Knowledge of Pie: What I've learned making pizzas 5 weeks in a row

- Wet, slightly sticky dough, though more difficult to work with, makes tastier crust

- Mis-shaped pies, even perhaps with unsightly holes or crimped up areas due to a poor transfer to the oven, still taste good

- Women who work with dough in a professional kitchen make prettier pies than men who sell wine in a sometimes professional wine shop

- Mixing the right ratio of ingredients in a relatively consistent kitchen environment, using the same method and proofing the dough at least 8 hours (ideally, though, a day or more) makes a reliable dough

- Selecting and combining toppings is the most fun and forgiving part of the pizza making

- That's besides eating the pizza, of course

- Tomato sauce free pizzas often make for the most tasty and memorable pies (don't worry, Nat, the first pie will always have some sauce)

- A simple pizza can be a beautiful thing, for example: olive oil, sea salt, sliced red bell pepper, and a liberal sprinkling of ground espelette

- Enthusiastic, hungry pizza devotees are your biggest boosters of confidence and morale

Thanks to everyone who has participated in our ongoing, weekly pizza nights. There will be much more pizza to come, of course.

More Pizza

This past pizza Monday we invited a few folks over to be guinea pigs to sample our pies as part of our continuing quest to make excellent pizza. We had two de-frosted doughs which had been frozen for a week, and they actually were the ones that were easiest to work with and form a round, normal pizza shaped pizza. The two batches of fresh dough which had been proofing overnight were possibly under kneaded, as they were a bit wet and not as elastic as they should have been. They made for tasty, if a little bit ugly and less standard looking pizza.

The pizzas (sorry, no photo's this go 'round):

Margherita (x2)

An improvement over the prior week, at least the first pie was anyway. The second pie was not as well formed, but we were a few bottles in by then so thankfully everyone showed some mercy and at least pretended like they enjoyed it.

The "root down"

This was quite the hit and I think most people's favorite of the evening. For the 'sauce' I boiled three carrots chopped into thirds and half a celery root cut into large cubes with some salt and two bay leaves. After cooking until tender, I mashed the celery root and carrot, and then added butter, salt, and olive oil. Over the sauce I sprinkled a chopped boiled potato, sauteed onion and goat cheese mixture which Natalie had used to fill some savory brioche pockets she had made several days before. After baking, I added some baby arugula, sea salt and good quality olive oil to finish the pizza. Maybe not a traditional pie, but a solid combination of root veges, good quality dairy, and fruity olive oil.

"Greens, pig, piave"

Greens=chard, pig=bacon, piave=piave. I sauteed the bacon beforehand, and placed directly on the dough, along with green swiss chard, piave, olive oil and salt. Took out of the oven and finished with a bit more olive oil, salt, and lemon juice. A tasty pie.

The wines:

Industrial prosecco (Zonin)
Drunk Chicken Côt (Dom. de la Pepiere)
Funky, squat, bumpy neck bottle of nebbiolo (2000 Villa Maria Gattinara)

Truth be told, the Zonin was an enjoyable quaff. Pepiere Pepié Cot was ok but less enjoyable. Villa Maria Gattinara was delicious: mineral, fresh, red fruited, elegant, piemontese and damn...only $15. Only because I want you to drink this (and because I need to spend less on wine) I'll divulge the source (Bi-Rite) and if they still have it I would buy every last bottle.

Pizza is the greatest - pt. 1

Yet another series in the making, here? After a long hiatus, Natalie and I are back at it, attempting to make respectable Neapolitan style pizzas. When I feel as though we're producing consistently good pies, I'll share the recipe for the dough. Until then, the experiment continues, and I'll occasionally share photos of our latest creations, along with our wine pairings for the night.

(background) Margherita - tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella (not di bufala, but not of Sargento, either)
(foreground) Untitled - tomato sauce, nettles, fresh mozzarella, minced garlic, fresh chilies

2007 Fattoria San Francesco Ciró - Soft, gulpable, low tannin gaglioppo grape flavored wine. Simple, mellow southern Italian that makes for easy quaffing.

Our results were ok. The Margherita was well sauced and tasty, though perhaps a bit plain without the basil and without a sufficient use of salt in the pizza sauce. It was not rolled out thin enough and came across, for those of you in the Bay Area, as reminiscent of a slice at The Cheeseboard. Satisfying and tasty, but not quite Neapolitan style. Untitled was rolled out to the perfect thickness, which is to say quite thin. It was not crisp from crust to tip, though. Also, the fresh chilies, though used sparingly, were still a bit overwhelming.

More pizza to come. In the meantime, if anyone has ideas for a dough or other production tips which will help to yield a great Neapolitan pie, feel free to contribute them here. Our basic recipe uses a 50-50 blend of 00 and all purpose flour. Then we allow for an initial doubling in size before punching down, dividing the dough and refrigerating over night. We then roll out the dough the following day, sauce and top, and then place on a pizza stone in a 500 deg oven.

Good pizza to you and yours.