When you think of Italian food, do you think of pasta? Risotto? Bolognese sauce?
Or are you like me and go straight to a vision of a perfectly baked pizza right out of the oven? If so, I’m here to tell you that you’re even smarter and better-looking than you thought.
In my final years in brussels, I escaped to Rome three times. I needed the blue sky, the gelato, and the glorious food (which is often reproduceable in your own kitchen). And it was there that I was reminded that – depending on where you are – pizza can be other than a thin base with a poofy crust, red sauce, and cheese (Neapolitan or Napolitano.) Naples is the most famous of all for its pizza, as that’s where today’s evolved version originated. The Margherita pizza, invented by Raffaele Esposito in Naples in 1889, was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, who was visiting the city. It’s the one with the puffy outer crust, tomato sauce, and some fresh mozzarella, often with a few leaves of fresh basil. It is really, really delicious. But you know, that’s really only the beginning.
Rome has two of its own kinds of pizza: one on focaccia that comes sliced into a square (pizza al taglio) and the other on a very thin round crust (Romana) that still manages to magically retain some chew. Sicilian grandmothers have their own too: it’s thick and baked in a rectangular pan. Cross the Atlantic and you’ll find New York, Detroit, Quad Cities, and New Haven-style, among others. Pizza has truly transcended its roots and become whatever the local population likes, anywhere in the world. Check out the first two episodes of Chef’s Table: Pizza on Netflix and you’ll see two very different styles made by two amazing celebrity pizzaiolos, Chris Bianco and Gabriele Bonci.
Let’s start at the beginning. Pizza is essentially a flatbread baked with toppings. It was the food of the poor; easily, quickly, and cheaply produced, as well as easy to eat. You and I probably have similar default ideas of what the rest looks like (cheese, tomato sauce, likely a few toppings), but vast pizza-eating experience has taught me that it can be whatever you want it to be: cream sauce, no sauce, topped with no cheese at all, or as much as you can lift. Meat, vegetables, and even fruit are all possibilities. The only mistake you can make is putting corn on as a topping (I’m looking at you, Great Britain).
Yes, I said fruit can be a legit topping. And yes, when I say that, I’m including pineapple, no apologies. Hawaiian pizza, a Canadian invention by Greek-Canadian Sam Panopoulos in Chatham, Ontario, is delicious because it is a sweet and salty combination. Is it sacrilegious? Maybe (no, not at all). But I don’t really care. One of my Italian counterparts and I at NATO had an endless argument about the acceptability of Hawaiian pizza; although the thought of a Hawaiian pizza caused him physical pain (he was from Naples), he did really love the debate. In the end, my grandmother was right, “good is what you like.” Of course, you could also have a sweet-salty combo with more accepted fruit, like figs or pear. But let’s be honest. The only person’s opinion that matters is the one who is eating it.
And while sitting in a restaurant anywhere in Italy is a wonderful thing, you are perfectly capable of making a really good pizza at home. For real. One of the best parts of being back in Ottawa again is having an oven that is big and hot enough to produce a decent pizza crust and robust enough to support my beloved pizza stone, which has been liberated from its cardboard box prison after four long years. No matter what life brings, no matter how tough the day has been, I know I can come home and have something delicious with very little effort. The best part is that you have full control over what that something delicious is.
I recently bought an online bread-making course on BBC Maestro, taught by UK-based French master baker Richard Bertinet. The course is fantastic, and one of the best parts about it was the unexpectedly wonderful recipe for pizza. Pizza, made by a French baker in Bath, England. I now make it almost every week, starting the process on Thursday and baking it either Friday or Saturday, after it’s had a long rest in the fridge. The instructions may look daunting, but it’s really just explaining a few techniques that make things work a bit easier/better.
RECIPE // RECETTE
Richard Bertinet’s Amazing Pizza
WARNING: you will need a scale for this recipe, which you can find online or in many grocery stores.
- Two days before you want to feast, combine 31 grams water (room temperature), 1 gram of yeast and 31 grams of bread flour in a jar and stir with a spoon to combine. Cover and let rise 3 hours on the countertop. You can also put it in the fridge overnight and remove 3 hours before you want to make the dough.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the following: 165 grams of water, 5 grams yeast, 250 grams bread flour, 5 grams semolina, 5 grams fine salt, 8 grams of olive oil. Stir to combine, to make a fairly wet dough,
adding a tiny bit of extra flour to keep things from sticking too much to the bowl and your hands. - Mix in a stand mixer for 4 minutes or about 12 minutes on the countertop by hand. Place back in the bowl, pour a dollop of olive oil over it, then rotate the dough so that the dough gets completely coated. Then cover, place in the fridge, and forget about it for 48 hours. You can use it after 24 hours, but I promise the extra rising time makes a better pizza.
- To prep the pizza, divide the dough in half (you’ll get two pizzas from this recipe; one pizza feeds two). Use either a bit of bread flour or some semolina (my preference) to keep the dough from sticking to the prep surface, which can be a pizza peel or a smooth wooden cutting board, preferably with a handle that you will use to shake the pizza in a smooth motion into the oven. Don’t roll it out unless you want a flat crust. Rather, use one hand to press down the middle of one piece of dough, keeping the outside rim untouched. Do some gentle stretching of the centre (check out “pizza shaping” on YouTube for some great instructions). The pizza will end up about 13-15” across. Top as you like.
- Bake at a high heat (between 500 and 550°F, depending on how hot your oven will go, either on a pizza stone, cast iron pan, or upside down cookie sheet. Set the timer for eight minutes and keep an eye on it; you want the cheese bubbling and the underside to be nicely browned. At eight minutes, check it for doneness. If not ready, turn it 180 degrees and leave it for another two minutes. If you’ve been careful with the pizza shaping, you’ll see the crust gloriously inflate, turning into a cornicione or crown that you definitely won’t want to waste.
- Take it out of the oven, place onto a cutting surface, let rest a few minutes, and then slice into six pieces. Eat immediately. Unlike thick North American pizzeria pizzas which are optimized for delivery transport, homemade pizza is best right out of the oven and allowed to cool only enough to not incinerate the roof of your mouth.
NOTE: This is a great recipe to make with kids. You can also split the dough into four instead of two and let everyone top their own custom pizza.
