Pizza and football? Not my thing exactly and yet… 

It was a beautifully cool day. The first day of fall. 

My son-in-law, JB Hoy, had set up a large TV screen in his outside covered patio with table and chairs, coolers with beer, wine, a big water jug, plates, glasses… all was in readiness.

Guests trickled in, some wearing shirts emblazoned with their team logos. The game was about to start.

But what was the star of the show?

The pizza oven. 

JB’s wood-fired pizza oven, over a year in the making, started with importing a kit from the Firebrick Company in Australia. This company sells their ovens all over the world and Portland, Oregon is their biggest customer.

The kit(the wood-fired pre-cast 85 version) arrived in a gigantic box and friends and neighbors helped put it together. After six weeks, the domed furnace was ready for its curing stage. The oven was ‘seasoned’ with a series of eight small fires to eliminate any moisture remaining from the brick construction. This was followed by a cooking test. How did the pizza turn out? Splendidly.

The inspiration for the oven was a trip to Tuscany. Like most of the world, JB is a lover of pizza and his experience in Italy made him decide to become his own pizzaiolo.

Five billion pizzas are sold worldwide per year, making this savory pie the most popular food globally. Interestingly, the most voracious pizza eaters are Norwegians! They are followed by Americans, the English, Germans and in 5th place? Italians.

The fire was already crackling.

“Go pick some ripe figs!” JB urged. We did just that. Our daughter Rachael used her sweater as an apron and filling it with the plump and juicy figs, dashed into the house.

The anticipation was intense : we had to await halftime to plow into the pizzas but it was worth it.

A succession of pizzas were prepared: a margarita with tomatoes and mozzarella, a mushroom with caramelized onions and garlic cream, and a fig with goat cheese, pancetta and rosemary. 

The crust was a recipe from The Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish. Ken, a Portland legend, whose acclaimed bakery and pizza restaurant has been celebrated nationwide has written a number of books on bread baking and pizza. Although he retired to Hawaii, Ken’s Artisan Bakery  and Artisan Pizza still have lines out the door. His book Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast , a guide to the fundaments of artisan bread and pizza won the James Beard award in 2012.

Who won the football game? I haven’t a clue but I am now a confirmed pizza pie lover, especially if it’s made by J.B. in his very own oven.

PIZZA……. 

Let’s start with toppings. Here’s a sensational list from my dear friend Lorraine who really knows her way around pizza.

Lorraine Franzese Scorsone’s Pizza toppings (her creations)

1. Caramelized onions – sprigs of Rosemary (simple and delicious)

2. Sautéed Garlic and black olives halved with diced pieces of soprasatta and grated parmesan. 

3. Sautéed  asparagus (or zucchini) & onions with a little tomato sauce.  Asiago cheese on top!

4. Margarita- KEY:  a “medium” amount of tomato sauce – most pizzas today do not have enough sauce! Fresh mozzarella and basil leaves. Experiment with amounts.

5. Sautéed mushrooms & onion in pesto or just olive oil… put sharp grated provolone a top! 

6. Any leftover ! Lol

Basic Red Sauce tips:

1. I use different brands that I like. This hedges your bets because it’s easy to get a mediocre batch. I like crushed Tomatoes. Brands I use are  Pastene, Red Pack and San Marzano.

2. Sauté a large sweet onion in a lot of olive oil till golden brown for 6 to 8 Cans of tomatoes. Yes,  make a lot and freeze it or don’t bother!  ;))

3. Add cans of tomatoes and about a half a can of water. Note: use large cans  ( 28 oz.)

4. Medium to medium high heat. Watch it carefully, stir it every 5 mins till sauce gets hot and soft boils. This is a critical phase and oil will integrate.  If sauce blobs instead of boils- it means it is too thick. It will look like lava blobs.  Add more water gradually till it boils and then turn on low so it slowly simmers. You will not need to stir as often. But you still need to tend it with love. 

FYI  If you do burn it, all is not lost. You will know by smell and/or by feel- if you feel something crunchy or stuck on bottom of pot. You stop stirring ASAP and simply pour the sauce in another pot. Do not scrape the bottom. 

