Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
May 24, 2008

Exceptional 3 cheese pizza

I love cheese in all its forms. In this pizza I wanted to mix some of my favorite cheeses, so I chose three of them. And I chose 3 cheeses that, even with different general characteristics, have one common feature. First, slices of majestic taleggio. Taleggio is a buttery Italian cheese that luxuriously melts in your mouth (and while it melts indulging your palate you’ll forget its sharp aroma). French Brebis, a nutty 6-month-aged cheese made of sheep milk, from that region, partly in France, partly in Spain, but having in reality its own splendid individual identity: the Basque Country. And Ribafria, a Portuguese goat cheese with a thick tasty rind covered with crushed peppercorns. This cheese, which is aged for almost 2 months, will add a nice pungent touch to your pizza. Strong aromas, different origins (location and type), nutty and spicy flavors, tanginess, these all combine creating a unique blend for a very exceptional pizza.

So, cow, sheep and goat. Italy, France and Portugal. What’s the common feature present in these cheeses? Well, maybe you guessed it? They all have an edible rind.

Ingredients
Pizza dough (use half of one of these recipes)
5 oz Taleggio cheese
5 oz Ribafria cheese
5 oz Ossau-Iraty-Brebis-Pyrenées cheese
8 Tbsp tomato sauce
1 handful chives
Olive oil

Prepare the pizza dough according to one of my previous recipes. When the pizza is shaped, spread some passata di pomodoro or a simple tomato sauce on top. Add the cheeses, sliced. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 450F for 25 minutes until golden brown, then serve with a touch of chopped chives.

Posted by Daziano at 10:29 PM | 7 comments  
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May 19, 2008

Chicken Mushroom Pizza

I like the idea of baking pizza when my friends are coming over. It’s simple, delicious and they love it. But there are two things you have to consider. First, after tasting homemade pizza you simply can’t go back, and neither can your friends. So, they’ll ask you to make pizza all the time. Not that I don’t like this, but just be prepared. Second, if you are Italian you’re used to thinking parsimoniously about the toppings. However, everybody else in the world loves the sensation of abundance in their toppings. That’s why I always make at least two pizzas. One simple and more Italian pizza, like a classic margherita. And another more generous American-style pizza. Abundance is not bad if you keep in mind the Italian philosophy. You know: the excellence of the ingredients.

Ingredients
Pizza dough (use half of one of these recipes)
6 oz cremini mushrooms
3 chicken breasts
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
6-8 Tbsp tomato sauce
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 little bunch basil
Salt, pepper
Olive oil

Prepare the pizza dough. Cut the chicken into really thick slices. Add some apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic, and let the chicken chunks marinate for about 30 minutes. In a saucepan sauté the mushrooms with some olive oil (about 1 Tbsp). The secret for brown and tasty sautéed mushrooms is a very hot saucepan and mushrooms that are cleaned but not washed. When the mushrooms are ready, set them aside and using the same saucepan sauté the chicken until nice and golden brown. If you want, after sautéing the chicken, add ½ cup of white wine and then add the tomato sauce. By doing this you’ll capture all the flavors. Just remember that I always use the simplest tomato sauce (tomato puree or passata di pomodoro). Also remember that anything you’ll put on your pizza has to be cooled before. Now, when the dough is ready and shaped, and ready to bake, add the tomato sauce, the grated cheeses, the mushrooms and the chicken. Bake in a 450 preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Of course, add some fresh basil and a touch of olive oil before serving.

Tip

I really don’t know how to count chicken breasts. So, when I say two chicken breasts, I mean all the chicken breasts you can get from one chicken.

Posted by Daziano at 6:31 PM | 10 comments  
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May 7, 2008

Scallop mini calzoni

I love calzone, and since they are easy to handle and carry and also because you can eat them hot or warm, they are another staple for an Italian picnic. Individual calzoni are great, but you can also try a big regular one.

