Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza (40 page)

In a Pan
–
Place the pizza pan into the oven on the lowest rack. Bake at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes. Move the pizza pan to the middle rack and lower the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for an additional five to ten minutes until the crust and toppings brown lightly. The instructions list a range of time because the temperature of different ovens can vary. Just keep an eye on the toppings and the edges of the Focaccia.

On a Screen
–
Place the pizza screen into the oven on the middle rack. Bake at 500˚ for eight to twelve minutes. The actual baking time may vary from eight to twenty minutes depending on the oven, but be careful not to bake too long. Just keep an eye on the toppings and the edges of the Focaccia.

You want to bake the Focaccia so that the crust browns nicely, but is not overdone. In addition, the toppings should heat through. The oil and any sauce should be bubbling slightly (it will almost look like it is boiling) over the whole surface of the Focaccia. This ensures that the toppings and any sauce have reached the right temperature.

Serving
– After removing the Focaccia from the oven, let it stand for a few minutes on a trivet until the toppings stop bubbling and the Focaccia cools slightly. Cut the Focaccia into manageable size slices and serve while still warm.

Variations

Dough
– Focaccia Dough, Basic Pizza Dough, California-style Sourdough Dough, Half Wheat Dough, New York-style Dough, Rye Dough

Toppings
– Any type of fresh herbs, flavored oil, fresh cut vegetable (thinly sliced), and cheese used in combination. You can sauté onions, garlic, or shallots together with other vegetables to make a rich, thick Focaccia topping.

Assembly and Baking
– You can make triangular, square, oval, or rectangular shaped Focaccia. Using your fingertips, make small indentations (about 1/4” deep) in the dough over the entire surface at about one inch intervals; be careful not to press too deeply into the dough, or you will make hard, crusty spots where you dimple.

Pizza Bread

Pizza bread is a great appetizer or mini-main course. It is as if you took your favorite pizza topping and rolled it inside a loaf of bread. My mom used to make the sausage bread with onions and peppers that tasted great. You can make pizza bread as an appetizer, as an accompaniment to a meal, or as a snack.

Pancetta and Onion Bread

Makes one loaf of pizza bread.

2 large onions
1/2 pound Pancetta
1 – 2 teaspoons Thyme, optional
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough (see
page 92
) or Focaccia Dough (see
page 98
)
salt and pepper
unbleached all-purpose flour (for kneading and shaping)

Filling
– Cut the onions into 1/4 inch thick slices so that the slices will break apart to form rings. Cut across the slices to make half-moon shaped onion pieces. Cut the Pancetta slices into quarters. Cook the Pancetta, onion, and Thyme (if using) with the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet until the onion is soft and the Pancetta cooks through. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the moisture has boiled off and the mixture is sticky and not very wet. Let the filling cool to near room temperature before assembling the pizza bread.

Resting
–
After the dough has risen, punch it down with one fist, take it out of the bowl, and knead it briefly (about one minute) without adding any flour, to release the large air bubbles. Shape it into a flat rectangle about one inch thick. Sandwich the dough between two layers of plastic wrap and let it rest briefly on the counter for five to ten minutes before shaping it.

Shaping
– You form pizza bread by rolling the dough out into a rectangle then rolling this up into a loaf. Spread a thin layer of oil over the surface of a baking sheet on which you will bake the pizza bread.

When you are ready to begin shaping, hold the dough in plastic wrap flat in the palm of one of your hands. Gently peel the top layer of plastic back with your other hand. Sprinkle a small amount of flour over the now exposed dough and gently smooth it over the entire surface. Turn the dough over onto the work surface so that the floured side is down. Gently peel the remaining plastic wrap off the dough and flour the entire top surface as before.

Using the flat of your hands, flatten the dough a little over its entire surface. Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it is a rectangle approximately ten by twenty inches in size and about 1/8” thick. As you roll out the dough, turn it around and around to maintain the rectangular shape you need. Frequently turn the dough over, sprinkle on some flour, and smooth it to keep the dough from sticking to the surface.

Assembly
– When the dough has reached the desired size, evenly distribute the filling to within an inch of the edge of the entire dough rectangle. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.

You can make either a short, fat loaf or a long, narrow loaf. If you want a long, narrow loaf, start rolling at the wide edge of the dough. If you want a short loaf, start rolling at the short edge of the dough. If you want a loaf that is like a normal loaf of bread, you can place the rolled up short, fat loaf into a bread loaf pan before letting it rise.

Starting at the one end, carefully roll the dough tightly onto itself to create a cylinder that is somewhat longer than your loaf pan. The rolled up dough will lengthen as you roll it up. Using your fingertips, pinch the edge of the dough together with the dough where it touches the cylinder to seal it. Place the loaf seam side down on the work surface. Using your cupped hands and then fingertips, pull the ends of the cylinder down to form a smooth end of the loaf. Using your fingertips, pinch the dough together on the bottom to seal the ends. Alternatively, you can just keep the ends of the roll natural and leave them as is.

Gently place the loaf onto the pan with the seam on the bottom, pushing the ends towards each other to shorten the loaf as necessary to make the loaf fit the pan. Cover the loaf with a kitchen towel and place it in a warm, draft-free place to rise. Let it rise for ten to thirty minutes. Letting the loaf rise longer will create a taller, fluffier loaf.

Baking
– Place the pan into the oven on the middle rack. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for twenty to thirty five minutes until the crust browns lightly. The instructions list a range of time because the temperature of different ovens can vary. You might see some moisture, oil, or steam bubbling from around the edges of the loaf.

You want to bake the pizza bread until the crust is nicely browned and crispy on top as well as on the bottom, but not overdone. Do not take the loaf out too early, because the inside of the loaf might not be fully cooked. The dough and fillings in the middle must get cook well.

You can bake the bread with an oven-safe thermometer inserted in one end to read the internal temperature of the loaf while it bakes. Alternatively, you can take temperature readings with an instant-read thermometer stuck into the center of the loaf. The inside of the loaf should reach 160 – 170 degrees Fahrenheit when done.

Another way to determine that the dough has cooked through is to tap the bottom of the loaf with your knuckle. When the loaf has finished cooking, the loaf should sound hollow when tapped. You should know that this method is not quite as accurate as using a thermometer; however, it worked for decades before such thermometers were easy to obtain.

Serving
– After removing the pizza bread from the oven, let the pan sit for twenty to thirty minutes on a trivet until the pizza bread cools slightly. This allows the fillings and crust to set prior to moving the loaf. Take the pizza bread off (or out of) the pan and allow it to cool for an additional fifteen to twenty minutes before cutting. Cut into one-inch thick slices; thinner slices cause the bread to fall apart and the filling to fall out.

Variations

Dough
– Focaccia Dough, Basic Pizza Dough, California-style Sourdough Dough, Half Wheat Dough, New York-style Dough, Rye Dough, Slow Rise Dough
Fillings
– Virtually any edible cheese, vegetable, fruit, or meat. Try not to use fillings with too much liquid. Typically, some combination of cheese is included with the filling.

Assembly and Baking
– You can make a short and fat log, a long and narrow log, or a bread-pan-shaped bread loaf.

If you prefer a loaf that is mostly bread, with sparse fillings, cut the filling recipe in half. Then roll the dough into a six inch by twelve-inch rectangle. Roll the dough up from the short end and place it in a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan. Let the loaf rise in the pan for twenty to thirty minutes until it almost doubles in size.

Serving
– Pizza bread tastes great when served cold.