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Sicilian-Style Square Pizza Pie

Posted by foolishpoolish, August 8, 2009 at 2:00 PM

Note: You may know foolishpoolish from the comments on Slice, where he dives in with abandon--particularly where pizza-making is concerned. Yesterday, he shared this recipe with us. I'm putting it up today, as it takes a while. You should go grab the ingredients and start today. You'll be enjoying this delicious-looking pizza by Monday. --The Mgmt.

- makes two thick-crust 14-by-10-inch pizzas or three thinner pizzas -

Notes

• Time: 2 days (first day making the sauce and mixing preferment, second day mixing the final dough and baking the pizza). Three days if refrigerating the dough
• The recipe for the sauce was inspired by two different Heston Blumenthal techniques featured in his In Search of Perfection... books and television series. One used tomato pulp and seeds to make an umami-rich paste (which I have dubbed "tomami") while the other involves drying fresh tomatoes in the oven to bring out their sweetness
• The recipe for the dough was designed to be flexible enough to use sourdough starter (if you have some available) or just baker's yeast if not. For those using a sourdough starter, there is an optional refrigeration step, which will give the crust greater depth of flavor, make it slightly chewier, and mildly tangy. Use according to taste
• The baking process is very much influenced by Dom DeMarco's method for making the square pies he turns out at Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn. Thanks to all the food bloggers and YouTube uploaders who, between them, have almost the entire process captured on video, although I should clarify that in no way is this pizza recipe intended as a "Di Fara copy"

Tomato Sauce

- makes enough for at least 3 pizzas -

Ingredients

• 800g of canned, whole, plum peeled tomatoes
• 20 small, vine-ripened tomatoes (vine stem still attached)
• 3 fresh bay leaves, shredded
• 3 to 4 stalks of fresh thyme
• Dried oregano to taste
• 4 to 5 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)
• 40 basil leaves
• Olive oil

Procedure

1. Take the tomatoes off the stem.

2. Deskin the tomatoes (lightly score an "x" on the base of each tomato with a sharp knife. Immerse in boiling water for 10 seconds before immediately plunging in cold/ice water--skins should come off easily after this).

3. Halve the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds and pulp from the centre of each tomato (reserve this for later).

4. Lightly coat the deseeded tomatoes in olive oil.

5. Place the tomatoes, cut side up in a lined pan or baking sheet.

6. Sprinkle shredded bay leaf, oregano and fresh thyme leaves over the tomatoes.

7. Place a slice of garlic in each tomato and cover with a fresh basil leaf.

8. Place the tomatoes in an oven set on a low heat (200°F) for 3 hours. Turn them over once during this time making sure the tomatoes don't dry out completely or burn. You can discard the herbs and garlic once the tomatoes are done.

9. With the canned tomatoes, as with the fresh, carefully scoop out any pulp and seeds to add to the previously extracted pulp.

10. Sieve the collected pulp into a saucepan to remove the seeds.

11. Over a low heat, reduce the strained liquid slowly until it becomes a thick red paste. Stir frequently to prevent burning. This will take about an hour and yield just a few tablespoons of intensely flavored "tomami." For additional umami goodness, you can also add some Parmesan rind to the liquid during the first half hour or so of reduction (this wisdom comes from reading Jennifer Hess's blog, Last Night's Dinner).

12. Mix the oven-dried tomatoes with the canned tomatoes. Blend the tomato mixture and strain.

13. Stir in the "tomami."

14. Steep the vine stems in the sauce in the refrigerator overnight (remove the vine stems before using).

15. If all that sounds like way too much effort for disproportionate reward then you can't go far wrong with good quality canned tomatoes--crushed, strained and seasoned to taste.

Toppings (per pizza)

• 200g finely sliced/chopped fior di latte (I used a semi-dry block mozzarella, but a fresh well-drained fior di latte would also work)
• 125g sliced mozzarella di bufala
• 50g (or however generous you want to be!) grated hard cheese. I recommend using pecorino sardo
• 6 to 8 generous tablespoons of tomato sauce (see above)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Handful of basil leaves
• Any other desired toppings (I used sliced red onion and fried pancetta for the pizza featured in the photos)

Preferment for Final Dough

If you don't have sourdough starter, you can use a biga as your preferment:

Biga rising.

• 600g flour (80% "00" or unbleached all purpose flour, 20% Canadian or high-gluten flour)
• 336g water
• 0.1g instant dry yeast (a really small pinch!)

