Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Pizza: something easy to blather about

Pizzascape: with homemade ricotta and capers

I suppose it's relatively easy for me to talk about pizza. So, why not begin here. My advice is thus:


  • Really great crust takes 12-24 hours to make. Plan ahead. But if you can't, who cares, make it and bake it right away. It will still be good.
  • As I said, just make it. It's easy.
  • Use bread flour (King Arthur or Caputo Tipo 00 are nice, but don't be afraid to try other bread flours. Or other random edible substances.
  • Follow either Bobby Flay's recipe or Alton Brown's recipe. Double the recipe. Freeze extra balls of dough for future pizza making.
  • Use this recipe if you like tomato sauce. Don't use if it you don't.
  • Don't put a ton of crap on your pizza. Just a sprinkling of toppings is enough. The crust should be the focus.
  • Use great, tasty olive oil, whatever you might want to actually lick off your own paw. Be liberal with it, it should taste awesome.
  • Crank your oven up to 500+ degrees.
  • Set the rack at the lowest setting. You don't need a pizza stone, a pizza pan works fine, but use a stone, or a large terracotta pot base, or a big ceramic tile, if you want to feel virtuous about it.
  • Expect each pizza to take about 5 min or less to bake at high heat. Watch it, it's fun and prevents fires, too.
  • Invite your friends over. Chow it all down together with beer, or wine, or water, or vinegar...