TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION... 1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR. . .2
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.. .4
INTRODUCTION... 6
WHERE TO BUY THE INGREDIENTS... 10 Getting the high gluten flour ... 11 Where to buy cheese and other ingredients ... 11
HOW TO USE THE RECIPES IN THIS BOOK. . .l4 Measuring dry ingredient quantities ... 15 Scaling the recipes for different size pizza pans ... 15 Some words on extra virgin olive oil...16 How big is a clove of garlic? .. .16 How to substitute fresh spices in the recipes ... 16 Technical briefs for my scientific pizza makers .. .l6 Some useful conversions ... 17
THE DOUGH ... 18 The food science of pizza dough ... 19 The basic dough redpe ... 29 Baker's percentage .. .29 Some words about vital wheat gluten and bread flour ... 30 Comparisons to Italian "00" type pizza flours ... 31 Instant versus active dry yeast...32 Activating the yeast...33 Using an optional autolyse ... 33 Kneading the dough with a mixing machine ... 34 Kneading the dough by hand ... 34 Monitoring moisture content of dough during kneading .. .35 Raising the dough ... 36 Freezing and defrosting dough ... 37
THE CHEESE. . .40 Recommended list of suitable cheeses .. .41 Rule of thumb for cheese quantities .. .41 Cheeses for traditional tomato pizzas .. .42 Cheeses for vegetable, meat (stromboli) and seafood pizzas .. .42 A special note on sharp cheeses .. .42
'- THE TOMATO SAUCE. . .44 Recommended list of suitable spices .. .45 A word about oregano .. .45 Salt content in tomato sauces for pizza. ..45 Recommended list of suitable canned tomato products .. .46 Making tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes .. .46 The basic tomato sauce recipe .. .4 7 Oil or no oil, that is the question? .. .48 Some comments about MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) .. .48
DOUGH DRESSINGS ... 50 Basic ... 51 Basic for garlic lovers ... 51 Gonzo garlic ... 51 For traditional tomato ... 51 For vegetable and seafood pizzas ... 51 For meat pizzas (stromboli) .. .52 Is the sugar really necessary? ... 52
TOPPINGS ... 54 Recommended list oftoppings .. .55
BAKING EQUIPMENT .. .58 Pizza pans ... 59 Baking stones ... 60 Pizza screens and perforated pizza pans ... 61 Sicilian style pans ... 61 Silicone baking mats ("rugs") ... 61 Making an oven baffie ... 62 Commercial pizza ovens ... 63
PREPARATION AND BAKING ... 66 In the pan... 67 On the stone ... 68 On the rug (a.k.a. silicone baking mat) ... 70 Stuffed pizza ... 70 Rolled pizza ... 70 Baking on pizzas screens ... 71 Baking on perforated pans ... 71 Sicilian style baking ... 72 Deep fried baking (a.k.a. "Old Forge style") ... 72 General baking tips ... 73 Proper texture of baked pizza dough ... 73 Rack or screen cooling to prevent soggy crusts ... 74 Tuning your oven baffie ... 74 PROOFING THE DOUGH ... 76
PROVEN RECIPES ... 80 Baking temperature versus time summary ... 81 Quick reference index and guide ... 81 Barbecue pizza ... 82 Black bean pizza... 83 Breakfast pizza... 84 Bruschetta pizza... 85 Buffalo chicken pizza... 86 Calzone (basic and deep fried) ... 87 Charbroiled burgers with peas special...88 Cuban pizza... 89 Deep fried pizza (a.k.a. "Old Forge style") ... 90 Dessert pizza ... 91 Escarole ecstasy/Swiss chard delite ... 92 Figgy pizza... 93 Focaccia di Recco (col formaggio) ... 94 Greek pizza... 97 Hawaiian pizza... 98 Indian pizza (naan style with mint chutney) ... 99 Italian cured veggie pizza .. .1 00 Italian focaccia .. .1 01 Jamaican jerk pizza... 102 Mac-n-cheese pizza... l 04 Marmalade pizza.. .l 05 Mashed potato pizza ... 106 Middle East pizza (falafels with homus) .. .l07 Oktoberfest pizza .. .l 09 Pear pizza .. .11 0 Persian pizza.. .111 Pesto pizza .. .113 Portobello pizza ... ll4 Quattro formaggi (four cheeses ) ... 115 Quattro stragioni (four seasons) .. .ll6 Ranch pizza ... 117 Red pizza!Margherita/Tomato pie ... ll8 Reuben pizza... 120 Ricotta pizza ... 121 Roasted red peppers with goat cheese ... l22 Satay pizza... l23 Seafood pizza .. .l25 Sheppard's pie pizza... l26 Shish kabob pizza ... l27 Sicilian style pizza... l29 Sliced tomato pizza.. .l30 Southwest pizza ... 131 Spinach-broccoli surprise ... l32 Spinach pizza ... l33 Stromboli (rolled and stuffed pizza styles) .. .134 Stuffed broccoli pizza.. .135 Stuffed cheeseburger/cheesesteak pizza... l36 Stuffed meatloaf pizza .. .13 7 Sunnyside pancetta.. .138 Taco pizza .. .139 Thanksgiving pizza ... l40 Tuna melt pizza .. .141 Veggie supreme .. .142 White pizza .. .143 White pizza Parmesan... l44 White pizza Violanda .. .145
Pizza dough desserts Fried pizza dough with honey butter. .. l46 Pizza dough cinnamon rolls .. .147