Pizza - Sicilian w/ Sausage !

[deb415611]

Did some pizza tonight –   Bucci's Homeade Sausage Pizza from "The Pizza Book" by Evelyne Slomon

The crust – I'm posting the original recipe & then I'll post the way I did this crust:

Sicilian-Style Pizza Dough  (from the book)

1 1/2 c Warm tap water (110 to 115 degrees)
1/2 c Olive oil
1 pkg   Active dry yeast
4 1/2 To 5 cups flour
1 tsp salt   

1. Pour the water into a medium-sized mixing bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Stir gently with a fork until the yeast has dissolved and the liquid turns light beige in color.
2. Add 1 cups of the flour, the olive oil, and the salt. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Add a second cup of flour to the bowl and mix well. After the second cup of flour has been mixed in, the dough should start coming away from the sides of the bowl and should begin to form a soft,sticky mass.
3. Measure out the third cup of flour. Sprinkle some over the work surface and flour your hands generously. Remove all of the dough from the bowl and begin to work the mass by kneading the additional flour in a bit at a time.
4. To knead the dough, use the heel of your hands to push the dough across the floured work surface in one sweep. Clench the dough in your fist and twist and fold it over. Use the dough scraper to help gather the wet dough that sticks to the work surface into a ball while kneading. Repeat this action over and over again, adding only as much flour as it takes to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Work quickly and dont be delicate. Slap and push the dough around to develop its gluten and to facilitate its rolling out. (Kneading pizza dough is a great way to relieve pent-up aggression!)
5. When the dough no longer feels sticky, push the heel of your hand down into it and hold it there for 10 seconds. This will test its readiness;if your hand comes up clean, the dough is done. If it sticks, a bit more kneading will be necessary. Once the dough is no longer sticky, do not overwork it by adding more flour. Continue kneading only until the dough is smooth and elastic (it should spring back when pressed) and no lines of raw white flour show. The whole process should take 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Lightly oil a 2 quart bowl with vegetable oil. Roll the ball of dough around in the bowl to coat it with a thin film of oil. Tightly seal the bowl with plastic wrap to trap in the moisture and heat from the yeasts carbon dioxide gases. This will help the dough rise faster.
7. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise for 30 to 45 minutes.
8. Once the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down by pushing your fist into it. All of the gases will quickly escape, and the dough will collapse. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it again for about 1 minute.
9. The dough is now ready to be patted and rolled into pizza, or to undergo additional rising.
10. To raise dough a second time, add a bit more oil to the bowl and repeat the procedure indicated for the first rising. Then the dough is ready to be shaped.


My way:

The night before:
Put 4 ½ cups of flour, 1 tsp. instant yeast (I didn't have Active Dry Yeast & cut down the amount because I decided to do overnight rise) and salt in food processor with dough blade.  Pulsed a couple times to mix salt & yeast into the flour.   Added water (I used cold out of the water cooler) and olive oil.   Turned food processor on until dough formed a ball and came away from the sides of the food processor (still pretty sticky at this point).



Spread about ½ of the remaining flour on counter & hand kneaded until smooth

Put in oiled bowl, covered & put in fridge for about 20 hour rise

Before putting in fridge:

After 20 hour rise in fridge

   
About 30-45 minutes before bake time take out of fridge

Oil 12x17 pan.   Put dough in pan and press out with fingers.  If it doesn't want to go out to corners let it rest for a few minutes and try again. 




Top with Sauce:

Bucci's Sausage Sauce  (note in book – The success of this sauce and the pizza it is used on is totally dependent on the quality of the sausage you use.  The better the sausage, the better the pie)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 pound Italian sweet sausage, casings removed 

1 garlic clove, peeled & crushed
1  28 oz can whole tomatoes packed in puree or juice (I used crushed tomatoes)
½ tsp oregano or 1-2 fresh basil leaves

Brown sausage in oil, add garlic & cook for 1 minute,  crush tomatoes & then add to sausage, add oregano & simmer for 1 hour 



The pizza –

Spread sauce on pizza with slotted spoon  (The recipe says you will have leftover sauce & to use it on pasta or foccacia – I put it all on)



Recipe calls for 12 oz thinly sliced mozzarella  (I used about 2 oz diced smoked provolone and about 10 oz shredded mozzarella)



Recipe says to let dough rise for 30 minutes before baking (I did not)

Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes  (I suggest setting the timer so your pizza does not look like mine)

[Smoking Duck]

Mama Mia!  Now that's some pizza Deb!  That looks awesome........thanks for posting the nice pictorial and the recipe.  Now, I'm gonna have to give it a go!

SD

[Buck36]

That pizza looks fantastic. I appreciate you putting the volume measurements for the recipe. I read the pizzamaking.com posts and everything is done by weight. Is this how you actually do it? If so how big of a difference does it make?

