No More Fungal Bungling

It’s impossible for me to quit fooling with my recipe for thin pizza. My Sicilian is like the pizza they eat in heaven, but I have never truly nailed thin pizza down. Today I really dialed the crust in, and I made an excellent sauce using grocery store tomato products.

It turned out I had been using way too much yeast. Like by a factor of 12. I believe this is the reason my thin pizza sometimes had an unwanted taste that reminded me of cardboard.

I have been experimenting a lot lately, and as of this morning, I thought I was very close. I made a pizza today with some new adjustments, and it was so good, I had to make a second one to see if I could do even better. I succeeded.

CRUST INGREDIENTS

180 g flour (I used King Arthur bread flour.)
115 g water
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. cheap olive oil

Put everything but the oil and water in a food processor with a chopping blade. Process to mix. Heat the water to something like 110° and process it in, just until everything is blended well. The dry stuff may stick to the walls of the bowl. You can use a silicone spatula to shove it back down so you can blend it in. Let the dough sit in the processor for 10 minutes. Add the oil and give the dough maybe another 30 seconds. You just want to turn it into a nice wet dough.

It will be hard to handle, so put a thin coat of olive oil on your hands before picking it up. Make a ball. Put it on a lightly oiled dish. Cover it with a glass bowl so you can see it rise, making sure the bowl is big enough for expansion without touching the dough. Let it rise at 75°-85° for about one hour and 15 minutes. You want the dough nice and loose.

While you’re doing all this, you should be heating your oven and pizza stone to 500°. Hotter might be better. I’m limited to 500°. You can use a laser thermometer to check the temperature of the stone. My stone gets up to around 530°, probably because it’s down close to the heat. I like to put a metal object like the grate from a broiling pan on a rack above the pizza to keep heat from browning the top too much.

Tear off two 14″ long sheets of nonstick foil. Join them by folding so you get a wide sheet 14″ long. Cut off the excess so you have a 14″ square.

Toss the dough. You should get a pizza around 12″-13″ in circumference. I like to leave a big lip on the outside, with a center maybe 1/16″ thick.

Spread the dough on the foil. Add your sauce and cheese and use a pizza peel to transfer the whole operation to the stone. The foil will make sure it’s easy to assemble and handle the pizza, and it will keep it from sticking to the stone. Pull the foil out after three minutes. Cook the pizza for about 9 more.

You can get enough sauce for a bunch of pizzas from two cans of tomato products.

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

1 can Cento peeled San Marzanos (contains basil leaves)
1/2 can Muir Glen paste
1 tbsp. garlic
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup water

Unfortunately, the garlic and oregano measurements are guesses.

You just process this stuff until it has a uniform texture.

This might be better with only half a can of paste. It’s a little sweet, but I wouldn’t go with less that 2.5 tablespoons of sugar.

As for the cheese, my inventory was low, so I had to use 5 slices of Sargento provolone and one slice of Sargento Mozzarella. The pizza was excellent, but I think in the future I should go with 8 ounces of provolone instead of my usual 12 ounces of mixed cheese. If you substitute a little sharp cheddar, it will add some zing.

I sprinkled oregano on the pie before baking.

After it was done, I put it on an aluminum pan, waited 5 minutes, and cut it with a wheel. If I had had company, I would have cut it a little sooner so it would stay hot longer.

I don’t think there is any point in trying to improve this crust, but I probably will anyway. I may reduce the yeast to 1/4 teaspoon. The crust might be better if it started out cool and rose overnight in the fridge, but I like pizza on demand.

I used to use Cento “Italian style” tomatoes, but I can’t find them any more. I like them better than real San Marzanos. I don’t use organic San Marzanos.

If the crust is too chewy for you, I suppose doubling the oil will tame it. I like a real old-fashioned rim you can give your dog for a toy.

Adding a little pepper to the crust will give it more flavor, oddly resembling cherries.

I believe I can finally relax and get over the stress of being 90 minutes from the nearest source of my favorite ingredients. My area has really good pizza, but I can’t get anything as good as what I made today.