatic malt, etc. Apparently, everything in this book should amount to an odd number of grams. I did the best I could, though, and it seemed to be matching up to the described results in the book.
The author chronicled each and every step and explained why each step was done. I rather enjoyed that. I had an education. He instructed to knead the dough on a non-floured surface and suggested a granite surface. I was in luck! I have granite counter tops, and they were clean (a rarity, yes, but at that moment, they were clean). I kneaded the dough as described in the book. I have never been a kneader. It seems like a superfluous step. I was never really sure why it was done and figured whatever it was achieving (I assumed a better mix of dough), it could be done by my KitchenAide. There was something therapeutic about it though. Stretching and folding and smashing the dough with my palm. I felt it was a surrogate for all of those people who had ever done me wrong. Take THAT, Jack Goldenberg! Take THAT, Super Ford Smasher lady at Bobby & Steve's. Take THAT, rude lady in the Cub line! I smash your face in with the palm of my hand, and your rubbery smushy white face gets pummeled into the granite.
Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away with it, but I was sold. Now, I will be kneading my dough for three minutes every week. The dough was smooth and round and elastic and ready for forming into a ball. Once formed, I covered it with a kitchen towel and let it "rest" for an hour (at this point I needed a rest, too, even though it had only been three minutes of pummeling). Following the rest (for both of us), I dribbled a little water over the top of it, put it back in my mixing bowl, and blanketed it with a piece of plastic wrap. Into the refrigerator it went for it's 24 hour "fermentation" process.
Day two (Tuesday) involved degassing the dough, making the sauce, and making a garlic oil. I won't bore you with all of the details. If you want them - buy the book (ha!). This is just the Cliff Notes version (do they have those any more?).
After degassing, balling, and returning the dough to the fridge for another "rest", I started on the sauce. Here is where I fudged a little. I deviated from the instructions just a bit. I cannot seem to find anything labeled "ground tomatoes" at any of the stores I have been to. What is that? The recipe called for 4½ ounces (why did he switch from grams?) of ground tomatoes. Is that like pureed tomatoes? I was betting on it. Why buy pureed, when whole tomatoes and a VitaMix will do. So, I measured out 4½ ounces (my scale will measure ounces in odd numbers and fractions) of whole plump tomatoes from a can and placed them in my VitaMix with the tomato paste, oregano, salt, and olive oil. In less than two seconds, the tomatoes were "ground" with the rest of the ingredients I had put in there. I dumped the slurry into a bowl and added the "hand-crushed" tomatoes to finish off the sauce.
PEPPERONI PIZZA
Adapted from The Pizza Bible by Tony Gemingnani with Susie Heller and Steve Siegelman
Dough:
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 ounces warm water
3 1/4 cups bread flour
8 ounces ice-cold water
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
Sauce:
3 1/2 ounces canned (drained) whole plum tomatoes, divided
1 ounce tomato paste
Pinch of dried oregano
Pinch of fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
The rest of the story:
Cornmeal
6 ounces shredded mozzarella
4 ounces sliced pepperoni
1 ounce grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil
Dough: Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside. Place the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. With the mixer running on low speed, add the ice water, followed by the yeast mixture. Increase the speed of the mixer a little bit and continue mixing until the dough starts to come together. Add the salt and mix on low for about a minute. Add the oil, and mix again until the oil is incorporated, and the dough starts to cling to the hook. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes on a clean, unfloured, smooth surface, such as granite or marble. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a clean, damp, lint-free towel. Let it rest at room temperature for about an hour. Spread a few drops of water over the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 24 hours. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and mix the dough in the stand mixer at low for about thirty seconds to "degass". Cut the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Wrap one ball in plastic wrap or seal in a zip-top bag and freeze or reserve it for another use. Place the remaining ball on a baking sheet and wrap plastic wrap around the pan and dough together. Put the pan in the refrigerator for another 24 hours.
Sauce: Place 2½ ounces of the plum tomatoes, the tomato past, oregano, sea salt, and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl. Tear the remaining tomatoes into pieces with your hands and add to the mixture. Stir the mixture to distribute the tomato pieces throughout the sauce.
Assemble: Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using. Roll or stretch the dough into a 15 inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board. Spread the sauce over the prepared dough. Evenly distribute the mozzarella over the dough. Arrange the pepperoni over the cheese. Transfer the pizza to the preheated stone, if using, or transfer to a pizza pan and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes or until the pepperoni has started to crisp. Remove the pizza from the oven and dust with the Pecorino and oregano. Drizzle lightly with the garlic oil.
Wednesday, I took a rest from working on the pepperoni pizza and started some preparations for my second pizza. This pizza had all the elements of a jalapeno popper - those delicious little nuggets of jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese and deep fat fried. Since my pepperoni pizza dough recipe made two pizzas' worth, I decided to use the second dough for my popper pizza.
