What's more fun than a make-your-own-pizza party? Not much. My friend Austin was in town from Providence, Rhode Island, where he teaches Spanish, Latin, and mythology. Often when we get together it's an excuse to do a lot of cooking. Throughout college he would make Nick and me ridiculously good brunches with fresh chorizo, eggs, and breakfast potatoes, and occasionally expose us to his Texas chili, which has an entire cup of chili powder, a can of chipotle peppers, and some jalapenos for freshness. Last time, however, when Elin and I were visiting Providence, we made carnitas out of a pork shoulder, which ended up being the saltiest, most unpalatable shreds of meat that have ever passed through my lips (we confused the very coarse blocks of sea salt with the finely ground stuff). This time, we planned to redeem ourselves.
By this time, the pizza broiling is old news: it is without a doubt the greatest way to make thin, crispy pizzas at home, in the style of a real pizzerias where the ovens are upwards of 900 degrees. By blasting an upside-down cast iron skillet or a baking stone with the broiler, then cooking the pizza on top of it inches from the flame, extreme high temperatures are mimicked and chewy, charred crust is possible. Since my cast iron skillet is currently neglected with a rusty bottom, I went the pizza stone route.
We also decided to make our own dough, rather than getting it from a pizzeria. Along with a recipe, Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Italy provided a number of inspired ideas for toppings beyond the usuals. We ended up with a smattering of ideas and a loose outline of what would go where.
This isn't dinner party food, because it involves a lot of standing around and teamwork and eating one small pizza at a time, just when it gets out of the oven, right off a cutting board. The size of the broiler limits the size of the pie. But if you're with a few people who care as much as you do about really fantastic pizza at home, then this is one of the more fun ways to spend an evening.
Part 1: Pizza Dough
I was very surprised how simple and quick the pizza dough was to make--just a few minutes, really, plus a little kneading. The best dough, apparently, is a combination of regular good bread flour and a little semolina flour, the more yellow-colored, very fine variety that is often used for making pasta. It has a very high gluten content, which ends up giving the dough more elasticity. A little yeast is dissolved in tepid water with sugar, then poured into the mixed flours with salt, and worked slowly in. At first it looks like hot breakfast cereal, then it comes to resemble a shaggy ball. A quick ten minutes of kneading (you could use a mixer for this), and the dough becomes springy and soft. Then it rests for 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
I'm sure there are other, more complex doughs out there, but I found the result to be quite good.
- 1 3/4 pounds strong white bread flour
- 1/2 pound fine semolina flour (or more white flour)
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- 2 packets dried yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups lukewarm water
Mix the flours together with the salt and pile the mixture on a large, clean working surface. Mix the yeast, water, and sugar and let stand a few minutes (the water should feel neither warm nor cold to your finger). Create a well in the middle of the pile, add the water, then begin incorporating the flour into it. When you can't stir easily with the fork, switch to hands until you have a shaggy ball. Knead by hand, or in a stand mixer, for about ten minutes. Cover with saran wrap and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
Part II: Pizzas
For detailed instructions about the broiler setup, consult these earlier posts. I ended up putting my rack at the very top under the broiler at the top of my oven, with the pizza stone directly under it. The broiler was on for a long time, throughout the evening, over 2 hours probably. I wanted everything to be as hot as possible at all times. Extreme heat is the secret to crispy crust that's not dried out.
Our sauce was simply a little olive oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic sauteed in it, then a 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes and a handful of basil leaves added. It simmered for the time it took us to make the
dough.
To make a pizza, take a small amount of dough (less than you think you'll need), and begin rolling it flat. Once it's halfway there, pick it up and start to stretch it carefully by hand. A good technique is to hold on to the edges where it's thicker and let the dough hang. It will stretch out on its own due to the weight.
After some very mangled pizzas (I don't have a pizza peel, an essential item I'm learning), we finally had luck with a piece of floured cardboard to slide the pizzas onto the stone. The first pizza was a spicy sopresetta, fresh mozzarella, sauce, olive oil, with some fresh basil and grated Parmesan post-cooking.
Our second was a little sauteed mushroom with sliced pre-cooked chicken sausage, and fresh arugula on top after it came out of the oven.
The third was from Jamie Oliver's cookbook--sauce, mozzarella, jarred artichoke hearts, chopped olives, thinly sliced proscuitto, and an egg cracked on top.
It came out of the oven a total mess--the egg white had kind of covered everything and taken over. It was tasty, but I wouldn't make it again.
I was actually inspired by the failure to make something similar, but different: what about a carbonara pizza? No tomato sauce, just olive oil, mozzarella, loads of grated Parmesan, and sauteed bacon (or guanciale) strips. Then right when it came out of the oven, an egg yolk would be dropped on top and stirred around. This could be genius, and it's on my list of things to do soon.
