The Fresh Loaf

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New York Times Pizza

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

New York Times Pizza

So, I have been following the formula for Roberta's Pizza Dough, as reported in the New York Times.  However, after spending a fortune on a flour mill, I could not bring myself to purchase the '00' flour (nor did I find any whenever I was looking for it in the supermarkets).

I finally broke down and ordered 22 pounds of the stuff on Amazon, figuring 10 bags of 2.2 pounds of flour was manageable.

Roberta recommends 50% AP and 50% 00 flour. The dough I made was really quite silky smooth. More so than when I used only AP flour. 

I bake on a Lodge cast iron pizza pan. I preheat it on the top rack of my oven to 525, take it out, pour some olive oil on, put the dough on and then back in the oven for 4 minutes, then broil for 2-3 minutes on low.

Usually I pre-bake the crust and freeze some of them. After thawing, or having one pre-baked, I top it with sauce and cheese.  For this one, I did not par-bake. Instead, I took a few tablespoons of home-made sauce, spread it on very thin and then topped with shredded cheeses. Fresh Mozzarella, Provolone, and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Why grate the mozzarella? Well, you wind up using a lot less cheese that way. From a calorie stand point that is a bonus. But is also weighs less therefore is more likely to allow the pizza "hold up" once it is sliced.

By the way, the olive oil on the pan makes it so the crust browns nicely.  This time around it was really a light brown without charring. I suspect that may have been because I used the "00" flour.

As you can see from top shot, the crust did not char at all. I suspect this was because of the "00" flour as well, since I read that it won't brown well in a home oven.  However, I only recently started using my broiler on low instead of high. So, I don't know whether a high setting would have changed things.  Fortunately, I have a lot of "00" flour with which to experiment.

The crumb on the crust was very nice. The pizza held up well for the overnighted dough, but on the two day old dough the dough stretched out very fast very quickly, and was too thin. Still delicious, but not entirely intact.

I also had added thinly sliced tomatoes before the cheese.  The crust held up well making the pizza a joy to eat.  I did not think the flavor of the crust was particularly special.

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

is one heck of a lot of pizza - 150 personal pizzas or so!  Talk about gaining weight.  I don't think it will matter how much cheese you put on them - the pounds will accumulate:-)  Still. if they look that good, the extra pounds may be worth it.  Well Done and

Happy pizza baking.   

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I do get the point about the weight gain. The formula made two pies, each pie fed two of us for one evening. I am guessing that there are about 275 calories per 1/2 pie in the dough. Plus whatever there is in the toppings. Let us call it 300 calories for the cheese and sauce.

All in all, I think it qualifies as a regular meal calorie wise.  Granted, I could and would easily eat an entire pie by myself, doubling the damage.  However, by making one when two are eating, I avoid that little indulgence!

Yes, it is a lot of flour but I couldn't stomach paying 2x the price per weight that I was seeing.  :)

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Put your broiler on high and you will get that char you are looking for.  I've been using a formula with 600 grams 00 flour and 80 grams freshly ground whole wheat and love the way it comes out.

I also bought my 00 from Amazon.  Just opened my last bag and have to order some more.  I like using this flour as part of some of my roll recipes and for the German rolls I make as it give a nice light crisp crumb.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I expect you probably go through a lot of it, but if you dont want 10 bags of it and are in the neighborhood (Yonkers on the boarder of Bronxville), I'd be happy to sell you a few bags at $3.25 per bag.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks....I'm in Patchogue so it's a bit far.

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

David: I am in the UK and went to the store yesterday and saw 00 flour on the shelf at Tesco. I was tempted to buy it, but held off.  Now, I will get some for sure to make pizza. I revived my sourdough and am ready to go. Thanks for sharing your lessons learned.  I am really craving pizza now after seeing your posts.  Best, Phyllis

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Last night I mixed up a 50% white whole wheat / 50% 00 batch of dough.  Maybe I will bake it today.  The dough was not as silky as the AP/00 combo, but I am hoping it still stretches nicely and tastes better.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I was very pleased with how this came out.  My wife said it was a little dry.  This pie was obviously baked more (reverted to using the high setting on the broiler), but I also did not add olive oil to the pan before baking.  What I can't recall is whether I added the oil to the dough.  I thought the crust tasted better with the whole wheat flour.  It held up to some sliced tomato, shredded cheeses and roasted pepper and broccoli. It was quite delicious.

