New Haven Style Garlic And Cheese Pizza Bianca Food

PIZZA BIANCA

Steps:

• Place towel under stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook, on low speed, until no dry flour remains, 3-4 min, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Stop mixer and allow to stand 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1-2 minutes. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl, then turn speed up to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6-10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away while mixer is running; once mixer is stopped, it will fall back to sides.).
• Smear large bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil with fingers, scraping excess onto a rubber spatula. Use oiled spatula to transfer dough to oiled bowl. Pour 1 tbsp oil over dough. Flip dough once to cover thoroughly with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in size, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• One hour before dough is ready, place oven rack in the middle of the over and position pizza stone on rack. Heat oven to 450.
• When dough is risen, coat rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan with 2 tbsp oil. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto sheet, along with any oil in bowl. Use fingertips to spread dough to edges of pan, being careful not to tear it. (Dough will not reach corners snugly. If dough resists stretching, allow it to rest 5-10 minutes before trying again.) Let dough rest in pan 5-10 minutes, until bubbly. Prick surface 30-40 times with dinner fork. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
• Bake 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle top with rosemary and rotate pan, then bake another 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to cutting board and brush with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Slice and serve immediately.

PIZZA BIANCA

Steps:

• Crust: Transfer flour to a large bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon salt.
• Form/press a well in the flour and add sugar, yeast (in pieces) and about 50ml lukewarm water. Stir and incorporate flour until paste-like.
• Transfer to a warm location an let starter dough rise for about 20 minutes (until bubbly).
• Add rest of water to starter dough and knead until a soft, sleek ball forms.
• Let rest for another 20 minutes.
• Cut zucchini in 5mm thick slices and fry, together with minced garlic, in olive oil until golden brown and crispy. Set aside to cool.
• To soften ricotta, incorporate 2 tablespoons milk and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste (to ricotta).
• Shape pizza dough as you like it (I usually make 4 small pizze out of the amount of dough) and prick with a fork.
• Spread ricotta evenly on dough/pizze.
• Add oregano and fresh basil.
• Add parmesan and mozzarella.
• Top with zucchini slices.
• If using - sprinkle with pine nuts.
• Bake at 250°C for about 15 minutes.

PIZZA WITH ROSEMARY AND GARLIC (PIZZA BIANCA)

Steps:

• Place water in a large bowl. Water should be warm but not hot to the touch. Stir in the yeast and allow to dissolve. Stir in 1 cup flour, stirring constantly in the same direction. Stir in another cup flour, then stir 100 times in the same direction (one minute). This helps develop the gluten. You now have a sponge. Cover, and let stand for half an hour or up to three hours. When you are ready to continue, sprinkle on salt and oil, then add more flour, stirring it in a half cup at a time. The dough will be getting heavier and harder to stir. When you can stir no longer, flour a kneading surface well and have more flour handy beside your work surface. Turn dough out and knead, adding extra flour to your work surface as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking. The dough will gradually become smooth and easy to work. Knead for 10 minutes, clean bread bowl, oil it lightly, and place the ball of dough into the bowl to rise, covered with plastic wrap. Let rise until more than doubled, almost three hours. When the volume of the dough has approximately doubled, you can proceed to the next step.
• Dough can be made ahead to this point and then stored. If you wish postpone baking, gently push dough down, and leave covered in the bowl to rise again. If delay will be more than several hours, instead store dough in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (for not more than five days). Bring out of the cold and take out of the plastic bag at least an hour before you want to work with it.Lightly flour your work surface and lightly oil a 12 by 18-inch baking sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Turn dough out onto work surface and flatten with the lightly floured palm of your hand. Pull and stretch the dough gently out into the rectangular shape you need to fit your baking sheet. Take your time and give the dough time to rest if it is resisting stretching. It will need to get quite thin. When you have stretched the dough to approximately the shape and size you need, transfer it to baking sheet and continue to gently press and stretch it to fit. Don't worry if it tears, just patch the hole with another piece of dough and press firmly to join the edges. If you have extra dough hanging over the edge, trim it off and use it to make another small pizza. Dough should be of an even thinness across the flat part of the baking sheet and should form a slight rounded rim as it meets the edge (which is for many people the best part of the pizza).
• Brush top of pizza with oil, then dimple the surface all over with your fingers. Sprinkle garlic, sea salt and then optional rosemary leaves. Place baking sheet on the bottom rack of the preheated oven and bake until the crust around the edge is slightly golden, 5 to 8 minutes, depending on how thin the pizza is. Remove from oven, brush crusts lightly with olive oil and also the center if you wish. Cut into large squares and serve warm or hot. We have often made pizza bianca several hours ahead, then wrapped it in a clean kitchen towel to keep it moist until we are ready to reheat it for serving. To reheat, place in a dampened paper bag in a 300 degree F oven for about 10 minutes.

NEW HAVEN-STYLE GARLIC AND CHEESE PIZZA BIANCA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500°; place a pizza stone on a rack in the lowest level of the oven.
• Place the dough on a floured surface; holding your hands flat, pat the ball out evenly with your fingers, lifting it and turning it over several times, until it reaches 12 inches in diameter (do not knead the dough or handle it any more than is necessary; if the dough seems sticky, dust it lightly with flour).
• Dust a pizza peel with flour; carefully transfer the circle of dough to the peel, reshaping it as needed.
• Shake the peel once or twice to make sure the dough does not stick; if it does, sprinkle the peel with more flour.
• Combine the oil, garlic, and oregano; arrange the mozzarella and fontina slices over the dough; sprinkle with the pecorino.
• Scatter the oil/garlic/oregano mixture over the cheese and drizzle with more oil.
• To slide the pizza onto the prepared baking stone, line up the edge of the peel with the back edge of the stone, then tilt the peel, jerking it gently to start the pizza moving.
• Once the edge of the pizza touches the stone, carefully pull back on the peel until the pizza is completely off.
• After the pizza is on the stone, do not move it until it firms up in 2-3 minutes.
• Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is browned; remove the pizza to a cutting board; cut into wedges and serve.
• Alternative: before adding the cheese, scatter cooked broccoli florets or spinach over the dough.

PIZZA BIANCA

Steps:

• Position the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface, to 1/2 inch thick.
• Transfer the dough to a heavy large baking sheet. Using a fork, pierce the dough all over.
• Drizzle the oil over the dough. Sprinkle with thyme and salt.
• Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into serving size wedges.
• Note: When I made this, I added crushed garlic to the oil before brushing it onto the dough, and I after sprinkling the thyme, I also sprinkled on some parmesan cheese.