Everybody loves pizza. With that said, I started my quest on a Monday at 3:30 pm, hitting the kitchen with the specific goal in mind to create a light and airy crust that had good flavor and an artisan touch to it. I finished at 8:30 pm.
Here's what happened within those five hours...
I remembered what a friend told me some days ago about achieving a lighter, more airy crust, and it proved to be very helpful. I did, however, make some additional adjustments by increasing the oil value, mostly. And with that “Garlic” reference in mind, I used garlic-infused olive oil. The finished flavor simply blew me away, but I’m sure it could be a little intensified with let’s say a 24 hr cold-rise.
So…452 gr. of warm water went into the mixing bowl of my KitchenAid Classic, together with 18 gr. of sea salt, 4 gr. of yeast and 11 gr. of organic sugar. Everything was completely dissolved with a wire whisk. The flour was a combination of 50% Giusto’s and 50% of King Arthur Bread Flour. It was sifted together to add a bit more air. 50% went into the salt/sugar water and then the paddle of my KA mixer put it all together at speed 1 at first, since you don’t want to blow out the flour, and then on speed 2 until it reached a smooth, batter-like consistency.
I let it rest for about 30 mins after that. Small bubbles have formed after 30 mins and I sifted in the rest of the flour, added the garlic olive oil and started to combine it all, using the dough hook. I started out on Speed 1 but quickly switched to Speed 2 for 5 minutes. After those 5 minutes I let the dough rest for about 10 mins before proceeding for another 10 minutes of kneading at Speed 2, stopping the mixer twice, turning the dough hook so it engages the dough from a different angle, mixing it more thoroughly.
Another rest period of 5 minutes followed. 10 more minutes of mixing at Speed 2 and into the fridge it went for about an hour. I balled it up into a bulk, greased the bowl with a bit of EVOO and cooled it for about an hour before taking 365 gr. and shaping it into a single ball. 365 gr. is, in my opinion, the ideal weight for a 14” thin crust pie. I let the dough ball come up to room temp for about 2.5 hrs, covered with a damp tea towel, because you don't want to end up with a dry dough.
The crust was good and one of my test eaters, who’s a pizza fanatic to the core, said the crust was fantastic. But since I know myself, I know that there’s always somewhere a little room for improvement. The dough will develop even more flavor if it has time to rest for maybe a day or two longer in the fridge.
When topping the crust, I followed what I call the "Totonno’s procedure" and put the cheese on first and then the sauce. The pie was topped with red bell peppers, which I didn’t pre-cook in order to retain some of the crunch, mild Italian sausage, fresh garlic - chopped, and fresh mushrooms. I drizzled some EVOO on it and a little bit of sea salt before it went into the oven. When it came out, I dusted the pizza with Pecorino Romano and fresh basil. The stone was preheated on the lowest rack for about 90 mins at 525° F and the bake time was 8 mins.
Here’s the entire formula and procedure (taken straight from my notes I scribbled down while in the process):
707 gr. KABF/Giusto’s Flour 100%
452 gr. Water (warm) 64%
18 gr. fine sea salt 2.5%
12 gr. garlic-infused olive oil 1.7%
11 gr. organic sugar 1.5%
4 gr. IDY 0.6%
Pour water in mixing bowl. Dissolve salt & sugar in water. Sift in 50% of the flour mix and all the yeast. And mix with paddle until a smooth batter has formed. Rest for 30 mins. Sift in rest of the flour and add the oil. Switch to dough hook and combine everything, 5 mins/Speed 1. Rest for 10 mins. Knead for 10 mins on Speed 2, rest for another 5 mins. Knead again for 10 mins on Speed 2. The dough temp was 80° F. Ball it; let rest for 10 min. Put in fridge for 1 hour. Take out and immediately divide into three 365 gr. balls and let proof (2.5hrs/covered) or put one or two balls back in fridge for next day use.
If you follow the directions I'm sure everybody's able to make a great homemade, artisan pie.
I remembered what a friend told me some days ago about achieving a lighter, more airy crust, and it proved to be very helpful. I did, however, make some additional adjustments by increasing the oil value, mostly. And with that “Garlic” reference in mind, I used garlic-infused olive oil. The finished flavor simply blew me away, but I’m sure it could be a little intensified with let’s say a 24 hr cold-rise.
So…452 gr. of warm water went into the mixing bowl of my KitchenAid Classic, together with 18 gr. of sea salt, 4 gr. of yeast and 11 gr. of organic sugar. Everything was completely dissolved with a wire whisk. The flour was a combination of 50% Giusto’s and 50% of King Arthur Bread Flour. It was sifted together to add a bit more air. 50% went into the salt/sugar water and then the paddle of my KA mixer put it all together at speed 1 at first, since you don’t want to blow out the flour, and then on speed 2 until it reached a smooth, batter-like consistency.
I let it rest for about 30 mins after that. Small bubbles have formed after 30 mins and I sifted in the rest of the flour, added the garlic olive oil and started to combine it all, using the dough hook. I started out on Speed 1 but quickly switched to Speed 2 for 5 minutes. After those 5 minutes I let the dough rest for about 10 mins before proceeding for another 10 minutes of kneading at Speed 2, stopping the mixer twice, turning the dough hook so it engages the dough from a different angle, mixing it more thoroughly.
Another rest period of 5 minutes followed. 10 more minutes of mixing at Speed 2 and into the fridge it went for about an hour. I balled it up into a bulk, greased the bowl with a bit of EVOO and cooled it for about an hour before taking 365 gr. and shaping it into a single ball. 365 gr. is, in my opinion, the ideal weight for a 14” thin crust pie. I let the dough ball come up to room temp for about 2.5 hrs, covered with a damp tea towel, because you don't want to end up with a dry dough.
The crust was good and one of my test eaters, who’s a pizza fanatic to the core, said the crust was fantastic. But since I know myself, I know that there’s always somewhere a little room for improvement. The dough will develop even more flavor if it has time to rest for maybe a day or two longer in the fridge.
When topping the crust, I followed what I call the "Totonno’s procedure" and put the cheese on first and then the sauce. The pie was topped with red bell peppers, which I didn’t pre-cook in order to retain some of the crunch, mild Italian sausage, fresh garlic - chopped, and fresh mushrooms. I drizzled some EVOO on it and a little bit of sea salt before it went into the oven. When it came out, I dusted the pizza with Pecorino Romano and fresh basil. The stone was preheated on the lowest rack for about 90 mins at 525° F and the bake time was 8 mins.
Here’s the entire formula and procedure (taken straight from my notes I scribbled down while in the process):
707 gr. KABF/Giusto’s Flour 100%
452 gr. Water (warm) 64%
18 gr. fine sea salt 2.5%
12 gr. garlic-infused olive oil 1.7%
11 gr. organic sugar 1.5%
4 gr. IDY 0.6%
Pour water in mixing bowl. Dissolve salt & sugar in water. Sift in 50% of the flour mix and all the yeast. And mix with paddle until a smooth batter has formed. Rest for 30 mins. Sift in rest of the flour and add the oil. Switch to dough hook and combine everything, 5 mins/Speed 1. Rest for 10 mins. Knead for 10 mins on Speed 2, rest for another 5 mins. Knead again for 10 mins on Speed 2. The dough temp was 80° F. Ball it; let rest for 10 min. Put in fridge for 1 hour. Take out and immediately divide into three 365 gr. balls and let proof (2.5hrs/covered) or put one or two balls back in fridge for next day use.
If you follow the directions I'm sure everybody's able to make a great homemade, artisan pie.
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