I have another dough in the fridge but am pizza'd out at this point.  I may bake the crust and tonight anyway and eat the pie this weekend.

The crust was not quite as aerated, and was a bit chewier around the crown. But it was definitely very good. :)

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

near perfect and has to be tasty too.  Love that steel Pizza pan too.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

It is a Lodge Cast Iron Pizza pan. It seems a little pricey to me, and is not perfect, but it does allow me to easily slip the pie under the broiler without having to move baking stones around.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Here is the pie from the second dough with 50% Prairie Gold hard spring wheat and 50% "00" flour.  This time around I added oil to the pan, which makes the crust a little less healthy but also a lot tastier.  I also did not pre-roast the bell pepper, and added some chopped onion and garlic.  The pizza was fantastic.  And, I could fold the crust if I wanted to, in order to eat it.  The dough was very thin but held the toppings well and the whole thing tasted delicious.

I have to say that grating the fresh mozzarella is the way to go for me. I use less cheese, get all the great flavor and it is easy to mix with anything else such as provolone, cheddar, parmigiano or anything else.  I just grate them into a bow, mix them a bit and top the pizza with the cheese after adding whatever other toppings I like.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Are you grating the dry mozzarella or fresh wet mozzarella?  I don't see how you could grate the fresh wet version as it would just crumble into a mess.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I have a plastic greater with a metal drum. Put fresh cheese on top of drum, close the grater handle and turn the handle. The cheese shreds very nice. It clumps a little in the bowl but separates well emough for spreading on the pie. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Interesting.  I wouldn't think it would work, but obviously it does so I will have to give it a go next time.

Thanks.

Pie looks perfect.  I made some the other night with fresh smoked meatballs and caramelized onions with mozzarella and a little tomato sauce.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

This is the one I am using

And this is the cheese I am grating:

And this is more or less, what I am getting (it is what was left over from the prior pie, so some of it may not be mozzarella)

At $8.00 a pound you can see why I like to shred it, since I can make a lot more pies with it.

Song Of The Baker's picture
Song Of The Baker

I recently tried using 00 pizza flour for the first time and noticed that the dough was less relaxed while shaping than when using bread flour.  It was actually quite difficult to shape with.  Not sure I'm sold on the 00 for pizza.  Especially when I typically use some stone ground WW flour in my pizza dough.

John

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I know there are different protein levels for 00  flour.  I didnt have trouble shaping with 50% whole wheat. Though it was not as soft as with the AP flour for sure. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Something doesn't sound right John.  The Caputo 00 flour I use works great and the dough is much more relaxed and easier to shape than when using bread flour.  Per my response earlier I use a small % of fresh WW and it comes out great.  I would be curious to know which 00 flour you are using and what your formula is.

Ian

Song Of The Baker's picture
Song Of The Baker

David/Ian.

I used an organic Type 00 Pizza & Pasta Flour from a local mill.  Protein at 11.5%

My formula as follows:

4 1/2 cups 00 pizza flour

1/2 cup stone ground whole wheat flour

1/2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups lukewarm water

 

The pizzas turned out the best tasting/texture I have made to date, but the shaping was the only thing I was not used to.  Thanks for your help guys.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Chances are the local flour is not the same as the Italian variety.  I would also omit the vital wheat gluten and see if that helps a little.

I've used KAF version of 00 and it's not the same as the Italian version.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I made the 50% White Whole Wheat 50% Caputo 00 flour dough again. I baked this one 24 hours or so later.  The second dough baked the day after that did not come out as puffy but was equally delicious.  What I find so wonderful about this pizza is that even though the crust is very thin, it is holding up very well to either being folded or simply holding ingredients like tomato or roasted vegetables.

This one has sliced German striped green tomato, which was out of this world. Super sweet and delicious.

And the best crumb shot yet (granted, the entire pizza corona did not come out this nice!):

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Nice! 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I definitely have the swing of things.

Heat the oven to 525, take out the cast iron pizza pan and pour a bit of oil on it, swirly it around, put the dough on the sizzling hot pan and bake on the top rack for three minutes followed by a high broil for 3 minutes.  Pizza is done in 6 minutes.  I could try cranking the oven 550 and see if I can get it down to 2 minutes and 3 minutes broil.  But I don't like waiting for the oven to get that hot!