5. Seasons: Salt pepper basil leaves optional and my secret Sicilian spice- cinnamon give it two nice sprinkles. Now for the art part of TS. After 30-40minutes, taste it. If it is bitter, add a pinch or two of baking soda. Visualize a quarter in your palm… yep that little.  Have fun watching it fizzle and furl… mixing it in the whole time. Let it cook in for 10 mins and taste it. It should be less bitter and perhaps teeny bit sweeter. If that doesn’t work try again using a bit less baking soda. Wait 10, if that doesn’t work, add a literal pinch of sugar. Sauce should not be sweet though.    

!Mangia bene! 

 And now for Dough…

The following recipe by Ken Forkish can be made in one day. JB has made this version but he generally uses a 24 – 36 hour recipe (also from Ken Forkish).

Saturday Pizza Dough

From “The Elements of Pizza” by Ken Forkish, 2016. Published by Ten Speed Press.

• Makes 3 regular or 5 thin-crust dough balls 
• 8 hours (20 minutes active)

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups water (350 grams)
• 2-3/4 teaspoons fine sea salt (15 grams)
• 1/3 of 1/4 teaspoon instant dried yeast (0.3 grams)
• Scant 4 cups white flour (500 grams)

Instructions

Bulk fermentation: 2 hours.

Divide, shape and cover dough: 10 minutes.

Second fermentation: 6 hours.

Hold time for use at room temperature: 4 hours, or refrigerate to extend the use until the next evening.

Sample schedule: Mix the dough at 9 a.m., knead it at 9:20 a.m., shape it into dough balls at 11 a.m., make pizza between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. For next-day pizza, refrigerate the dough balls 4 hours after they are made up, then leave them out at room temperature for 1 hour before making pizza.

Measure and combine the ingredients: Using your digital scale, measure 350 grams of 90 to 95 degree water into your 6-quart dough tub. Measure 15 grams of fine sea salt, add it to the water, and stir or swish it around in the tub until it is dis- solved. Measure 0.3 gram (about 1/3 of 1/4 teaspoon) of instant dried yeast. Add the yeast to the water, let it rest there for a minute to hydrate, then swish it around until it’s dissolved. Add 500 grams of flour to the water-salt-yeast mixture.

Mix the dough: Mix by hand, first by stirring your hand around inside the dough tub to integrate the flour, water, salt, and yeast into a single mass of dough. Then using a pincerlike grip with your thumb and forefinger, squeeze big chunks of dough, tightening your grip to cut through the dough. Do this repeatedly, working through the entire mass of dough. With your other hand, turn the tub while you’re mixing to give your active hand a good angle of attack. Then fold the dough back into a unified mass. Continue for just 30 seconds to 1 minute. The target dough temperature at the end of the mix is 80 degrees; use your probe thermometer to check it.

Knead and rise: Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, then knead it on a work surface with a very light dusting of flour for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. The skin of the dough should be very smooth. Place the dough ball seam side down in the lightly oiled dough tub. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Hold the dough for 2 hours at room temperature (assuming 70 to 74 degrees) for the first rise. This timeline is flexible, so if you need to do this after 1 hour or 1-1/2 hours, don’t stress, just make up your dough balls a little early and add the difference in time to the next stage.

Shape the dough: Moderately flour a work surface about 2 feet wide. With floured hands, gently ease the dough out of the tub. With your hands still floured, pick up the dough and ease it back down onto the work surface in a somewhat even shape. Dust the entire top of the dough with flour, then cut it into 3 or 5 equal-sized pieces, depending on the style of pizza. Use your scale to get evenly sized dough balls. Shape each piece of dough into a medium-tight round, working gently and being careful not to tear the dough.

Second fermentation: Place the dough balls on lightly floured dinner plates or a baking sheet, leaving space between them to allow for expansion. Lightly flour the tops and cover airtight with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 6 hours for the second fermentation. Alternatively, you can rest the dough balls for 4 hours at room temperature, and then refrigerate to hold for up to the next evening.

Make pizza: Without refrigeration, the dough balls can be used anytime in the 4 hours following the second fermentation. If you refrigerated the dough balls, let them come to room temperature for an hour while you preheat the oven and prepare your toppings.