Ultra thin crust pizza

[amir]

Tried my tested pizza recipe on the KK today.  I have been making pizza like this for years.  Ultra thin crust, minimal toppings.  Crust comes out chewy and firm but not like a cracker.  It does not flake or break yet has a nice crunch to it, like the exterior of a hot-off-the-oil french fry.

 

I used to make this in the oven at 550 with a pizza stone.  It was a hit with everyone.  Today was the first time I made it on the KK.

 

Dough is a roman dough recipe that uses typo 00 flour and a small bit  (1 oz) of semolina flour.  The semolina is the key that gives it that special texture and allows it to be stretched ultrathin without tearing.  It requires a lot of kneading in the kitchenaid and a long rest time to allow full development of gluten.  For those interested, happy to share the recipe.

 

Started the KK with a full charcoal basket and let it heat soak around 500 for about 2 hours and then slowly ramped to 550.  Put my old pizza stone in it and after heat soaking, baked each pizza in the KK for 6 minutes.  My stone is thinner than the one that Dennis offers.  I thought it would sub well, but now I'm thinking it's thinness is probably suboptimal as it imparts a bit more direct heat.  Overall though, these pizza's were much better on the KK.  The dough turned out better than my oven and the pizza's cooked faster - not surprised as the entire KK is a giant pizza stone.

 

Made 4 pizzas:  

1) Plain ol' mushroom (for the kids)

2) wild mushroom (chantrelle and a few others)

3) shaved asparagus and scallion - this is my best pizza - shave the asparagus and thinly slice the scallions lengthwise and let them marinade with a tablespoon of white truffle oil for a couple hours.  dough, guyere cheese, and toppings - no pizza sauce.

4) potato - this is my second best pizza - dough, guyere cheese, rosemary, potatoes thinly sliced.  when finished out of the oven, drizzle balsamic glaze (concentrated balsamic vinegar).

 

Brush the edge of the crust with a little bit of olive oil before baking.  The edge of the crust ends up being awesome.  Because these are thin and light, you can eat a lot without noticing.  There's only 4 of us, but we made a big dent in these.

 

Onto the pics.  These are some of the ingredients:

 

The KK, heat soaked:

 

The plain mushroom pizza:

 

The wild mushroom pizza:

 

This is soooo thin, you can see the light through it - but it holds its shape and doesn't flop:

 

Here's a pic of the asparagus/scallion pizza on the KK:

 

Here's another after a few slices disappeared:

 

Ultra thin - holds is shape but can see light thru it:

 

Potato pizza just about to come off the KK:

 

Potato pizza with the balsamic glaze drizzled on:

[dstr8]

Good looking pies amir!   Yes, although I use an Italian sourdough culture starter for my Neapolitan type dough, I am interested in trying your dough recipe!   I currently have a batch of dough proofing in the refrigerator for pies to be baked on my KK 23" later this weekend.  I'm going to try your potato version for one of my pies:  I assume you steam or parboil the potatoes?

 

In fact this will also be the break-in for the new KK shaped baking stone I recently received from Dennis; pics to follow.

[CeramicChef]

Amir - WOW!  Great looking pizza pies you cooked there.  And they're just a tad bit different!  KUDOS!  That asparagus and scallion pizza gets major points for innovation!  I'd certainly never have thought of that combination.  Congrats on a great cook.

[amir]

Thanks all.

 

dstr8:  A few years ago, I got the book American Pie by Peter Reinhart.  A great book which has a lot of dough recipes.  I have tried most of them and I like them all - but this is by far my favorite.  Here's the recipe:

 

22.5 oz all purpose flour (i use typo 00 but i've tried with the others and works fine, typo 00 stretches better)

1 oz semolina flour

1.75 teasp salt

1 teasp instant yeast

15.3 oz room temp water

 

Mix at low for 4 min, then let sit for 10 min, then mix on med for about 8-10 min.   Take it out, fold into a ball.  At this point, I let it sit out in room temp for about 1 hour; turning it (stretching, folding, making into ball) 3 times, each 20 min apart.  

 

If you want to use it same day, keep it out for another 30 min.  Place in fridge for 2 hours, then take out and let come to room temp for 2 hours before using.

If using next day, put in fridge overnight and let come to room temp for 2 hours out of the fridge before using.

 

Dough will stretch nicely if you are patient and give it time to relax between stretches.  It is sticky so I just stretch it on parchment paper and put the pie and paper in the oven/KK.  Doesn't transfer well from a peel.

 

Re the potato pizza - I just thinly slice it with a mandolin and put it on raw.  It cooks nicely in the hot oven.  Don't over crowd it.

 

Good luck and can't wait to see your pics.

 

CeramicChef:  Thanks for the kudos.  I came up with the scallion/asparagus pizza when trying to get rid of left over stuff from another cook.  As they say, necessity is the mother of creativity.  The truffle oil is the key to this.

[dstr8]

Thanks again amir for the dough recipe; I tried it tonight!   I made the dough earlier today using Caputo 00 then just a short 2-hour rest in the refrigerator before sitting on the counter for a couple hours to pizza making time.  I ended up with 1175 grams of dough...that got divided into 3 balls/pies.

 

I had some fresh dill and parsley to use up so I made pesto with the two herbs, which was the base/sauce for one of the three pies I made; played well with the  potatoes.  Some left over shredded roast chicken, thinly sliced potatoes (thanks for the idea!) and a little cheese made for a tasty pie after baking off at 550*F in the KK atop the shaped stone.

 

Normally I use an Italian sourdough starter based Neapolitan style dough for my pies.  But the recipe you posted, amir, from Peter Reinhart resulted in an even thinner, more stretchable crust with a nice crispy under pie texture with a chewy edge.  And after you get used to baking Neapolitan pies at 800*F on the KK...keeping and baking at 550*F seems like easy street!  

 

Tasty results!

 

 

 

[ckreef]

Some interesting pies going on in this thread. Great job. Would have never thought to use asparagus.

[DaveyR]

looking good everyone.  Makes me want some pizza about now for breakfast

[CeramicChef]

Dstr8 - that looks as if it made some wonderful eating!  Beautiful pizza pies!  Kudos and congrats to you!