Michael's PIzza, Updated
If you ask Michael what he wants for dinner, nine times out of ten he says "pizza."
Which is one way of saying, we eat a lot of pizza at our house.
A couple of years ago I published the recipe for the pizza I was making then. Since then, however, I've perfected my pizza technique. The major changes are a bit of gluten in the dough, which improves the texture, more olive oil, and two kinds of mozzarella.
Here's how I'm doing it today. Next year? Who knows?
To begin with you'll need a a baking steel and a peel. If you eat as much pizza as we do, they're worth the investment. Then you'll need some time; this dough wants to rise a couple of times, at least, and I think it's much better on day two or three.
Finally, you'll need good anchovies and good mozzarella.
Anchovy and Caper Pizza for Michael
Dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup 00 Italian flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon gluten
3/4- 1 cup lukewarm water,
3/4 teaspoon active yeast
pinch of sugar
olive oil
Mix the two flours with the salt and the gluten. (The gluten really does give the dough a more flexible texture.)
Stir the yeast and sugar into the water. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, then mix the liquid into the flour with your hands, kneading for a few minutes until it's combined. It will be soft and sticky. Allow the dough to rest, unmolested, for 1o minutes, then turn it out onto a well floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes, adding as much flour as you need to make a soft dough. Form it into a ball.
Slick a large bowl with olive oil, turn the ball of dough so it's completely covered with oil, cover the bowl and leave it to rise for 2 to 3 hours. It should double.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead it again for a few minutes. Form it into a ball. Put a bit more olive oil into the bowl, turn the dough so it's shiny with oil and cover it again, allowing it to rise again until doubled. You can do this again - or not.
Knead it again for a few minutes, divide into two balls, refrigerate one and allow the other dough to rise again. (You can refrigerate it for a few days, freeze it for a couple of months, or use it immediately.)
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Put a baking steel on the second highest shelf in the oven and allow it to heat for an hour. (Be very careful when it gets hot; it will be searingly hot, and not remotely touchable, even with oven mitts on.)
Stretch one piece of dough into an 8 inch round; this is the hardest part of the entire process. Unless you know how to toss the dough into the air, it’s not easy to stretch it. Be patient.
Pizza Topping
3/4 cup canned tomatoes
olive oil
6-8 good quality anchovy filets
capers
1 ball supermarket mozzarella (the rubbery kind)
1 ball good quality buffalo mozzarella (or mozzarella from a good cheese store)
fresh basil
cornmeal
Assembling the Pizza
Coarsely mash up about 3/4 cup of canned tomatoes with a fork, then stir in a tablespoon of olive oil.
Remove 6 - 8 anchovies from the bottle.
Drain a few tablespoons of capers.
Dice or grate about a third of a pound of supermarket mozzarella into tiny pieces.
Shred a few leaves of basil.
Dust a pizza peel liberally with cornmeal.
Put the round of pizza dough onto the peel. Spread the tomatoes over the pizza dough. Sprinkle the diced supermarket pizza over the top, and decorate with the anchovies and capers. Scatter the basil about. Top with pieces of the buffalo mozzarella, roughly torn apart with your fingers. Open the oven door and very carefully shake the pizza onto the steel without touching it. (If you’ve never done this before it’s tricky, but you quickly get the hang of it.)
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, depending on how you like your pizza. Remove with the peel; if it scoots away from you, use tongs to get it onto the peel. Serve it hot, right on the peel.
This is dinner for 2 or snacks for 6.