Also will you "age" the dough? I mean where they talk about leaving it in the fridge for a number of days? Or is that why you make yours the night before?


...sorry for all the questions but you are our resident expert!

[Gizmo]

I like the browning of the cheese.  I think it gives it character and a little extra flavor. 

[Smoking Duck]

I like the browning of the cheese.  I think it gives it character and a little extra flavor. 

I concur.......that's the best tasting cheese, IMO.


Stupid question Deb.  I've never done a dough and left it overnight in the fridge.  If I was using Active Dry Yeast, how much would you use to do the recipe as you did it?

Thanks!

SD

[Smokin Soon]

I hate to admit it but that has aroused my "Inner Hazel" enough to try it! Been looking at Duck's pizza, and this pushed me over to the edge! Wish me luck, I'm a good smoker-cooker, but as a baker,
many boo-boos! I will give it a go.  ::)

[Buck36]

Go for it SS! I am no where near a baker. I read all the pizza posts on here and have got the bug too. I bought the big pizza peel, Sir Lancelot flour, and stone.

.....Now I just have to figure out what I am doing.  ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

Deb;

That looks good. I may try that tomorrow while the snow strom moves in.

Have you seen the frozen pizza recipe in the current "Cook's Country" (or it may have been Cook's Illustrated). I was just wondering if you saw it what you thought about it.

[pensrock]

Looks great Deb. And if the cheese ain't brown its not done, IMHO.
pens

[deb415611]

That pizza looks fantastic. I appreciate you putting the volume measurements for the recipe. I read the pizzamaking.com posts and everything is done by weight. Is this how you actually do it? If so how big of a difference does it make?

Also will you "age" the dough? I mean where they talk about leaving it in the fridge for a number of days? Or is that why you make yours the night before?


...sorry for all the questions but you are our resident expert!

Buck,

I actually weighed the flour when I made this figuring 4.5 oz flour per cup.  I think it makes a difference when baking.  You can probably pack 6 oz of flour into a cup if you are not careful.  If not weighing stir the flour in the bag, scoop out with a spoon into measuring cup to overflowing and level off with a knife (unless author specifies another way of getting the flour into the cup). 

Many of the recipes at pizzamaking.com will have oz/grams and volume measurements but if not post and ask Peter (Pete-zza) for help converting.  He is the pizzamaking.com equivalent of Habs. 

Overnight --  I usually do mine for one or two nights.  It does make a difference of flavor.  That's why I changed this recipe. 

Deb

[deb415611]

I like the browning of the cheese.  I think it gives it character and a little extra flavor. 

I concur.......that's the best tasting cheese, IMO.


Stupid question Deb.  I've never done a dough and left it overnight in the fridge.  If I was using Active Dry Yeast, how much would you use to do the recipe as you did it?

Thanks!

SD

I think for instant the conversion is to use about 75% of the active dry amount.   So I would probably use 1/2 package of active dry.  The package has 2 1/4 tsp so I would use 1 1/8 so you can get two pizzas out of the package.   It should be fine.

If you have a costco/Bj's/Sams or restaurant supplier check there for yeast.  I bought 2 lbs of instant yeast for about $4 at BJs.  I keep the open package in an airtight container in the freezer.  It is much more economical.

[deb415611]

I hate to admit it but that has aroused my "Inner Hazel" enough to try it! Been looking at Duck's pizza, and this pushed me over to the edge! Wish me luck, I'm a good smoker-cooker, but as a baker,
many boo-boos! I will give it a go.  ::)

I'm sure it will be your baking breakthrough!   :)

[deb415611]

Deb;

That looks good. I may try that tomorrow while the snow strom moves in.

Have you seen the frozen pizza recipe in the current "Cook's Country" (or it may have been Cook's Illustrated). I was just wondering if you saw it what you thought about it.

I will have to go look.  I don't get Cooks Country and let my Cook's Illustrated lapse but still have online version.   I have been thinking about trying frozen dough since my busy time at work is starting.  I usually fill the freezer with cooked meals in January to get me through the next few months. 

[deb415611]

Looks great Deb. And if the cheese ain't brown its not done, IMHO.
pens

It's not the recipe that you are looking for but good.  I like it once in a while for a change.  It can also be done by hand.

[deb415611]

This was the first time I have ever done pizza in the food processor.  I liked the way it came together.  I don't think it would have done a double batch though.   Two of these would feed a bunch of yard-apes & friends cheaply.

If I were to make it in the mixer with the instant yeast I would :

dissolve the salt in the water then add oil
Mix the yeast & salt into the flour
Combine the two and mix with spoon in mixer bowl until most of flour incorporated
Use the dough hook to knead

Note this is only for instant yeast -- Instant yeast does not have to be activated (mixed w warm water).  I like instant yeast because I'm lazy & can just throw in the recipe. 

If you are using mixer and active dry yeast I would follow the directions in the original post adapting for mixer