Tag: pizza

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Giambotta Pizza

This pizza features Italian sausage , sweet peppers, and onions.
This pizza features Italian sausage , sweet peppers, and onions.

Pizza Giambotta

THE DOUGH

Start dough at 4p for dinner between 7p and 8p
1 cup warm water (90 to 110 degrees F.)
2 tsp instant-rise yeast
3-1/4 cup bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin not necessary)
Combine ingredients and knead by hand for 10 minutes or machine
for two to five minutes. Coat dough ball in a thin film of olive oil or cooking spray, cover in plastic wrap, and let rise in warm place until doubled in size.

THE PIZZA

3/4 lb. sweet Italian sausage in casing
2 Tbls olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about one large)
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, shredded (You can also substitute fontina, as I often do.)
1-1/2 cups tomato sauce with fresh basil and parsley and dried oregano
2 bell peppers, roasted, peeled, and chopped  (The color is up to you, but I like red and orange or yellow, rather than green.)
2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled

About an hour before dinner time, turn the oven up as high as it will go, preferably 500 degrees. Thirty to forty minutes before baking, roll dough out to 15” circle. [Or divide dough if you want to make two smaller pizzas.] Place on pizza screen if available, being careful not to press the dough into the mesh. With your fingers, press and form a 1/2 inch border around the edge.  Gently brush or rub the dough with the olive oil.  Cover with plastic wrap for this second rise

Cut the sausage into 1/2-inch thick coins.  In a large skillet, cook the sausage still in their casing in the olive oil over medium heat until cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

In the pan you used to cook the sausage, add the onion and cook over medium heat for two minutes to soften.

Spread the tomato sauce over the dough up to the raised border.  Spread the onion over the sauce.  Arrange the sausage coins evenly over the onion. Sprinkle the oregano over all, followed by the shredded cheese.  Arrange the bell peppers over the cheese, pressing them in gently.

Bake the  pizza on the bottom rack of the preheated oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and speckled.

My wife particularly liked this one.

Mangia! Mangia!

Serves 4 to 6.

The dough for this recipe came from James McNair’s excellent New Pizza.  Don’t be discouraged by the one-star reviews, they are bogus, imho.  One dweeb complained that McNair didn’t cover such arcane techniques as cold fermentation.  Geez.  If you want a cold ferment, use room temperature water and let the dough rise in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  But, you’re not going to have pizza tonight, and you won’t taste the subtleties a cold ferment brings to dough under all those toppings.

 

The Giambotta recipe itself is derived from one in The Ultimate Pizza by Pasquale Bruno, Jr., another quite reliable pizza book.

 

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Turkey Green Olive and Tomato Pizza

Turkey, Green Olive, and Sun-dried Tomato Pizza
This pizza features leftover Turkey, Green Olives, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Turkey, Green Olive, and Sun-dried Tomato Pizza

I had plenty of turkey left over from Thanksgiving and a big jar of green olives from Costco, so I came up with a recipe to use them.

THE DOUGH

Start dough at 4p for dinner between 7p and 8p
1 cup warm water (90 to 110 degrees F.) [280 grams]
2 tsp instant-rise yeast
3-1/4 cup bread flour [415 grams]
1 tsp salt
6 Tbls olive oil (extra virgin not necessary)
Combine ingredients and knead by hand for 10 minutes or machine
for two to five minutes. Coat dough ball in a thin film of olive oil or cooking spray, cover in plastic wrap, and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about two hours.

THE PIZZA

10 oz. cooked turkey
6 oz. pimento-stuffed green olives, sliced
4 oz. sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 Tbls olive oil
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (You can also substitute fontina, as I often do.)
1-1/2 to 2 cups thick tomato sauce seasoned with:
2 Tbls Italian seasoning
1 Tbls garlic powder
1 Tbls onion powder
1 can of anchovies (or salt to taste)

About an hour before dinner time, turn the oven up as high as it will go, preferably 500 degrees. Thirty to forty minutes before baking, roll dough out to 15” circle. [Or divide dough if you want to make two smaller pizzas.] Place on pizza screen if available, being careful not to press the dough into the mesh. With your fingers, press and form a 1/2 inch border around the edge.  Gently brush or rub the dough with the olive oil.  Cover with plastic wrap for this second rise

Spread the tomato sauce over the dough up to the raised border.  Arrange the turkey, green olives, and sun-dried tomatoes evenly over the sauce. Cover with the shredded cheese.

