Dear Newsletter Readers,
Welcome to yet another installment of our long running weekly newsletter and as always I hope that you find something in it that is worth a read.
In regards to my contribution, I made pizza quite recently so I thought I would share a few pictures of what I managed to create and add in a bit of text to explain one or two important points about making homemade pizzas (based on my very limited but fun experience thus far).
I always use 00 Caputo Cuoco Italian flour and I get some really good results with it; however, very recently I came across a new flour, at least new to me, that I thought I would try out. Still a Caputo, branded flour (Pizzeria) but one that has been further refined specifically for the professional as well as amateur pizza maker.
When making your own pizza (pie) you really need to be patient to get the best and most authentic end results. The starting point is clearly the dough. I make my pizza dough 24-26 hours in advance of using it. I find this length of proving time allows me to get reasonably close to something I would want to sit down in a restaurant to eat. The maximum temperature my oven will reach is 320 degrees centigrade or about 590 degrees Fahrenheit which delivers me a suitably baked pizza in about 5 to 5.5 minutes.
Pizza making is not unlike making scones in the sense that the more you play with the mixture/dough the less you will be satisfied with the result. As long as you have waited for your effort to prove for the time already stated and you follow a process of gently forming the pizza using finger tips to first stretch the dough from the inside to outside (this part of the process helps create the desired crust) and then second to place the dough over one hand in the shape of a fist to allow gravity to do some further stretching (do make sure to gently rotate the dough around your fist to assist gravity). If you follow all these steps you should have something that looks like a pizza base at the end.
When making a Margarita (tomatoes , mozzarella, freshly grated parmigiana, basil, a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt) always put the basil on after the pizza is baked as it tastes much nicer than basil that has been added beforehand and baked in the oven for 5 minutes or so at 320 degrees c. Oh, and always try to use buffalo mozzarella if you can get it.
Please see some pictures attached below of my recent pizza making exploits. Also to accompany the pics I’ve knocked together a few rhyming sentences that I’m struggling to call poetry, but nonetheless it’s there to read if you’re so inclined. Until next week, keep safe and well.
Pizza Pie
A pizza pie.
An unsuccessful first try.
Many things learned.
The first one left in too long and burned.
The second one was undercooked.
The third one tasted better than it looked.
The fourth one appeared promising but lacked risen crusts.
Light and fluffy crust is a pizza must.
The fifth one represented clear progress made.
The sixth one my family okayed.
By the time the seventh one came out of the oven my pizza testers could eat no more.
I ate 2 slices of number seven and left four.
It was the best one yet if I compare it with the rest.
Putting satisfied smiles on the faces of my pizza eaters is my quest.
A poem by Stephen Austwick.