Ingredients (for 4 mini calzoni)

Pizza dough (use half of one of these recipes)

Filling for each individual calzone
1 Tbsp tomato sauce
1 little bunch of baby spinach
About 6 sautéed medium scallops
1 ½ slices of prosciutto
1/3 cup grated cheese

Season the scallops with some salt. In a saucepan, sauté the scallops with some olive oil until golden on each side. Prepare the dough. When it’s ready, divide it into 4 little balls. Roll each ball with a rolling pin shaping thin discs. In the center of each individual calzone spread some tomato sauce, then add a layer of raw baby spinach. Add the sautéed scallops and then some pieces of prosciutto. Cover with grated cheese. Close each calzone, folding the dough in half. Crimp the edges with your fingers. Brush the top of the calzoni with olive oil and bake in a preheated 425F oven for about 25 minutes until nice and golden brown.

Tip - Singular vs Plural: In Italian you eat one calzone, but several calzoni. You can follow the same logic with salame / salami for example.

Posted by Daziano at 10:21 PM | 5 comments  
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April 14, 2008

Chicken Broccoli Calzone

This is a great way to use roasted chicken leftovers.

Ingredients
Pizza dough (use half of one of these recipes)
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
1 chicken breast, cooked
1 cup broccoli, cooked al dente
1 cup cheese
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 Tbsp water)

Prepare the dough according to one of my previous recipes for pizza. When the dough is ready, roll it using a rolling pin almost in the same way as if you were making a pizza. The only difference here is that we want it to be thin all the way around; including the edges (here we don’t want the cornicione).

In the center of the calzone, spread the tomato sauce, and then alternately put in the chicken and the broccoli. Add the grated cheese (I used Jarlsberg cheese) and close, folding the dough in half. To be sure that it won’t open, brush the edges with egg wash when closing the dough. Then crimp with your fingers in a free-style decorative way. Brush the top of your calzone and bake it in a 400 F pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes until golden brown.

Tips

Just as with pizza toppings, you don’t want to use warm or hot fillings on your dough before cooking it. It will distort the final rising process.

I used salted water when cooking the broccoli, and the chicken was already salted too, so it wasn’t necessary to add more salt.

Posted by Daziano at 9:40 PM | 0 comments  
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March 3, 2008

Buenos Aires shrimp muzzarella pizza


In Argentina there are lots of people of Italian descent. I mean, it’s impressive. About half of the population has Italian roots. In fact, if you look at the phonebook in Buenos Aires you might really imagine that you’re in Italy because of the huge number of Italian last names. However even if there’s a clear Italian influence present in Argentine cuisine, it’s not as big as you might imagine. And the same thing happens with other aspects of the culture. While it’s true that you can recognize some Italian gestures and intonation in Argentine speech, Argentine Spanish is not at all just Spanish with an Italian accent – as people from other Spanish speaking countries usually believe. And the number of Italian words that remain in Argentine Spanish is very restricted. One of the reasons is that Italian immigration occurred very early, starting about 1850, when Italy wasn’t unified yet. Immigrants spoke their own dialects, prepared their own local specialties, and didn’t interact that much with Italians coming from other regions.

One of the biggest Italian communities in Argentina was the Neapolitan one, and that’s why pizza is one of the Italian traditions that became Argentine. Argentine pizza differs from the original Italian one because of the huge quantities of cheese used. Usually the dough will be covered with pummarola, a tasty tomato sauce, and then fully covered with cheese, so that you can’t see the tomato. This could hardly ever happen in Italy, and in Naples the red of the tomatoes is always the protagonist of pizza toppings. People in Argentina also love to toss dried oregano and Argentine parmesan cheese on top.

The most typical pizza in Buenos Aires and everywhere in Argentina is pizza muzzarella. Yeah, spelled like that because that’s the way people in Naples say it in their own dialect. So, what you get is almost like a Margherita, with a thin crispy crust, topped with tomato sauce, grated mozzarella cheese, olive oil and oregano.

Here’s my version of muzzarella pizza but also topped with Argentine shrimp.

Ingredients
Pizza dough (for one 15" pizza use half of one of these recipes)
1 cup of tomato sauce
10 - 12 oz mozzarella cheese
15 large shrimp, cleaned
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper, oregano

Prepare the pizza dough according to one of my previous recipes; spread your favorite tomato sauce on top of the pizza dough, then add the coarsely grated mozzarella cheese, the shrimp, salt, pepper, oregano and some olive oil. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 450F for 25 minutes until golden brown and the shrimp are fully cooked.

