The Elements of Pizza

1 Introduction

11 CHAPTER 1 THE SOUL OF PIZZA
39 CHAPTER 2 PIZZA STYLES
51 CHAPTER 3 EIGHT DETAILS FOR GREAT PIZZA CRUST
61 CHAPTER 4 INGREDIENTS AND EQUIPMENT
83 CHAPTER 5 METHODS
103 CHAPTER 6 PIZZA DOUGH RECIPES
SATURDAY DOUGHS
108 Saturday Pizza Dough
110 I Slept in but I Want Pizza Tonight Dough
112 Single Dough Ball
114 Enzo s Pizza Dough
116 Saturday Pan Pizza Dough

REFRIGERATED LONG DOUGHS
118 24- to 48-Hour Pizza Dough
120 48- to 72-Hour Biga Pizza Dough
124 48- to 72-Hour New York Pizza Dough

NATURALLY LEAVENED DOUGHS
127 Wild Yeast (Levain) Culture
130 Overnight Levain Pizza Dough

SPECIALTY DOUGHS
134 Al Taglio Pizza Dough
136 Bar Pizza Dough
138 Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

141 CHAPTER 7 PIZZA RECIPES
SAUCES
145 Basic Tomato Sauce, Two Ways
146 FWSY Sauce
147 Vodka Sauce
148 New York Pizza Sauce

ITALIAN & ITALIAN-INSPIRED
150 Pizza Marinara
153 Pizza Margherita
156 The Ferdinando
158 Pomodoro Royale (with Cheese)
161 Prosciutto and Bufala
163 Mortadella and Pistachio Pizza
166 Zucchini Blossom Pizza
168 River Po Pizza
171 Carbonara Pizza
173 Pizza Bianca and Pizza Rossa

NEW YORK & NEW YORK INSPIRED
175 New York Cheese Pizza
177 Simple Tomato Pie
181 Meatball Pizza
183 A.J. s Pie
184 Vodka Sauce and Sausage Pizza
187 Brooklyn Hot Honey Pie
189 Pepperoni, Mushroom, and Onion Pizza
192 Grandma Pie
195 Adam Kuban s Love Supreme Bar Pizza

KEN S ARTISAN PIZZA CLASSICS
197 Margherita and Arugula, Two Ways
200 Arrabiata Pizza
202 Prosciutto Pizza
204 Fennel Sausage and Onion Pizza
206 Spring Onion Pizza

TRIFECTA FLATBREADS
209 Oregon Basil Pesto and Burrata Flatbread
211 Tarte Flambée
214 Nettle Pesto Flatbread With Morel Mushrooms

VEGETABLES & JUST BECAUSE
217 The White Owl
221 Escarole Pizza
223 Delicata Squash Pizza
225 Butternut Squash Pizza
227 Artichoke and Bacon Pizza
230 Chanterelle and Garlic Pizza
233 The Tommy Habetz Pizza
235 The Pie Hole Skillet Pizza
237 Hawaiian Pizza
240 Raclette Pizza

242 Measurement Conversion Charts

INTRODUCTION

IT S REALLY UP TO YOU.

The hidden reality of pizza is that you can easily make better pizza at home than you can buy at any but the best independently owned, quality-focused pizzerias. All you need are good ingredients flour, canned tomatoes, and cheese plus a few tools and a standard home kitchen oven. And some good instruction. Even if you live somewhere that has great pizzerias, imagine making your own a pizza that you can be proud of and is exactly how you like it. Discover for yourself what different cheeses are like on pizza: splurge on water buffalo mozzarella, see what happens when you seek out caciocavallo cheese, or try adding freshly grated Pecorino Romano. Master thin-crust and Neapolitan-style pizza. Bang out a couple of killer pan pizzas to eat with Sunday football. Serve it with confidence to your family and friends. Making it yourself will give you a greater appreciation for the craft of the pizzaiolos at your favorite pizzeria: you will probably find yourself looking more closely at their shaping technique; the dough they use and its texture; and how it s topped, loaded into the oven, and baked. By making pizza yourself, you become more intimate with it. It s seductive. You are more informed, and that understanding leads to better pizza, great pleasure, and plenty of pride.


THE FERDINANDO
Makes one 12-inch pizza

Imagine yourself as the king of Naples in 1782. You want pizza, but you don t want your wife, Queen Maria Carolina, to find out. So you disguise yourself as a commoner, sneak out of the castle, and slink through the streets to a pizzeria called Ntuono (Tony s) to satisfy your craving. Pizza is for common folk, not for royalty like you; don t you know that? You order the same pizza everybody else orders, topped with olive oil, garlic, oregano, and salt, with a little bit of cheese sprinkled on after it is baked. DUDE, she s going to smell the garlic on your breath!

If it was good enough for Ferdinando to sneak out for, risking the wrath of his royal lady, then it must have been pretty tasty. And this historic pizza of Naples is also a delicious model of simplicity. Like all of the very simple pizzas, it demands an excellent crust.

To bake this pizza, you ll pass on the broil stage I recommend for most of the pizzas in this book, removing the pie after 5 minutes of baking. The oil and the garlic should be completely done at this point. Any extra baking, or finishing with a broil stage, will burn both the garlic and the bubbles in the crust.

1 dough ball
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 or 4 cloves garlic
0.5 gram ( 3 4 teaspoon) dried oregano
Sea salt
15 grams (about 1 4 cup) finely grated pecorino cheese

1. If you use a dough recipe that calls for refrigeration, remove your dough ball from the refrigerator about 60 to 90 minutes before baking pizza. Put your pizza steel or stone on an upper rack in your oven no more than 8 inches below the broiler. Preheat the oven to 550°F (290°C) for 45 minutes.

2. Slice the garlic thinly, place it in a small bowl, and drizzle just enough olive oil over it to coat the slices. Use your fingers to ensure each slice is coated this prevents the garlic from burning. Set aside.

3. Set up your pizza assembly station. Give yourself about 2 feet of width on the countertop. Moderately flour the work surface. Position your peel next to the floured area and dust it lightly with flour. Have the olive oil, garlic, oregano, sea salt, and cheese at hand. Switch the oven to broil 10 minutes before loading the pizza.

4. To shape the pizza, put the dough ball on the floured work surface and flip to coat both sides moder