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Last Night's Pizza -- Courtesy of Nancy Silverton

mrosen814's picture
mrosen814

Last Night's Pizza -- Courtesy of Nancy Silverton

I thought I would share a few pics from last night's pizza dinner. I used Nancy Silverton's pizza dough recipe from her Mozza book. I made a few adjustments with fermentation times, but for the most part, it's the same.

I've had the pizza at Mozza and I think it's one of the best (if not, the best) pizza in Los Angeles. This recipe is not supposed to be an exact duplicate of the pizza dough at Mozza, but rather, a home baker's version. I think it came out pretty darn good, if I do say so myslef!

Ingredients

* 22 ounces warm tap water (2 cups, 6 ounces)
* 1⁄2 ounce (1 Tbsp) compressed yeast or 1 tsp active dry yeast
* 26 ounces unbleached bread flour, plus more as needed
* 1⁄2 ounce (1 Tbsp) dark rye flour or medium rye flour
* 1 1⁄2 tsp wheat germ
* 1 1⁄2 tsp barley malt or mild-flavored honey, such as clover or wildflower
* 1⁄2 ounce (1 Tbsp) kosher salt
* Olive oil, grapeseed oil, or another neutral flavored oil, such as canola oil, for greasing the bowl

Directions

To make the sponge, put 15 ounces of the water and the yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and let it sit for a few minutes to dissolve the yeast. Add 13 ounces of the bread flour, the rye flour, and the wheat germ. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. Wrap the bowl tightly in plastic wrap and tightly wrap the perimeter of the bowl with kitchen twine or another piece of plastic wrap to further seal the bowl. Set the dough aside at room temperature (ideally 68 to 70 degrees) for 1 1⁄2 hours.

Uncover the bowl and add the remaining 7 ounces of water, the remaining 13 ounces of bread flour, and the barley malt. Fit the mixer with a dough hook, place the bowl on the mixer stand, and mix the dough on low speed for 2 minutes. Add the salt and mix on medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Note that the dough will not pull so much that it completely cleans the bowl, but if the dough is too sticky and is not pulling away from the sides at all, throw a small handful of flour into the bowl to make it less sticky. While the dough is mixing, lightly grease with olive oil a bowl large enough to hold the dough when it doubles in size. Turn the dough out of the mixer into the oiled bowl. Wrap the bowl as before. Set the dough aside at room temperature for 45 minutes. Dust your work surface lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Acting as if the round has four sides, fold the edges of the dough toward the center. Turn the dough over and return it, folded side down, to the bowl. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and set it aside for 45 minutes.

Dust your work surface again lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Divide the dough into six equal segments, each weighing approximately 7 ounces. Gently tuck the edges of each round of dough under itself. Cover the dough rounds with a clean dishtowel and let them rest for 5 minutes.

Lightly flour your hands and use both hands to gather each round of dough into a taut ball. Dust a baking sheet generously with flour and place the dough rounds on the baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with the dishtowel and set them again at room temperature for 1 hour to proof the dough. (Or leave the dough on the counter to proof instead.)

Comments

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Your pizza looks great.  Your crust looks like it came out perfect.

So what did you use for the sauce and toppings?

mrosen814's picture
mrosen814

I made three different pizzas...this one photographed had a pesto-like base (less the pine nuts), blanched string beans, lemon zest and feta. 

The second was a "classic" margherita and the third had a fresh tomato sauce, grated zucchini, green onion, red onion, mozz, and chili.

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

sounds awesome.  I made a bunch myself earlier this week as well.  I'm always looking for new ideas and yours sound worth a try.

Ian

mrosen814's picture
mrosen814

What kind did you make?

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Sorry for the late reply...I missed your reply to my reply....

I made a barbequed chicken pizza with home made chipolte chile BBQ sauce, chedar cheese, carmelized onions and roasted garlic.  I also made a classic margerite with buffalo mozarella and tomatoe sauce with roasted garlic.

I used my new Kettle Grill attachment for my weber charcoal grill.  It allows me to get the temp. up to 700 plus degrees F., probably closer to 900 degrees and works great.  Because I am able to achieve such high temperatures I have started to use the 00 style flours at 100% in my dough and it's worked out great so far.  I will post some photos as soon as I get a chance.

Ian

mrosen814's picture
mrosen814

Sounds great. A friend of mine has the Kettle Grill attachment, as well -- love it. We made some pizzas and they cooked beautifully.

belle's picture
belle

Hi there..Your pizza looks sensational...I have made Nancy's foccacia and it is the BEST recipe I have found...Could you please post her recipe for Pizza?  I would be happy to provide you the link to her foccacia if you would like it...

thanks so much!

mrosen814's picture
mrosen814

No prob. I just posted the recipe, above. I would love to check out the focaccia recipe, too.

The tweaks I made to the recipe:

* I left the sponge out for about 3 hours, instead of 90 minutes (I may go longer next time)
* After the final mixing, I scaled the dough and chucked it in the fridge overnight

belle's picture
belle

Hi there..

I made Nancy's pizza for the first time yesterday and went to bed full of anticipation as to when I can make it again...I was intriqued with your post and would like to follow your suggestion for longer fermentation time.  Could you provide more clarification regarding the last comment 'after the final mixing, I scaled the dough and  chucked it in the fridge overnight'?   Are you referring to the step where you separate the dough into 6 sections and let it proof on the counter for about 5 minutes?  Is it then that I should put each dough in the fridge? 

My next question is, if this is correct, when they are ready the next day, do I then take them out and fold them taut into a ball and let it sit for an hour?

Any clarification you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much,

Belle

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

can be found on Oprah's site.  Nancy's Pizza Dough - Oprah.com 

I think because she fires her pizza's in a very hot wood fired oven she might be using the 00 flour..which works great in the wfo oven's, for that crispy thin crusted pizza..not so good for a home oven..so she has changed the flour better suited for home ovens.

BTW... Your homeoven version looks delicious, I especially like the toppings!  

Sylvia

mrosen814's picture
mrosen814

Thanks! I used organic stone-ground bread flour and organic dark rye flour -- didn't have wheat germ. I was really impressed by the airiness and chewiness of the crust. 

One day, I hope to build a wood fired oven in my backyard!

 

belle's picture
belle

Thanks so much for posting the pizza recipe..here is Nancy's foccacia recipe..I am posting the LA Times Link which includes video and the actual recipe.  By the way, the only variation I use is adding 3 tablespoons of oil to the foccacia pan instead of 4 tablespoons (I find the extra tablespoon of oil is not needed an makes the crust too greasy)..

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-masterclass-20110526,0,1188913.htmlstory

http://hungryinmilwaukee.com/2011/10/04/nancy-silvertons-focaccia/

Enjoy!

 

Belle

mrosen814's picture
mrosen814

Looks delicious! Thanks!