Tips

Don’t expect fresh mozzarella in Buenos Aires. Not because you can’t find fresh mozzarella there, but you need a firmer and less creamy cheese than fresh mozzarella because of the quantity you use. So, if you want to try Argentine pizza, feel free to use domestic mozzarella cheese. I mean just the regular one you can buy at your local grocery store.

Argentine pizza is very popular is the Southern Cone. Certainly that’s what you’ll find in Uruguay. In big cities in Chile, usually the Italian-style pizzerias compete in popularity with the Argentine ones.

Posted by Daziano at 7:51 PM | 1 comments  
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February 22, 2008

Neapolitan Pizza Dough


You can have pizza everywhere in the world, and everywhere in Italy. But Italian cuisine is very regional, and Naples is the city where the modern pizza was born and developed. So, it's in Naples and its wonderful bay where you can get the real Italian pizza experience. Flour, water, natural yeast and salt are the only ingredients needed to make a real Neapolitan pizza dough. Actually, people in Naples can get really serious about their simple and beloved specialty. Two rising processes of up to 8 hours, sea salt, local fresh ingredients, a quick baking process in a stone oven with a wood fire (about 1.5 minutes at 900F) - they all are an important part of the pizza napoletana and its traditional nature.

What you get is a wonderful baked product, elastic, tender and fragrant... all about the crust. The center is soft and really thin (0.1 inches), but around the edges you simply have to get the cornicione, a thick, crispy, nice and golden brown border (0.4 - 0.8 inches). I hate when pizzas are thin all around without the crispy cornicione.

Here is my homemade version of a Neapolitan pizza. This is the closest you can get with everyday ingredients and appliances. You'll notice that with only water and yeast mixed with the flour you get a very elastic and puffy dough.

Ingredients (2 15" pizzas)
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of warm water. Add the sugar and put the mixture in a warm place for about 1 minute. Check if the yeast is really active: make sure that after 1 minute the mixture has risen a bit and see if there are some bubbles forming over the water. If the yeast is active, let the mixture rise until it doubles in volume. Meanwhile, prepare la fontana with the flour (you know, a hole in the flour where you'll pour the wet ingredients in). Add the active yeast and 1 more cup of warm water. Stir with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour. When everything is incorporated, add the salt and begin to work the dough with your hands. We don't add the salt before because it stops the rising process of the yeast. While working the dough with your hands you'll notice that it gets elastic and tender faster than when using my previous recipes. In fact, this dough is easier to work if the yeast has correctly risen, and this rising process requires a bit of practice. The kitchen has to be warm enough, the water at the right temperature (not too cold, not too hot), and the yeast has to be active and not dead. In my previous recipes, using ingredients like olive oil, milk and eggs you assure that you won't have a brick instead of a pizza even if the yeast hasn't done its work well.

When the pizza dough is smooth, elastic and everything is well incorporated, you have to let the yeast continue its work. Place the pizza dough in a covered bowl and let it rest at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours. If you prefer to bake the dough later you can put it in the fridge and continue the day after.

When the dough has doubled in volume, work the dough with your hands again for a bit, and then form 2 balls (for 2 pizzas). Take one ball, sprinkle it with some flour and press it with your hands forming a thick pizza shape. You can use a rolling pin, but that's absolutely forbidden in Naples. If you're brave enough you can do a little trick that works well without all the skills of a real pizzaiolo (a pizza expert). Raise one of your hands as if you want to hit someone. Put the center of the dough in that hand, and with the other hand stretch the border of the dough as far from the center as you can while moving the arm away from you, without creating holes in the dough. Repeat this process, slightly rotating the dough in order to stretch the pizza all the way around. You have to stop when the dough is really thin at the center and you have a pizza that has reached a diameter of about 14"-15".

Preheat the oven as hot as possible and bake with your favorite topping for about 25 minutes at 450°F until nice and golden brown. Note that the Neapolitan tradition accepts only two kinds of toppings. Yes, no kidding. One of them is the pizza margherita (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil) and the pizza marinara (tomatoes and garlic). Yep, no seafood in the marinara pizza... only tomatoes and garlic because that's what the sailors could afford. So don't be surprised if you go to a traditional pizzeria in Naples and all you get is these two choices. But they are so simple and yet so delicious that you won't regret it!






