Pizza!

Thanks very much to Marco for hosting a terrific convivium at the San Francisco Baking Institute. Besides the inventive pizzas that many participants have created, I had the chance to refresh my palate with flavors such as gorgonzola and pears and Italian wild arugula (the pointy one) on top of an awesome focaccia di Recco (with Bellwether crescenza) and superb eclaires (recipe for the choux pastry from Sherry Yard).

My pizza was OK…I was light handed with salt and the dough came out bland in flavor althoug it has huge potential. A different take on the classic Gorgonzola and pears combination where the silky texture and the truffley flavors of goat cheese are contrasted by the tart crunchiness of green apples. For this pizza I always use an aged goat cheese like a Laura Chenel‘s taupiniere (very reasonably priced at Rainbow grocery).
Walnuts are also very welcome too as an additional topping.

Here is the recipe for my fail-proof dough (and it only takes 2-3 hours to have it).

• 500 g strong flour (W250 like the Ultimate performer from Whole Foods)
• 1 tsp of barley malt
• 1 tsp of gluten flour
• 4 good pinches of kosher salt
• 2 good pinches of sugar
• one little piece of fresh yeast (1 x 1 x 0.5 inches) diluted in a glass of lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar

I do normally work the dough a lot, something like 10-15 minutes, until silky and elastic. I let the ball of dough rise in the oven for an hour (with the light on, or just turn it on for 30 seconds to generate a gentle heat) then punch it down, let it rise another hour or so and then it’s ready to use.
The wood-fire oven created beautiful blister and the dough was perfectly crusty and soft at the bite….I love it like that….