The rest of the night we cycled through these options with a little tinkering here and there. My favorite was the spicy soppresseta, which picked up sharper flavors of the tomato and was a nice foil to creamy
mozzarella and soft basil.
After hours of abuse, while we were making our very last pizza, disaster struck: my pizza stone cracked in half. I'm not surprised, the thing was basically getting re-kilned with hot-cold temperature changes constantly. But it was sad nonetheless.
I've heard it's possible to walk into a Home Depot and buy unglossed tiles for very cheap that can be used as baking stones. Anyone have any intelligence on this rumor?
Go forth and make pizzas!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
We were trying your method, putting the stone really close to the broiler, and it broke in half before we had a chance to make any pizzas! It was so sad. We're sticking with the iron skillet for now.
Abby, what a drag! On the train this morning I was thinking: what about a flat square made out of cast iron? You could get that thing really hot and as long as you were careful, I think it would last for ages. Like a large griddle?
About the tiles, I don't think that Home Depot has them (I could be wrong), but i know that Lowes does. What you want are unglossed quarry tiles and they are 8×8 and you need 4 of them to make a good sized square. I would recommend getting 8 or so just so you have some backup. It will set you back around 6 bucks
Concerning the dough, i am confused by your short proofing period. I generally make the dough the day before, let it proof all night in the fridge, then let it sit for about 2 hours before i cook with it.
Blake, very sad news, but from the looks of it, that stone gave you some good mileage. If you end up getting a new stone instead of quarry tiles, they make square ones that are easier to get your pies onto than round ones, but may not fit into your broiler.
On another topic, how is your bacon coming along?
I bought mine at home depot for $1.50 each, but they were not the right size, so I had to break 1 in half to lay 2 across my oven.
Mine haven't broken, but I bake my pizza's at 550
Alton Brown did a Good Eats show about using the terracota or quarry tiles as pizza stones… apparently the terracotta tiles come in larger sizes. Look it up at the Food Network site – http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9956_19117,00.html
Would it be possible to grill the pizza dough in a grill pan or is that asking for trouble?
I've had good success with the bottom of my cast iron skillet. I have a tendency to make the dough a little too big and the extra couple of inches of height provided by the skillet keeps the dough from hanging over and touching the rack. Plus it has a handle! I super heat the skillet the right way up on a burner, flip it over and put the dough on. I continue to cook on the stove top for another minute, then transfer to the broiler. Otherwise, my pizzas were a lot more done on the side facing the broiler.
As for the terra cotta- my wife and I use the base thing that goes under the terra cotta flower pot. i don't know what this dish is called, but it comes in dozens of sizes and is pretty cheap. We actually leave it in the oven all the time, as it helps even out the changes in temperature in the oven during baking.
We went to cheap terra cotta after i broke my third or fourth pizza stone- those things NEVER last.
My pizza stone cracked in half quite a while back. I was storing it in the bottom of my oven (where it doubled as something to retain heat and encourage even cooking). Perhaps something dripped on it, but whatever the case, it split in two. I'm still using it, however. I bake bread on it, but I always shape my bread on parchment paper and slide it right on the stone. The parchment also allows the bread to slide off a peel really easily, and I can spin it around for even cooking (not much of an issue for pizza though because of the much shorter cooking time). Even if broken, you still might do well to keep it in the bottom of the oven.
I got sick of my pizza stones cracking, and finally invested in a Mario Batali pizza pan. It's made of enameled cast-iron and has handles and is awesome. I make at least 2 pizzas per week at 450 degrees, finishing them off under the broiler, and this pan has been perfect. http://healthycooking.suite101.com/article.cfm/review_mario_batali_pizza_pan
Holy crap, I've never heard of pizza stones breaking before but it seems like a common phenomenon. I'll have to watch out.
And thanks for the broiler idea! I've been experimenting and trying to find the perfect pizza method for a year; I'll definitely have to try it out.
Hi, kids;
you can also use a cast iron plancha. It’s a large round flat pan with a handle. These are used to cook tortillas; you can also roast mussels on them like Lulu Restaurant in San Francisco does.
I came across this blog tonight, just an hour after my pizza stone broke! I made my first pizzas from scratch for lunch and made calzones for dinner. My 10 year old Pampered Chef pizza stone was on the 2nd-to-lowest rack and it couldn’t stand the heat and broke tonight during the first calzone. Only 1/3rd broke so I finished the other calzones on the pizza stone. I will be going to Home Depot or Lowe’s tomorrow to get some tiles or terra cotta – which sounds much more durable and affordable than what I was using. Thanks for sharing your story and for the feedback others shared! “Ciao!”