Bake the  pizza on the bottom rack of the preheated oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and speckled.

Mangia! Mangia!

Serves 4 to 6.

The dough for this recipe came from James McNair’s excellent New Pizza.  Don’t be discouraged by the one-star reviews on Amazon, they are bogus, imho.  One dweeb complained that McNair didn’t cover such arcane techniques as cold fermentation.  Geez.  If you want a cold ferment, use room temperature water and let the dough rise in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  But, you’re not going to have pizza tonight, and you won’t taste the subtleties a cold ferment brings to dough under all those toppings.

I paired this pizza with this excellent Chianti Classico.

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Pepperoni, Mushroom, and Banana Pepper Deep Dish Pizza

Pepperoni, Mushroom, and Banana Pepper Deep Dish Pizza

Pepperoni, Mushroom, and Banana Pepper Deep Dish Pizza

I didn’t grow up in Chicago, but I’ve lived in the suburbs for over 40 years. Two things that I discovered when I moved up from Texas were blues music and deep dish pizza, both of which I love to this day.  This riff on Chicago Deep Dish is far from authentic, but uses the ingredients I had on hand.

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Pizza Margherita

Pizza Margherita

I have nine pizza cookbooks, and seven of them have  a recipe for Pizza Margherita.  In part this is because it is a classic, and in part because the story of its creation is clearly known and iconic.  In 1889, the Italian royal couple King Umberto and Queen Margherita paid a visit to Naples.  While there, local pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito made three types of pizza for them: a marinara pizza with anchovies; a bianca (white) pizza with lard, provolone or caciocavallo cheese, and basil; and a pizza with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, featuring the red, white, and green of the Italian flag.  The queen was particularly delighted by that last one, and when Esposito received a note of thanks from her, he dedicated the pizza to her.

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Fajita Pizza

Fajita Pizza

Many people like fajitas.  Many people like pizza.  So, how about … a Fajita Pizza!  Ole!  Grazia!

Start marinade (see below) as early in the day as you like.

THE DOUGH

Start dough at 4p for dinner between 8p and 9p
1 cup warm water
2 tsp instant-rise yeast
3-1/4 cup bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin not necessary)
Combine ingredients and knead by hand for 10 minutes or machine
for 2 to 5 minutes. Coat dough ball in a thin film of olive oil, cover in plastic wrap and let rise in warm place.

THE PIZZA

About an hour before dinner time, turn the oven up as high as it will go.
Twenty to thirty minutes before dinner, roll dough out to 15” circle. [Or divide dough if you want to make two smaller pizzas.] Place on pizza screen if available, being careful not to press the dough into the mesh.  Cover with plastic wrap.

2 Tbs chili powder
2 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs ground coriander
1 tsp crumbled dried oregano
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ground cayenne to taste
1 pound beef skirt or flank steak, or chicken (thighs are best), cut into slices about 3 in. long and 1/4 in. thick. (I actually used duck, but My Lovely Wife wasn’t amused by the extravagance.  And honestly, the nuance of the duck was lost in this pie.)
2 medium bell peppers.  Any color will do, but I like red
1 medium onion, cut into thick slices
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup water
3 cups freshly shredded cheese: cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, fontina, whatever you like
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1-1/2 cups chunky salsa, store bought is fine.  I like Pace.

In a large zip-lock bag, combine all of the ingredients except the cheese, cilantro and salsa.  Marinade for as long as you like.

While the dough is undergoing its final rise, place a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  When the oil is shimmering, pour the entire contents of the zip-lock bag into the skillet.  Cook until the meat is done, the vegetables have softened, and the liquid has evaporated.  Remove plastic wrap from dough and brush liberally with olive oil.  Spread salsa evenly over dough.  Spread contents of skillet evenly over salsa.  Evenly spread the cheese over the pizza.

