Shapeless Pizza, but a Choc-Full of Taste!

 

I know what you’re thinking.  Your reaction to this picture is, "that’s a bizarre shape for a pizza!" 

I admit.  I struggled with the dough.  It behaved atrociously, and no matter what I did, it rebelled.  No amount of coaxing or cajoling could turn it round or rectangular.  It wouldn’t budge.  I think it was a miracle I managed to make it stay open so I could quickly shove in the toppings before it went berserk on me again.  This pizza dough – made from scratch – was wet, sticky and unwieldy.  I was tempted to chuck it.

Then someone whispered in my ear that people were starving elsewhere so decided against it.  With all the patience I could harness, I caressed it with pizza sauce, sprinkled it generously with thinly sliced green peppers, mushrooms, salami/prosciutto, dressed it up with mozzarella and then dribbled a few drops of hot pepper sauce.

What happened after that?  This pizza was a true, certified gourmet delight.  Mouth watering – and I’m not exaggerating!

When it came out of the oven, I set it on the table while I prepared a green salad.  When I sank my teeth into it, my taste buds were suddenly energized.  It was oozing with taste, I forgot that infamous struggle earlier.  Think of a pizza baked in a makeshift brick or stone oven at the back of a country home in an old Italian countryside.  Yes, it tasted that way.  To use an oft-repeated phrase – it was to die for!

Home, home on the range.  What an accidentally delicious pizza that landed on my plate!

I can think of at least three good reasons why this pizza came out a winner:

• I added some sourdough starter.  They say using a small amount of sourdough starter injects it with extra flavor.  It is certainly much, much better than store-bought pizzas.  You know how some commercial pizzas taste like cardboard?
• The dough recipe was a combination of semolina, rye and all-purpose flour.
• The baking stone and the high heat

While this pizza deserved flying colors for taste and flavor, I suspect that the sourdough starter may have contributed to the dough being unmanageable.  Was high hydration the culprit (my starter is 100% hydration)?  Should I reduce the amount of water when using a starter?

Second, I’m not exactly sure that setting the oven temperature at 475 degrees (F) is a good idea.  Some experts say that the baking stone combined with high heat will yield the ideal crust.  I have my doubts.  I’d much rather set the oven at 350 degrees and bake it for an additional 7-10 minutes – for a total baking time of 20 minutes.  Broiling the pizza for two minutes on high is also a good idea.  Most of the recipes I’ve come across recommend 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes, depending on the crust’s thickness.  Next time I’ll pre-heat the oven at that temperature and then reduce the heat to 350 as soon as the pizza goes in.

The first pizza dough had rye, semolina and all-purpose unbleached flours.  The second one had organic bread flour and all-purpose unbleached.  I used my starter in both cases.  The first pizza with the three flours was a lot more flavorful.  The semolina gives the crust a nutty taste with excellent crunchiness.

Now that I’ve learned to make pizza dough from scratch, it’s going to be hard for me to buy commercial pizza again.  As soon as I find the right blend to make the dough more pliable, I’ll make batches and freeze them (they will hold well in the freezer for up to two weeks).

Here’s a tip from the experts:  less is more.  This means don’t smother your pizza with pizza sauce and use more than 3-4 toppings (cheese and sauce excluded).  They say there must be a good balance of the sauce, cheese and toppings.  Let the cheese and toppings come out in their full flavor, without one encroaching on the other.

Other possible combinations:  chopped spinach with goat cheese, basil leaves and spicy sausage, grilled eggplant, asparagus and palm hearts.

How about just cheese?  Whatever your heart desires.  But be a convert to "pizza from scratch."