Procedure

Mix until even and leave to rise in a covered bowl at room temperature (70° to 75°F) for 12 to 15 hours. The biga should have risen to its maximum height and just started to show the first signs of imminent collapse.

If you do have sourdough starter on hand, then you can mix a biga naturale instead:

Sourdough starter.

• 575g flour (80% 00 or unbleached all purpose flour, 20% canadian or high gluten flour)
• 311g water
• 50g storage starter (preferably 100% hydration. Use starter which has reached peak activity in the current feeding cycle)
• 2g salt

Procedure

Mix until even and leave to rise in a covered bowl at room temperature (70° to 75°F) for about 15 hours until it reaches maximum volume (again, before it collapses!).

For some extra "wheaty" flavor, you can replace 50 to 75g of the white flour mix with whole wheat flour.

The salt is optional, but I have included it in the recipe to prevent excessive gluten degradation during the long fermentation.

Final Dough

Ingredients

• All of biga or biga naturale
• 352g flour (80% "00" or unbleached all purpose flour, 20% Canadian or high-gluten flour)
• 283g water
• 23g salt (25g if you used either the yeasted biga or didn't add salt to the biga naturale)
• 1 teaspoon (3g) instant dry yeast

Procedure

1. Mix flour, yeast, biga and water into an even dough

2. Rest the dough for 15 minutes.

3. Add salt and mix until even.

4. Continue kneading until the dough is fully developed (use the windowpane test).

5. Rest the dough for 5 to 10 minutes, allowing it to relax.

6. Divide the dough (about 750g for a thick crust, about 500g for a thinner crust, less if you're using a smaller pan).

7. Form each portion into a ball.

8. Rest for 1 hour or refrigerate the dough in a lightly oiled container. Using dough that has been refrigerated 12 to 15 hours will give a tangier crust with, in my opinion, a superior flavor. I recommend a refrigeration temperature in the low 40s (Fahrenheit). If the dough rises dramatically in the refrigerator, you can take it out and punch it down, shape back into a ball before putting back in the fridge.

Baking The Pizza

1. Generously grease a 14-by-10-by-1-inch pan with olive oil.

2. On a lightly floured or oiled surface gently spread out either fresh or refrigerated dough.

3. Roughly to the size of the pan. Flour the top surface of the dough and fold over (halving the length).

4. Carefully lift the dough and place it in the oiled pan and unfold.

5. Brush off the excess flour from the top and spread the dough out to the edges of the pan, pinching any large air bubbles that might surface.

6. Spread a little tomato sauce over the dough, leaving a centimeter border around the edge.

7. Proof for 2 hours at room temperature until puffy (should roughly double).

8. During the proofing time, preheat the oven for 1 hour at maximum temperature.

9. Bake the pizza base for 10 to 15 minutes on the stone until it has stopped rising and the edges have just started to take on a little color.

10. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

11. Carefully lift the pizza base out and leave on a second cooling rack.

12. Turn the broiler on for 10 minutes.

13. Meanwhile, allow the pan to cool slightly before brushing more oil over the bottom.

14. Return the pizza base to the pan and top with the cheeses.

15. Spoon the sauce over the cheese and add any other toppings you desire and give the pizza a final drizzle of olive oil.

16. If the broiler element is adjustable, turn it to low and place the pizza on the baking stone under the broiler to cook for a further 5 minutes (or until sides are well browned and cheese has melted). If you do not have an adjustable broiler, then turn off the broiler element and switch the oven back to maximum temperature. Bake the pizza on the stone for 10 minutes (again until sides are well browned and cheese has melted).

17. Remove the pizza from the oven and dress as desired. (I used more grated hard cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil, Di Fara style!)

Baker's Percentages

For the scientifically or mathematically minded, I am aware the accuracy is inconsistent in the percentage calculations (decimal places etc.). Please do recalculate to your own degree of satisfaction.

Biga: 100% flour, 56% water, 0.02% yeast
Biga Naturale: 100% flour, 54% water, 8.7% starter, 0.35% salt (optional)
Final Dough: 100% flour, 266% preferment, 80% water, 6.5% or 7.1% salt, 0.85% yeast
Total Formula Using Biga: 100% flour, 65% water, 2.7% salt, 0.33% yeast
Total Formula Using Biga Naturale: 100% flour, 64% water, 5.4% starter, 2.7% salt, 0.32% yeast

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Tags: Di Fara, Sicilian pizza, baking, dough, pizza, pizza dough, pizza sauce, tomato sauce, vegetarian