Bake in rippin’ hot oven until crust nicely browns, about 10
minutes.  Remove pizza to a cutting board, sprinkle with cilantro, slice, and serve.

This would go nicely with a robust Italian or Spanish red wine or a good Mexican beer.

Serves 4 to 6.

Here are some wines to try with this pizza:

Cecchi Wines

La Fea Selección Especial 2018 with Deep Dish Pizza

Two Unusual Wines from Italy, and One of My Original Pizza Recipes

Altolandon Rayuelo

This recipe was derived from James McNair’s excellent New Pizza.  Don’t be discouraged by the one-star reviews, they are bogus, imho.  One dweeb complained that McNair didn’t cover such arcane techniques as cold fermentation.  Geez.  If you want a cold ferment, use room temperature water and let the dough rise in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  But, you’re not going to have pizza tonight, and you won’t taste the subtleties a cold ferment brings to dough under all those toppings

Back to blog posts: winervana.com/blog/

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Deep Dish Sausage Pizza

deep dish sausage pizzaDeep Dish Sausage Pizza

It’s pizza night, and that means homemade deep dish. Sorry deep dish haters, but that’s the way I roll.

Start about four hours before you plan to eat.

This California-style dough is from James McNair’s excellent New Pizza.

1 cup water at 110 degrees F
2-1/4 tsp instant rise yeast
3-1/4 cup all purpose or bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Optional: 2 tsp garlic powder and/or 1 Tbs Italian seasoning

Mix the olive oil into the flour, then add the remaining ingredients.  Then knead by hand, stand mixer, food processor, or bread machine.  Time and technique will vary, so I’ll leave that up to you.  Lightly coat the dough with spray oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled.

1 Tbs olive oil
1 lb. hot and/or mild Italian sausage
2 cans of anchovies (trust me on this)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 poblano pepper, chopped
2 cups marinara or pizza sauce, homemade or store bought
1/2 cup green and/or black olives
6 oz. tomato paste
Optional: 8 oz. mushrooms, chopped
3 to 4 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 Tbs dried oregano
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
10 – 12 oz. mozzarella or (even better) fontina, coarsely grated
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, add the tablespoon of olive oil and saute the sausage.  When lightly browned, transfer to a bowl.  Add the anchovies with their oil to the saucepan.  Once the oil has reheated, add all of the vegetables and cook until tender, five to eight minutes.  Add the cooked sausage, 2 cups of sauce, tomato paste, oregano, and Worchestershire sauce.  Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat as low as you can, and simmer uncovered for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

About an hour and a half before you want to eat, heat oven to 450 degrees F.  Thirty minutes after starting the oven, punch down the dough and add to the pan.  I used a 12″ deep dish pan, but this would also work with two 9″ cake pans or a 16″ pizza screen.  (For the deep dish, I like to fold the crust in and over for the last step after the filling has been added.) Brush the dough with olive oil and set aside.   It will rise some more, intentionally.

After an  hour of preheating the oven, cover the dough with the sauce (it should be off the heat for at least 15 minutes prior), the basil, and the cheese, in that order.   Bake a flat pie for about 15 minutes, but check the crust for browning after 10.  Bake the deep dish for 30 minutes, assess, and go another 10 minutes if necessary.  Remove pizza from oven, rest for five minutes on a wire rack, and serve.  Will serve six to eight.

I paired up this hearty pie with a 2018 La Fea Selección Especial Tinto Rojo. This is a fresh and bright blend of 40% Tempranillo, 40% Garnacha, and 20% Syrah from northeast Spain’s Cariñena region. It is named after the unfortunate nickname whispered behind the back of Queen Isabela; La Fea translates as “the ugly one.” But it pours a lovely dark cherry hue in the glass. There is a lively nose of dark fruit, with aromas of raspberry, black cherry, and violet on the palate. 

If you make this pizza, let me know how it went in the comments section.

Back to blog posts: winervana.com/blog/

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