Posted by Daziano at 11:33 AM | 2 comments  
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February 14, 2008

Another simple pizza dough


If you've tried my perfect pizza dough you will already be familiar with how to prepare a simple dough that allows you to make a luscious gourmet pizza. But, a real Italian pizza dough doesn't in fact have eggs as one of the ingredients. So, let's move on and try a more Italian recipe.

Ingredients (2 15" pizzas)
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Now, you can follow the same instructions as before. Basically, dissolve the yeast in sugared warm water and let it double its volume. Make a kind of hole in the flour (la fontana) and pour the active yeast in. Add the olive oil, the warm milk and stir using a fork, gradually incorporating the flour. Add the salt and begin to work the dough with your hands. When the dough is smooth and elastic, cover the bowl and let the dough rest at least 45 minutes. When it has doubled its volume, make two dough balls. Roll each ball, shaping the dough into a real pizza. Preheat the oven as hot as possible and cook with your favorite topping. At 450°F it should take about 25 minutes to be nice and golden brown.
Posted by Daziano at 3:10 PM | 0 comments  
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January 29, 2008

Grilled Asparagus Pizza


I love grilled asparagus. They are really simple to make and they taste delicious, and by grilling them you are able to get their full flavor without losing any crispiness, and you can't get that by simply boiling them. And prosciutto wrapped asparagus is definitely one of the best ways to taste both prosciutto and asparagus, because of the buttery prosciutto heavenly melting in your mouth just in every bite of each asparagus. And that's exactly what we will use to top my grilled asparagus pizza.

Ingredients
Pizza dough (for one 15" pizza use half of one of these recipes)
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
8 asparagus stalks
8 slices of prosciutto
8 cherry tomatoes, sliced
Olive oil
Salt, pepper

As always, once you're done with the pizza dough, stretch it on the pizza pan. Cut the tomatoes into about 1/4-inch-thick slices and toss them on top of your dough. Add the parmesan cheese, some olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook until the crust turns golden brown (about 25 minutes in a 450°F preheated oven). While you're cooking the pizza, clean the asparagus, chopping off their ends. Marinate with olive oil, salt and pepper for a couple of minutes. Set your grill at medium heat and grill the asparagus for about 5 minutes. I used my panini grill, so it wasn't necessary to grill each side. And, if you don't have a grill, just put the asparagus on a baking dish in the oven for 15 minutes. When the asparagus are ready, let them cool for a couple of minutes and then wrap them using one slice of prosciutto for each asparagus stalk, taking care to not cover the tips. When your pizza is golden brown, take it out of the oven, put the asparagus on top and add just a touch of olive oil before serving.


Tip: Prosciutto wrapped asparagus are not only a wonderful pizza topping but a great starter and a great side dish too!
Posted by Daziano at 8:58 PM | 0 comments  
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December 29, 2007

My pizza capricciosa


There are several versions of this pizza, but that's only because of its capricious nature. However ham and artichokes are always there. I like to make mine using prosciutto di Parma, marinated artichoke hearts with garlic and Italian spices, and, even if it's not Italian, I like to use a good Swiss cheese. Cave aged Emmental offers the right balance of sweetness and tanginess that when it melts creates a perfect gratin on top of your pizza.


Ingredients

Pizza dough (for one 15" pizza use half of one of these recipes)
3/4 cup of fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup passata di pomodoro (tomato sauce)
1 cup artichoke hearts
1 cup grated Swiss cave aged Emmental cheese
1 cup black olives
2 garlic cloves, chopped
5 paper-thin slices of prosciutto
4 oz extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh basil leaves
Salt, peperoncino (dried Italian chilis), freshly ground black pepper.

As always, when you're done with the pizza dough, place it on the pizza pan and spread the tomato sauce on top. Add about 3/4 cup of the grated cheese, then the marinated artichoke hearts cut in quarters. Add the olives, the tomatoes, the garlic and the rest of the cheese. Spread some olive oil, peperoncino, Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook the pizza until the crust turns golden brown (about 25 minutes in a 450°F preheated oven). When the pizza is ready add the basil leaves and the prosciutto slices.
Posted by Daziano at 6:04 PM | 0 comments  
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November 26, 2007

Pizza Margherita


Nothing is simpler than the pizza Margherita: tomatoes, basil and mozzarella are the ultimate ingredients in Italian cooking and they are all that you need to get the perfect Neapolitan royal taste. I'm sure you've heard this story about a thousand times: back in 1889 Raffaele Esposito was a well-known cook and owner of a pizzeria in Naples. He received an invitation from the King to impress his wife, who loved Neapolitan specialties and had already heard about this novelty called pizza. Esposito surprised the Reggia di Capodimonte and the Queen Margherita di Savoia herself with a simple yet delicious pizza depicting the colors of the Italian flag.

