Pizza Pizza
Aug. 28th, 2023 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Fennel Sausage and Onion Pizza.
"This pie has been on the menu since we opened."
1 dough ball
1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 Tbsp butter While I see that 1/2 Tbsp spoons are now available, there's no need for them as we have existing sizes for that. Just say 1 1/2 tsp, dammit.)
3-4 g salt
150 g loose fennel sausage (see below, note that this is about 5 oz)
90 g tomato sauce
90 g mozzarella
10 g whole jarred chile peppers, sliced (optional) (I didn't use)
6-7 basil leaves
olive oil
Fennel sausage spice mix (enough for 4.4 lbs):
40 g ground fennel seed
30 g salt
20 g black pepper
15 g sugar
5 g red pepper
Combine the spices. To make sausage, mix 25 g with 1 lb pork.
Heat a pizza stone in the oven at 550° for 45 minutes.
Saute the onions, butter, and salt, stirring often. After 5 minutes, reduce the heat to low. Cook for another 20-25 minutes to caramelize, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and set the onions aside. Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until cooked, about 5 minutes.
Set up your pizza assembly station, giving yourself about 2' of width on the countertop. Moderately flour the work surface. Position your wooden peel next to the floured area and lightly dust it with flour. Have the ingredients at hand. Switch the oven to broil.
Put the dough ball on the work surface and flip to coat both sides moderately with flour. Shape the dough. Transfer to the peel and run your hands around the perimeter (of the pizza, not the peel) to relax it and work out the kinks.
Spread the tomato sauce over the dough to within 1/2" of the edge, smoothing it. Layer the sliced mozzarella evenly. Top with the sausage, caramelized onion, chiles, and basil leaves, and drizzle olive oil in a few stripes over the pizza. Turn off the broiler, then slide the pizza onto the pizza stone. Bake at 550° for 5 minutes, until the rim is golden. Change the oven setting to broil and let the pizza finish until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Serve sliced.
I made a dry yeast crust that was very similar to the sourdough recipe from the same cookbook and I don't feel like re-typing it in here.
What worked: This reads like more work than it really is, although there is time and planning involved.
I posted a picture on the Book of Faces. It was one of the better-looking pizzas I've made in a couple years - and we nommed it up. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to hand-stretch out into a reasonable circle, and it baked up as a relatively light crust. I'm tempted to replace all the other pizza dough recipes we have with either this or the sourdough version.
The Italian sausage tasted right and would be a good bulk sausage recipe to keep made and in the freezer, or as a jar of spice mix for the future. I used half a jar of caramelized onions I had made some time ago rather than slicing an onion and cooking it.
What didn't: The crust was not as brown as we would have liked; our oven only goes to 500°. While the basil wasn't totally baked to a crisp, I'd probably throw it on at the end to wilt slightly but stay green. That does mean it tends to fall off when you eat it, so I understand why the directions are to put it on before baking. Personal preference.
Will I make it again? I'm probably going to have to buy this cookbook, dammit.
"This pie has been on the menu since we opened."
1 dough ball
1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 Tbsp butter While I see that 1/2 Tbsp spoons are now available, there's no need for them as we have existing sizes for that. Just say 1 1/2 tsp, dammit.)
3-4 g salt
150 g loose fennel sausage (see below, note that this is about 5 oz)
90 g tomato sauce
90 g mozzarella
10 g whole jarred chile peppers, sliced (optional) (I didn't use)
6-7 basil leaves
olive oil
Fennel sausage spice mix (enough for 4.4 lbs):
40 g ground fennel seed
30 g salt
20 g black pepper
15 g sugar
5 g red pepper
Combine the spices. To make sausage, mix 25 g with 1 lb pork.
Heat a pizza stone in the oven at 550° for 45 minutes.
Saute the onions, butter, and salt, stirring often. After 5 minutes, reduce the heat to low. Cook for another 20-25 minutes to caramelize, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and set the onions aside. Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until cooked, about 5 minutes.
Set up your pizza assembly station, giving yourself about 2' of width on the countertop. Moderately flour the work surface. Position your wooden peel next to the floured area and lightly dust it with flour. Have the ingredients at hand. Switch the oven to broil.
Put the dough ball on the work surface and flip to coat both sides moderately with flour. Shape the dough. Transfer to the peel and run your hands around the perimeter (of the pizza, not the peel) to relax it and work out the kinks.
Spread the tomato sauce over the dough to within 1/2" of the edge, smoothing it. Layer the sliced mozzarella evenly. Top with the sausage, caramelized onion, chiles, and basil leaves, and drizzle olive oil in a few stripes over the pizza. Turn off the broiler, then slide the pizza onto the pizza stone. Bake at 550° for 5 minutes, until the rim is golden. Change the oven setting to broil and let the pizza finish until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Serve sliced.
I made a dry yeast crust that was very similar to the sourdough recipe from the same cookbook and I don't feel like re-typing it in here.
What worked: This reads like more work than it really is, although there is time and planning involved.
I posted a picture on the Book of Faces. It was one of the better-looking pizzas I've made in a couple years - and we nommed it up. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to hand-stretch out into a reasonable circle, and it baked up as a relatively light crust. I'm tempted to replace all the other pizza dough recipes we have with either this or the sourdough version.
The Italian sausage tasted right and would be a good bulk sausage recipe to keep made and in the freezer, or as a jar of spice mix for the future. I used half a jar of caramelized onions I had made some time ago rather than slicing an onion and cooking it.
What didn't: The crust was not as brown as we would have liked; our oven only goes to 500°. While the basil wasn't totally baked to a crisp, I'd probably throw it on at the end to wilt slightly but stay green. That does mean it tends to fall off when you eat it, so I understand why the directions are to put it on before baking. Personal preference.
Will I make it again? I'm probably going to have to buy this cookbook, dammit.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-29 05:45 am (UTC)It took some time after I moved to Europe before I got used to the fact that the lines on the block of butter (it comes in large blocks here, not sticks) are for 50 gram increments, and not tablespoons or cups. Now I just know that half a cup is 113 grams (which is a little bothersome, as I have to cut the packet 1/4 of the way between the lines).
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