Pizza Dough
The best dough recipe I have found so far has been Roberta’s Pizza Dough. The dough comes out perfect every time. Definite props here to the 00 flour; it totally makes the difference. I’ve found 00 flour pretty regularly at Whole Foods, Standard Market and even Caputos. I haven’t had good luck at either Jewel or Marianos, so make sure to plan ahead.
Just a tip. I made the dough in the morning and let it rise pretty much the entire day, covered with a wet towel. I think making and using the dough the same day is better than leaving it in the fridge overnight.
Assemble the Pizza
I stretched and shaped the dough until the pizza was about 10" in circumference. I created a little edge or lip (like the video said) and added a thin layer of pizza sauce. I cheated here and just used a jarred sauce from Standard Market and added a little chopped garlic, oregano and pepper. I shredded some basil on the top and used part-skim mozzarella, which I hand shredded.
If you watched the NYT video above, the recipe calls for fresh mozzarella. I have made this using fresh mozzarella too, but honestly, I like the flavor of aged mozzarella better. And, if I am being completely honest, I actually forgot to look for the fresh mozzarella, so the aged mozzarella had to do! I drizzled a little olive oil on the top of the pizza, just before placing it on the peel and putting it on the Egg.
Cooking on the Green Egg
My “assistant” and I heated up the Egg. Once the fire started to burn, put the place setter in Egg, upside down. We added the grate and then the pizza stone on top of that. We raised the heat to about 550 degrees, put the pizza on the stone, and cooked the pizza for about 7 minutes. The crust was nice and crispy and the cheese was melted perfectly. It was the perfect first time recipe. Next time, white pizza with garlic, soppresatta, and arugula. My favorite!
Tonight’s Wine
Tonight’s wine is Casal Da Coelheira Reserva 2012 from Portugal. I don’t recall having wine from Portugal before so I did a little research. Here is great site that speaks to the Tejo region, in the heart of Portugal, where this delicious wine was from.
Buon Appetito!