Flat is beautiful

Okay, so I stole my title from Alton Brown and his pizza episodes for Good Eats (my favorite show, ever!).  I probably learned more about cooking from him than anyone else, so I had to give him a shout-out.  There seems to be nothing quite comparable to a night of home-made pizza making with friends.  This was on the agenda for last night.  A few recent visits to Nashville's City House inspired my friend Brandon Jenkins (designed the killer logo for Dry Toast) and myself to plan a pizza night of home-made, gourmet pies.

I believe most great things in life are simple.  The same applies to pizza.  It should have a few top quality ingredients (too many, and flavors start covering each other up), and the crust should be stellar.

Where to begin?  The two more important ingredients are the crust and the sauce.  As I said, SIMPLE!  

FOUNDATION

THE CRUST

I have used a few pizza recipes in the past, including one from Alton Brown and one from Wolfgang Puck.  This time, however, I decided to make a dough derived from a simple Country Loaf bread recipe from the the book I've been journeying my way through this year, Tartine Bread. 

The author and owner of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, Chad Robertson, takes his readers step by step through the process of making incredible hand made, naturally leavened (no yeast!!) bread that looks and tastes as if it came from the best bakery in town.  I'd tried two of the bread recipes from the book so far, which both turned out wonderfully, and figured the pizza dough had to be great.  It's the same bread dough simply shaped into pizza rounds.  

In the morning, as I was preparing my leavening, it was not developed to the extent I had wanted it to be (wasn't fully floating in water), however I was running out of time, and if I had not started the bread dough, we wouldn't had pizza.  To my surprise, the pizza crust turned out great.  Everyone enjoyed it.  Had I allowed the leavening to develop a tad longer, the outer edge of the crust would probably have risen and puffed up more (next time I will do this), but the flavor was incredible, and it did not seem lacking in any way.  Ingredients in the dough: flour, water, salt.  

THE SAUCE

You may recall my post on Spaghetti & Meatballs from last month.  The sauce from "The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual" was so great, I decided to make it again for this.  So simple too: canned whole San Marzano Tomatoes, whole garlic cloves, good olive oil, salt, and crushed red chili flakes.  Key ingredient: time.  It simmered for about 5 hours yesterday.  I think I could've eaten a bowl of this and called it a night!  Here's the recipe adapted from the book.  This is only 1/4 of the original recipe.  It was plenty for 2 or 3 pizzas.

1 28-ounce can of whole peeled Italian Style San Marzano Tomatoes

1/4 cup good olive oil

4 whole cloves of garlic

kosher or sea salt

crushed red chili flakes

Add oil and garlic to a dutch oven or large pot and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour the tomatoes in a large bowl, discard the basil leaves and tough ends of the tomatoes (they will squirt everywhere if you're not careful!).  After 10 minutes, add the crushed red chili flakes to the oil for about 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes and salt.  Let everything simmer for at least 4 hours.  Your patience will be greatly rewarded!

THE SECRET INGREDIENT

So, I said Brandon and I were inspired at City House.  What sparked such inspiration?  Chili oil drizzled on top of the pizza we had ordered!  It was amazing, with a subtle background of heat, amplifying all of the other flavors on the pizza, and leaving a lingering spice in your mouth.  Only one thing left to do: eat another piece!

THE PIES

Now that the foundation was ready go, here were the pizzas we ended up making:

CLASSIC MARGHERITA

Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh Basil

Sunday Sauce

Chili Oil

Crushed red chili flakes and cracked black pepper for garnish

Brushed olive oil on crust

POTATO

This was also adapted from a few of this pizzas on City House's menu.  The potatoes really make the pizza rich and filling.

Scalloped Yukon Golden Potato

Olive Oil for base

Ricotta Cheese (I really only use Polly-O brand.  It's unlike anything else.)

Cooked Wellshire Farms bacon 

Frozen Peas

Brushed olive oil on crust

CHORIZO AND CHEESE

Thinly sliced rounds of Chorizo sausage

Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese

Goats Cheese

Chile Oil

Brushed olive oil on crust

BBQ CHICKEN

This has been one of my favorite pizza flavors since I was really young.  It was a must.

Honey BBQ sauce

Roasted Chicken Breast, shredded and tossed in chili oil

Goats Cheese

Sliced purple onion

Brushed olive oil on crust

ICING ON THE CAKE

My foodie friend, Jeff, joined our pizza dinner, and he had inquired earlier in the day if I had anything planned for dessert.  He brought and incredible home made Macadamia Nut Ice Cream (molded in a Le Creuset terrine), sliced into beautiful squares and garnished with a sweet, salty, and crunchy Macadamia Nut Brittle.  Over the top!