I started with the batter recipe. It called for a lager, but I didn't think I could add that the day before. A little Internet browsing taught me that the bubbles in the beer is what makes the finished breading light and fluffy. When the beer hits the hot oil, it causes it to foam, creating a light and airy texture in the batter. Because of this, I decided to just combine the other ingredients and add the beer on Thursday, just before I was ready to batter and fry my jalapenos. Next, I fried up the bacon, sliced the jalapenos, and chopped the onions.
DECONSTRUCTED JALAPENO POPPER PIZZA
Adapted from The Revolutionary Pizza by Dimitri Syrkin-Niolau
Dough:
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 ounces warm water
3 1/4 cups bread flour
8 ounces ice-cold water
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
Beer Batter:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 ounces Modelo Negro
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
The rest of the story:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6-8 medium sized (or 3 large) fresh jalapenos,sliced into rings
Salt and pepper
Cornmeal - for dusting the pizza peel
3-5 cups vegetable oil - enough to submerge the jalapenos while frying
2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
4 ounces Neufchatel cheese
2 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 ounces crisp thick-cut bacon, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped green onions
Dough: Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside. Place the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. With the mixer running on low speed, add the ice water, followed by the yeast mixture. Increase the speed of the mixer a little bit and continue mixing until the dough starts to come together. Add the salt and mix on low for about a minute. Add the oil, and mix again until the oil is incorporated, and the dough starts to cling to the hook. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes on a clean, unfloured, smooth surface, such as granite or marble. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a clean, damp, lint-free towel. Let it rest at room temperature for about an hour. Spread a few drops of water over the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 24 hours. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and mix the dough in the stand mixer at low for about thirty seconds to "degass". Cut the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Wrap one ball in plastic wrap or seal in a zip-top bag and freeze or reserve it for another use. Place the remaining ball on a baking sheet and wrap plastic wrap around the pan and dough together. Put the pan in the refrigerator for another 24 hours.
Make the fried jalapenos: Mix the batter ingredients together, and whisk to remove any lumps. Add the jalapeno slices and set aside for ten minutes. Mix the flour and salt and pepper together. Preheat the vegetable oil to 375º F. If you don't have a thermometer, put the pan of oil over a high flame for several minutes. Drop a dollop of batter in the oil. If it sizzles and starts to brown immediately, it is ready. Turn the heat down to medium-high to maintain the temperature. Roll the batter-soaked jalapenos in the seasoned flour and drop them into the hot oil. Cook until browned. Remove the jalapenos from the oil and place on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
The Rest of the Story: Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using. Roll or stretch the dough into a 15-inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board. Top the stretched dough with mozzarella and transfer dough to the preheated stone, or transfer to a greased pizza pan and place in the oven. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until crust is starting to set up, and cheese has melted. Transfer the pizza back to the pizza peel (or place the pizza pan on a hot pad), leaving the oven on. Spread the Neufchatel cheese over the mozzarella. Distribute the fried jalapenos over the cheese. Top with the cheddar. Bake for 3-5 more minutes. Top with the chopped bacon and green onions.
On Thursday, as soon as I got home, I took the dough out of the refrigerator.
Again, I started with the pepperoni pizza, spreading the sauce over my newly rolled out dough.
Again, I started with the pepperoni pizza, spreading the sauce over my newly rolled out dough.
As per the instructions, the cheese went on next. Normally, I object to the cheese on the bottom, because you cannot get the warm, brown, bubbliness that is so wonderful. However, since I was trying new methods, I thought I would give it a shot. (There's nothing wrong with crispy browned pepperonis, either).
We started putting on the pepperoni. And, putting it on, and putting it on. I never realized how much pepperoni was in four ounces!
When it came out of the oven, the pepperoni looked like it was self-deep-fat-fried. It was shiny and crisp, and it had shrunk up a little to reveal the gooey cheese underneath.
When I added the Pecorino, it melted into the pepperoni.
We, of course had to make the obligatory frozen pizza for the picky people.
Again, the jalapeno pizza started with the cheese on the bottom, and this time it was truly on the bottom. And, it was baked some before the toppings went on.
It seemed a shame to cover up the gorgeous, bubbly cheese, but I was covering it with cream cheese, so how could that be bad?
The lovely, deep fried jalapenos went over the cream cheese (at least the ones that didn't go in my mouth).
A little more cheese went over the fried jalapenos.
After another short stint in the oven, the bacon and green onions went on.
This was truly a delicious pizza. Again, the crust was perfect. The creaminess of the Neufchatel tempered the heat of the jalapenos and evened out the saltiness and zip of the onions. Surprisingly, the jalapenos stayed somewhat crisp, and the entire piece of pizza was a treasure chest of textures and flavors.
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