Papa Pino's Gourmet Pizza - Homemade is the Best!

If you are a regular on this blog you'll know that I love Italian food.  I especially love a good pizza.  Pizza is considered the quintessential Italian food but it's roots go back to neolithic times.  The first breads were flat-breads made from pounded starches and water cooked on flat hot rocks.  The Romans borrowed much from the Greeks including a flat-bread covered with oils and herbs that the ancient Greeks called "Pikte" (in Latin it became "Picta" and in Late Latin "Pitta" which is considered to be one of the etymological roots of the word Italian word "Pizza").  Pizza flourished particularly in the Naples area and most early innovations are Neapolitan.  Interestingly, up until the early 1900 pizza recipes in cookbooks were had only sweet toppings, although in 1835 the French writer Alexandre Dumas mentioned a Neapolitan dish called pizza which was "the only food of the humble people in Naples during winter" and that "in Naples pizza is flavored with oil, lard, tallow, cheese, tomato, or anchovies".   Pellegrino Artusi's classic early twentieth century cookbook, La Scienza in cucina e l'Arte di mangiar bene gives three recipes for pizza, all of which are sweet.  However, by 1927, Ada Boni's collection of regional cooking includes a recipe using tomatoes and mozzarella.

Even today most Italia pizzas have very simple toppings starting with "Pizza Bianca" which is crust topped with olive oil, garlic and a few herbs.  They have simple red pizza called the "Marinara" (i.e. prepared by the fishermen's wives for them to take with them to sea) which has just tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, as well as the famous "Margherita" Pizza with red sauce, white mozzarella cheese, and green basil (the colors of the Italian flag), and a pizza with seafood.  I even had some pizza in Rome topped with just potatoes and olive oil.

As Italians migrated around the world they adapted their pizzas to the ingredients common in each of their new homes.  When we lived in Brazil, for instance, our pizzas were commonly topped with field corn or garden peas along with local cheeses.  The Italians who came to the US in the late 1800s brought pizza with them, and it was very popular among large Italian populations in New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia.  Before the 1940 pizzas were mostly consumed by Italian immigrants, but during WWII American soldiers who were stationed in Italy discovered pizza and brought their appreciation of the dish home with them.  By the 1950s pizza was so popular that several pizza restaurant chains were created.  The Americans' innovations with pizza have led to ever more toppings and complex flavors (e.g. the "Hawaiian" pizza with pineapple and ham, or the various "Supreme" pizzas with 8+ toppings).

My taste in pizza was influenced by having eaten it in the US when I was young and then having eaten the original in Italy in my 20s.  I'm not a purist wedded only to the simplest combinations available in Italy, nor am I a fan of pizzas with "everything and the kitchen sink" on them.  I love the versatility of pizza which allow you to carefully combine complementary and contrasting ingredients into a bouquet of flavors that work together uniquely well.  I prefer homemade pizzas where you can control the ingredients and the freshness.  I have made many combinations that I have enjoyed, but here is a pizza I created at the request of our college-freshman daughter for a triple date she had.  I call it Papa Pino's Gourmet Pizza (Pino is the equivalent of "Joe" in Italian).  The combination was decadently delicious so I thought I'd share it with you.  Feel free to adapt this in any way you prefer (as I said pizza is very versatile), but I will say that the smokey sauce was especially good.

Here's how to make Papa Pino's Gourmet Pizza:

First let's make the dough -

• 2 cups Water - luke warm
• 1 Tbsp Yeast
• 3 cups White Flour
• 3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/4 cup Gluten (this make it light but chewy)
• 1 Tbs Salt

Mix the yeast and water in a large bowl.  When dissolved mix in the white flour and leave overnight (or at least for a couple of hours until it's actively bubbling).  This is called "biga" and is type of pre-ferment used in Italian baking that adds complexity to the bread's flavour and is often used in breads which need a light, open texture with holes.   Mix in the rest of the ingredients and knead into a well-integrated sticky ball of dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the bowl until double.  

Here's the secret gourmet smokey sauce -

• 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 large Onion
• 3 cans Diced or Crushed Tomatoes (you could also use peeled home canned tomatoes)
• 1 tsp Salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp Smoked Paprika (yes this is the secret ingredient to make the most amazing pizza sauce you've ever tasted)

Dice the onion.  Fry the onion in the olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat until the onion bits are translucent.  Add the tomatoes and salt and bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for an hour or more until the mixture is fairly thick and any visible liquid is evaporated (not runny at all--see picture on the right in the collage above).  Use a hand-blender to blend this into a paste (doesn't have to be completely smooth).  Stir in the paprika and set aside while you prepare the other toppings.

Building your masterpieces (recipe makes two large pizzas) -

• 1 pound Sweet Italian Sausage - fry and drain off the excess oil
• 2 dozen Peperoni slices
• 2 pounds Mozzarella Cheese - coarsely grated
• 2 cups Sweet Peppers - diced (different colors enhance the flavor and the aesthetics)
• 2 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese - grated
• Garlic Powder

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees fahrenheit.  Divide the dough in half.  On well-floured surface pat the dough into the general shape of the pan and roll it big enough to fit.  Lay it on a large oiled pizza pan and stretch it so it drapes over the edges.  Sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese and garlic powder on the dough around the rim.  Roll the dough over the cheddar and press down all the way around to make a stuffed crust edge.   Spread half the sauce onto the pizza and (optionally) flute the edges of the dough with the back of a knife.  Cover thickly with one pound of Mozzarella cheese, half the sausage, half the peppers, and half the peperoni.  Bake for 15 minutes on a middle shelf.  Remove and cool for at least 5 minutes on a rack before serving.

This is GOOD pizza!  Try it out.  BTW, if one is enough to feed your family cover the other with plastic and freeze before baking.  Bring it out later and bake for dinner a different day.