Old Hippie Chef: By Bread Alone....Post #1....Pizza Dough

The bible says, "Man cannot live by bread alone." Well, there's is an exception to every rule, and I might be that exception. I can live by bread alone especially if I can put some olive oil or a simple sauce on it, a little cheese, or a can of anchovies, and I could live just fine, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, for the rest of my life. That and let me off leash a couple of hours a day with my dogs, and I'll survive.

Of course I know the statement above means that man has spiritual needs as well as physical needs. This blog deals with man's physical needs.

It's no secret that I love pizza, and this week's blog is dedicated to that sacred of all foods. This blog is a 3 part series on pizza making, and this is the 1st installment. The last two blogs will deal with toppings and heat sources.

Included in this article will be pictures, and a complete recipe with instructions for making my pizza dough. I'm starting with the dough because without great dough you've simply got lousy pizza. The recipe included within is GREAT dough. I'll put my pizza dough up against any one's. Come and get it.

First of all let's establish that I'm talking about NY style, thin crust, Neapolitan pizza from here on out, not Siciliano, cornmeal, whole wheat, non gluten spelt, non leavened flat breads etc.. These are all separate and distinct types of doughs. I love all of these types of breads, but I'm a purist when it comes to Neapolitan pizza.

My post this week deals only with pizza made from unbleached white organic pizza flour. I will not do a 17 page tutorial on dough. It's not that complicated. I've been doing this for almost 45 years. If I haven't got it down by now, well. If you try this, and you don't think it's up to snuff, or you got a better dough, come call me out for a throw-down, bring the video cameras, and we'll let some objective qualified judges decide. Ok, enough with the bravado already.

I think a great pizza cook needs to have a sound knowledge of classic parings of cheeses, sauces, veggies, meats, grains, yeasts, spices, and herbs, beverages, heat sources, basic food science, and still be willing to take chances that might not at first seem to work well together. And maybe they don't work. So you pick your sorry excuse for a human being ass up off the floor, and try again. That's what I usually, or I just give up, admit defeat, and move forward.

This is not rocket science or brain surgery, anyone can do this.

There are a lot of good flours out there, but I only use 00 pizza flour dough. It's a very fine milled flour with a high gluten and protein content. It's milled here in the Bay Area, South San Francisco, by a company named Giusto. The phone number is 650 873-6566 and they will do mail orders. If you are here in the East Bay Oakland you can get it in bulk at the Food Mill located at 3033 Mac Arthur Blvd, 510 482-2848.

The second installment of this blog will deal with toppings. In my opinion that's where we separate the chaff from the wheat. Red sauce doesn't go with everything, neither does mozzarella cheese. New potatoes and pesto go great together, but new potatoes and red sauce, not so well in my opinion. In blog part #2 I have have included recipes that I have used with great success over the years.

In the last, and thank god the final installment of By Bread Alone, I'll discuss cooking methods, ovens, grills, fuel sources, and the like.

First some more boring history, rants/raves, and then onto the meat, or in this case, the dough of the matter. Everything has a past, but there is no guarantee of the future.

My aunt Dolly, my father Rocco's sister on the Italian side of our clan, ran the kitchen at the family restaurant, with an iron fist I might add. Lavell's Wagon Wheel Inn is located on route 7, in Brookfield, CT. This two lane road is the old Yankee highway that takes you all the way north to Canada. My uncle Jimmy, Dolly's husband, ran the bar, and held court over an loyal clientele of drunks. This pizza dough recipe, with my rather insignificant additions, is more or less Aunt Dolly's recipe handed down to me over 44 thousand years ago. It's a rapid rise recipe. The pie dough it produces is a classic thin crust, NY, Neapolitan pizza dough.

If you're looking for Dominonos, Pappa Friggin John's worst ingredients/worst pizza, Pappa Stugots Murphy's take and throw in the ocean, California Pizza Kushion, Square Table cardboard pizza, Pizza Slut, or Mountain Fucking Mike's, this is not it.

