Pizza Alla Napoletana Food

NEAPOLITAN PIZZA

Steps:

• Make the dough: Combine the warm water and yeast in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the yeast. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and stir to make a shaggy dough. (The dough should be tacky. If it feels too wet and sticky, add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time; if it's too stiff, add a little water.) Transfer to a lightly oiled surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes. Place an inverted bowl over the dough and let rise slightly, 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form each into a ball; arrange 3 inches apart on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Rub the tops of the dough lightly with olive oil and cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before baking; let sit, covered, until ready to use. One hour before baking, put a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the middle oven rack and preheat to 500 degrees F (or 550 degrees F if your oven goes that high).
• Make the sauce: Combine the tomatoes and their juices with 1 teaspoon salt in a blender; blend until smooth.
• Generously sprinkle a pizza peel or an inverted baking sheet with cornmeal. Place 1 ball of dough upside down on the cornmeal using floured hands. Gently pull the dough into an 8- to 10-inch circle, reflouring your hands as needed and being careful not to deflate the dough. Spread about 1/4 cup tomato sauce on the crust; top with one-quarter of the mozzarella. Drizzle with 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil and season with salt.
• Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake until the crust is dark golden brown and the cheese is bubbling, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and sprinkle with basil. Let cool 2 minutes before slicing. Repeat to make 3 more pizzas.

PIZZA RUSTICA

Steps:

• Add the olive oil with 3 of the whole eggs to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add the flour, 2 teaspoons salt and the frozen grated butter to a large bowl and stir and pinch with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg mixture and blend with a wooden spoon until large crumbles form (they should be slightly larger than a pea). Add 1/4 cup cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition until a dough forms.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface lightly dusted with flour and knead until the dough is smooth. Form the dough into a large round disk and divide the dough into 2 pieces, two thirds for the bottom crust and one third for the top crust. Shape the dough pieces back into round disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 45 minutes. (The dough can be refrigerated up to 24 hours at this point but will need to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before rolling.)
• Add 1 of the egg yolks to a small bowl along with 1 teaspoon water. Whisk to combine, then set the egg wash aside. Add the remaining 3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks to a large bowl along with the Parmesan, ricotta and several heavy grinds black pepper. Whisk until well combined and smooth. Add the prosciutto, ham, pepperoni, salami, provolone and mozzarella and stir until combined. Set aside.
• Position a rack on the lowest shelf in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil.
• Roll out the larger piece of dough on a flat work surface lightly dusted with flour to a 16-inch round a little less than 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared springform pan, pressing the dough into the inside edges and up the sides of the pan, leaving any overhang. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dough-lined pan and spread it out into an even layer.
• Roll out the remaining piece of dough on a lightly dusted surface into a 13-inch round a little less than 1/8-inch thick. Place this dough over the filling, gently pressing into the filling and the dough at the edges of the pan. Trim the overhang of both doughs flush with the top of the pan. Pinch the edges of the doughs together to seal, then tuck under so they are directly on top of the filling and on the inside of the pan. Brush the reserved egg wash over the top and edges of the dough. Cut four 1-inch slits on the top piece of dough using a paring knife, then place the pan on a baking sheet.
• Bake until the crust is deep golden brown, and a long wooden skewer inserted into one of the slits comes out clean, about 2 hours, rotating the pan once halfway through the cooking time.
• Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled, at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Remove from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before removing the outside ring of the springform pan and transferring the pizza to a serving platter. Cut into wedges to serve.

PIZZA FROM NAPLES: PIZZA ALLA NEAPOLETANA

Steps:

• Preheat oven 450 degrees F.
• Dissolve yeast in water. Pour flour into a mound onto the counter. Add dissolved yeast, salt, and olive oil to center. Work in flour from outside into liquid with fork until it resembles a dough. Work in rest of flour by hand. Leave 1 tablespoon flour unincorporated. Place dough in bowl. Sprinkle with leftover flour. Cover with dishtowel. Let rest for about 1 hour at room temperature, until double in size.
• Pass tomatoes through food mill using smallest holes into small bowl. Set aside.
• When dough is ready, place heavy aluminum foil on a pizza board. Oil it with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread dough on foil, using fingertips to about 16 inches by 14 inches. Spread on pureed tomatoes. Sprinkle on mozzarella. Distribute anchovies and capers. Add salt, pepper, and oregano. Drizzle on remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil.
• Bake on middle shelf for 35 minutes or until crisp. Remove. Slice and serve.

PIZZA ALLA NAPOLETANA (NEAPOLITAN PIZZA)

Steps:

• Preheat oven with pizza stone to 525 degrees.
• Sprinkle pizza peel with cornmeal; carefully transfer pizza round to peel. Top round evenly with cherry tomato slices and sprinkle with generous pinch salt. Sprinkle pizza stone with cornmeal and slide pizza onto hot stone. Bake 6 minutes. Remove pizza from oven, immediately sprinkle with basil, drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle with remaining large pinch of salt. For a softer crust, dab rim with a moistened brush after first 3 minutes of baking.

NAPOLETANA PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix yeast with 1/2 C of lukewarm water and let it proof. This usually takes 5-15 minutes.
• Place all ingredients including the remaining lukewarm water (1 1/4 C plus 2 T) according to the ABM machine instruction and set it for dough only. My ABM takes 2 hours for dough only setting.
• After the 2 hours are up take out the dough and place it in a well olive oiled large bowl. Turn the dough to coat it with the oil, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. The overnight method makes wonderful tasting pizzas.
• Next day remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator 2 hours before you plan to make the pizzas. The dough will have expanded and gluten very relaxed.
• Using wet hands gently transfer the dough to a floured counter, trying not to degas the dough as little as possible.
• Using a pastry blade or knife dipped in water, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Gently round each piece into a ball and brush or rub each ball with the olive oil.
• Brush the sheet pan with olive oil and place each dough ball on the pan and loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap. (If you do not plan to use all the pieces, place the extra ones in individual freezer bags and freeze).
• Allow the dough balls to sit at room temperature 2 hours before making the pizzas.
• Preheat the oven to 500°F.
• Roll out the each dough into 9 to 12 inch diameter pizzas using a rolling pin and your hands. This dough is very soft, elastic and hard to handle compared to other pizza doughs and will require some effort to get to 9 inches diameter. I use combination patting down, stretching, and use of rolling pin to get it to 9 inch diameter. Once you get very good handling this dough, you may get it to 12 inch diameter, but 9 inch is perfectly fine.
• Lightly oil the pizza baking pan and place the pizza. Spread 1/4 C to 1/2 C sauce over the surface of dough, leaving a 1/4 to 1/2 inch border uncovered. Arrange mozzarella over the top and sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
• Bake for about 9-10 minutes in the middle rack. When done, the crust should be puffy and slightly charred on the edge and thinner in the center, and cheese fully melted and just beginning to brown in spots. The underside of the crust should be brown and crisp, not white and soft. Keep an eye on it until you know how long your oven will take because each oven is different.
• Remove the pizza from the oven and lay 4 - 6 basil leaves. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make the next pizza.