Hi --

I just posted a wonderful Chicago-style stuffed-crust pizza over on Flour Girl.

I know we talk a lot here about light, crispy thin-crust pizzas here, but there's something to be said for a chewy, buttery, dense Chicago-style pie now and then.

I stuffed last night's pizza with spinach and cheese.

What do you all like best in your deep-dish pie?

Happy baking!

Flour Girl

I enjoy recreating recipes from my favorite restaurants, and I just found out that one of my favorite pizza place (which has the best crust ever) uses molasses and whole wheat flour to make their pizza dough. I've only made basic pizza doughs so am not an expert in that area, so am wondering if anyone out there knows of a recipe or has a suggestion of how I can go about trying to recreate that dough?

Thanks!

I recently ate some SPECTACULAR pizza bianca (in Sweden of all places) which I hadn't had since the last time I was in Rome. It got me inspired to recreate some of my own.

At the time, the chef in question, quite openly admitted that beautifully 'crisp outside / chewy inside' crumb was resultant from the 90% hydration. I gasped, wondering how I might mange a dough that sticky by hand.

So my questions are a) does anyone have a reliable formula specifically for this dough? And b) has anyone had any experience of working with the dough by hand?

All help gratefully received. Blessings to you all.

Oh, I have had fun today.
Early yesterday I mixed a basic white sourdough pre-ferment, but based on a 100% rye starter. Late last night I made the dough (nothing complicated here, any basic white sourdough recipe will do), adding in some olive oil, a bit of honey, a pinch of vital wheat gluten and a pinch of ascorbic acid. After machine kneading and a few stretch and folds of a VERY sticky, high hydration dough, into the fridge it went over night.
My original plan had been to make garlic knots today, but I decided I didn't
want anything that repetitive, but somewhere along the line I did want
the flavors of garlic, some wonderful Thai fried shallots, lots of herbs, cheese and charnushka. I thought I had some za-atar, but I could not locate it...ah well.
So, I made foccacia, a pletzel and a rolled, savory ring. No two alike
in flavoring, but with some overlaps. Go take a look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25648800@N04/sets/72157615764795916/

Happy baking!

Boron

I getting ready to make my first pizza and have a question about using a stone vs parchment paper on stone. Is there a big difference?

I have an inexpensive stone I use for breads and I tried a store bought pizza directly on it and it stuck. Even my bagels stuck, so I use parchment paper and have no problems at all. But I wonder if the pizza crust won't be as good as it could be if I don't use the paper?

Another question I have, while I'm asking, I notice the gas in my oven seems to go off/on more often with the stone..possibly it's my imagination? I suppose I'm asking are there any possibly bad side effects to your oven using a stone?

Jackie.

Yes I know it sounds like a stupid request. I finally found a dough recipe I really like, but are there any tricks to getting the end crust a little softer? It's just our preference. The dough has standard ingredients - flour, sugar, oil, water, salt. I bake usually at 425-450 depending on how much stuff is on it.

I don't use a stone (we bought one years ago but can't find it ha ha). If I did use a stone, would that good expanse of heat help me get the middle cooked faster and get it out of the oven quicker? Sorry if this sounds stupid.

The request also stems from me trying to duplicate a pizza from a shop that closed up in the neighborhhod years ago. Got the dough taste and texture down, just need a little softer edge. The shops here now all bake pizzas that have end crusts that should be registered as lethal weapons.

I debated between naming this thread Jim Lahey's Popeye Pizza, and Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza Dough. But since Jim Lahey's name is practically synonymous with "no-knead," maybe the latter is redundant. Anyway, it's green, and St. Patty's day is this week, so I thought I'd share.

Click here: Popeye Pizza   (the video is worth watching)

I made this pizza a week or two ago, right after I saw the show. I printed out the recipe, and when I got to the salt and yeast, I ran into problems. My instructions said 1/8 tsp yeast and 1/8 tsp salt, but I clearly remembered him adding 1/2 tsp salt. I haven't made pizza in years, and toppings tend to be salty, so I wasn't sure what was customary. I decided to trust Jim and I put in 1/2 tsp. And then my dough didn't rise, so I ended up making something else for dinner that night.

The next day I started earlier, but decided to go by the printout and use 1/8 tsp. It still took longer to rise, but the dough was a joy to stretch out, and the pizza baked up thin and crispy---just the way I like it. Except that the crust tasted bland. Otherwise, the pizza was pretty good. Roasted spinach is interesting. Thin and papery, but nice mild flavor. It's different, but I'd make it again. Looked just like the one in the picture, except that I forgot to drizzle on the olive oil before serving.

A week later, I decided to try the dough in a more familiar pizza with red sauce. I doubled the salt and yeast (1/4 tsp each) and it was still bland. Also the pizza sauce made it soggy. I think I prefer thin pizza without the sauce. At this point I went back to the website for another printout, to find the amounts on salt and yeast now say 1/4 tsp. Yes, I put the two side-by-side to make sure I wasn't going crazy. They corrected the amounts, but this still can't be right.

In the video, JL puts in 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp yeast. What sounds right to to you all?

There is such great Bakers here at TFL, I feel every bit the Tyro making this post,

but here goes.

I changed the all-purpose flour in the recipe [Flat Breads and Pizza--Olive Oil Dough on page

134] in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and it turns out great tasting, thin and crisp pizza dough.  I

used 2 cups of sifted Priarie Gold, 1 cup of Semolina and 3 1/2 cups of bread flour [Bouncer brand from GFS.]

This will be my pizza dough from now on.  I'm sure it will do a bang-up job on Calzone

or empanada type pies as well and etc. as it is very easy to work with.

Here's the original ingredients from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

2 3/4 cups luke warm water

1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast [1 1/2 packets]

1 1/2 Tablespoons salt

1 Talespoon sugar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

[Mix ingredients, let rise in warm spot for 2-3 hours, cover, then chill.

Cut off a hunk whenever you need it. Use within 2 weeks.]

Everyone in my family is HUGE fans of the Spinach Parmaggiano Fougasse that we get each week at Wegman's (my four year old being the most loyal and vocal fan... so much so that he only calls it by the name "good bread" as in, "Mom, can we get Good Bread this week?" and everyone in our family knows what he is talking about). I would love to make a version of this at home for when we run out mid-week (or mid-day... as we just went to Wegman's a few hours ago and he's already 3/4s of the way through it). It's an amazing bread that is brushed with garlic oil after it comes out the oven to cool which leaves a wonderful taste that lingers on your tongue and makes you want to eat the loaf in one sitting.

I was wondering if anyone had tried to recreate something like this before so I don't completely reinvent the wheel. If not, will just start with a basic focaccia recipe and experiment a bit from there (and keep everyone here at TFL posted!). I would also love to eventually add some whole wheat flour to the mix so that my youngest can get some extra nutrition since he's a bit of a picky eater, while still having it be a deliciously flavorfull bread.

Thanks,

Lisa

I tried to grill a pizza...twice.  I had read on the Internet...my stone broke both times.  The second was advertised as a BBQ pizza stone.  Anyone try this before?  With success?  The instructions I read didn't say use indirect heat, so I didn't.  I also read that you could do it without the stone, cooking both sides of the dough first.  I'm sure I'd end up with dough falling through the grates. 

I must say that grilled pizza tasted good!

Steph