When we made our dough the night before to be used the next day. We made 25 lbs. of flour plus the water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil, weighed it, shaped it, and let it rest overnight in the protective confines of the pizza refrigerator. The next day we punched it down and reshaped it. We made 3 pizzas, small, medium and large with all the usual Italian/American combinations such as pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms, ground beef, anchovies, etc. We had red and white checkered table cloths with ashtrays, and candles in the straw covered Chianti wine bottles, a big dining room with a fireplace, and a smaller dining area between the main room and the bar. All my cousins worked there. It was very cool place. We sold a lot of pizza, and Uncle Jimmy made the best prime rib aound.

My pies are much more inventive than those were, and of course I still use the classics. Classics don't go out of style, that's why they're classics, and the DOUGH REMAINS THE SAME.

Caution; Do not let your dog east raw pizza dough. A dog's normal body temperature varies from 100.5 to 102.5 degree, which will act as a proofing oven. The dough will expand and rise in the animal's stomach. At first your dog will feel full, then comfortable, and then in pain. It may vomit, which is good, but it's best to get her to a vet ASAP. Your dog can become dehydrated from to much vomiting, and could very easily die. To induce vomiting you can give her 3 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, but get her to the vet immediately. Many a dog have died from eating raw dough.

Photo #1 Punch down on dough

Note: making dough can vary based on altitude, and climate conditions.

Recipe....Aunt Dolly's N.Y. Neapolitan Pizza Dough (Makes 3,
10 oz. 11 inch pie doughs) why would you make just one?

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups hot tap water 115 degrees
3 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon dry herbs of Provence
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cups or more of .00 white flour + more to work with
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

photo #3 The dough is ready to be hand kneaded

In a kitchen aid with your dough hook add the water (115 degrees), dry active yeast, salt, herbs of Provence, sugar, and olive oil. Mix well and let sit for 5 minutes. This is called dirty water or a poolish (see photo #2 below). Then add 2 cups of flour and mix on low speed, and add more speed when the kitchen aid begins to slow. Add the 3rd cup of flour and continue mixing.

Stop the mixer from time to time to scrape the sides before you add more flour so that all the flour is incorporated. Add the last cup of flour, and more if needed. When all the dough is sticking to the hook, (See photo #3 above) and not clinging to the sides of the kitchen aid bowl it should make a flapping sound like a tire coming loose from it's wheel. Then you know your dough is ready to be hand kneaded and shaped. The dough making process should take about 5 or 6 minutes tops.

Note: You can always add more flour, but once you add it you can't take it out.

Note: if you overwork the gluten you will ruin your dough.

photo #4 10 oz. dough ready for proofing in fridge

Take the dough out, and place it on a flat floured surface. Cut it into 3 equal pieces, and kneed the dough by hand, (I weigh mine with a little digital scale, (see photo#4 above) shaping it into rounds. Use extra flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your counter surface. The dough consistency at this stage should feel like a new born baby's bottom after you have sprinkled baby powder on it. Best way I can describe it. See photo #5 below.

Place your pizza doughs on a floured baking sheet, with a dusting of flour on top of each round, cover with plastic, and let them sit in the fridge for four hours or overnight.

You can use this dough after one hour if it doubles in size, but you have to punch it down, and let it rise one more time (see photo #1- above). I've done it this way a thousand times, and it works just fine. You'll notice when you take it out of the fridge that it will be moist. The plastic bag will actually have water on it, so turn the plastic trash bag inside out before you put it back in the fridge for the second rise with a little flour on the top and bottom each pie dough. See photo #6.

Feta, Kalamata olives, red bell pepper, Asiago, Pecorina, Arttichokes

finished pie...Rob Levine in the background

One half hour before you bake your pies take the dough out to warm to room temperature, and cover it with a dish towel. Now you're ready to shape your pizzas, You can use your hands or a rolling pin. I'm a a rocker and a roller personally. The heat from you hands will warm the dough and make it easier to shape, but I still like to use the rolling pin. That's how we did it at Aunt Dolly's.

That's it. Told you it wouldn't take 17 pages. Do not hesitate to send questions, comments, or historical outbursts. I love feedback.

Peace.....Make Food/Not War