Ingredients
Pizza dough (for one 15" pizza use half of one of these recipes)
1 cup of drained canned diced tomatoes
6 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh basil leaves
Salt, freshly ground black pepper

Once you're done with the pizza dough and you've rolled it out, place it on the pizza pan and spread the tomatoes on top. Add some olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. Spread the mozzarella over the tomatoes and cook the pizza until the crust turns golden brown (about 25 minutes in a 400°F preheated oven). Just before serving add the basil leaves (about 12 nice tiny leaves will do).

Some basics: First, if you're using fresh mozzarella (and really you must) you have to drain it for about 5 minutes after you slice it in order to get rid of the water used to preserve it. Never grate fresh mozzarella! Second, there are some ingredients you never want to put in the oven when topping a pizza. In this recipe you have to add the basil leaves when your pizza is ready: you want to add some freshness and that's why you don't want to cook the basil (actually, it will turn brown if you do). Another Italian secret is to always add a little bit of olive oil just before serving: the unheated olive oil just keeps its fruity flavor and gives your pizza a simple touch of perfection.
Posted by Daziano at 10:45 AM | 0 comments  
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November 25, 2007

The perfect pizza dough

Everybody loves pizza and a homemade gourmet pizza is SO easy to make. There are several recipes you can try, each one with slightly different results. The Neapolitan tradition for making pizza calls for fewer ingredients than the recipe I chose for this post, but it requires a little more mastering of some "dough skills". So, we'll try the classic one later. Now let's go to the ingredients.

Ingredients (2 15" pizzas)
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 pkg active dry yeast
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Warm the water in the microwave for about 40 seconds (you don't want it hot, just warm enough). Dissolve the sugar in the water and then add and dissolve the yeast. Wait 5 minutes and check if it's active (it should double its volume). While you're waiting put the flour in a bowl and make la fontana (the fountain: a kind of hole in the flour, where you'll mix the other ingredients). Then add the active yeast, the olive oil and the egg and begin to stir with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour. When everything is mixed together you'll notice that it's quite dry, so now add some warm milk and the salt. It's also time to begin to work the dough with your hands. Actually this is the part I love to do because it's so much fun. Think you're giving the dough a massage, use your fingers and press hard with your palms. After 5 to 7 minutes and when it's smooth and elastic your dough is ready to wait. Yes, because you have to let the yeast do its work. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at least 45 minutes. When the dough has doubled its volume, make two dough balls. If you want only one pizza, you can leave one ball in the fridge up to 3 days (or you can even freeze it for months). Sprinkle a bit of flour over the ball you'll cook and press it down, making it look more like a pizza and less like a ball. I do that directly on the pizza pan with my fingers, from the inside out, sprinkling flour and rotating the pan with my other hand. You'll notice the dough is elastic and it tends to resist being extended after a while. Turn the dough and let it rest for a minute and then continue until you cover the pan with the dough. Preheat the oven as hot as possible and cook with your favorite topping. At 450°F it should take about 25 minutes to be nice and golden and then you'll know it's ready.
Posted by Daziano at 7:29 AM | 1 comments  
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October 2, 2007

Thin crust oven pizza at Lucky Bones



When I go to Cape May NJ, I love to eat at Lucky Bones Backwater Grille. Great ambiance, very nice staff, and the best Italian-American cuisine taken to the next level. One of my favorite dishes is the Maine mussels. It's kind of a more indulgent version of the classic Italian zuppa di cozze (steamed mussels) but with the fabulous idea of adding sweet gorgonzola dolce to the basil and tomato sauce. Luscious! But Lucky Bones is widely known for its fantastic pizza. For about $8.50 you can order the simple yet delicious Margherita pizza. Following the Neapolitan tradition it has just the right balance of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella... just so crispy and yummy!
Posted by Daziano at 7:24 AM | 0 comments  
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