Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza (39 page)

Place one or two Calzones on a prepared pizza peel. Holding the pizza peel by the handle, give the pizza peel a few slight shakes back and forth to shuffle and loosen the Calzones. Place the pizza peel into the oven and hold it over the baking stones so that you can gently slide the Calzones onto the stone. With two or three small jerks, inch out the peel from under the Calzones. When done properly, this leaves the undamaged Calzones on the baking stone. Handling unbaked Calzones on a pizza peel takes practice so do not worry if it feels awkward the first few times. Alternatively, you can bake the assembled Calzones on a pizza screen. It is a little simpler that way; just put the baking screen with the assembled Calzones right into the oven.

Bake at 500˚ for fifteen to twenty minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Do not overcook or the crust will become tough.
Serving
– Serve a small amount of warm Basic Pizza Sauce on the side.

Variations

Dough
– Focaccia Dough, Basic Pizza Dough, California-style Sourdough Dough, Half Wheat Dough, New York-style Dough, Rye Dough, Slow Rise Dough
Sauce
– Basic Pizza Sauce, Chicago-style Sauce, Fresh Plum Tomato Sauce, Mexican Chile Sauce, Sweet Pizza Sauce, Squashed Tomato Sauce
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 individual sized, appetizer sized, or jumbo-sized Calzones. You can make open-ended rolls instead of folded-over Calzone. You can fold four sides up to the middle.

Since you assemble each Calzone separately, you can customize the fillings of each Calzone. You can make an array of various filling options and combine the chosen fillings with a portion of the cheese mixture right before assembling each Calzone. My children do not like red and green peppers so when I make this recipe I make two Calzones with the peppers and two without.

Focaccia Flatbread

Focaccia flatbread is a great accompaniment to any meal. You can suit the toppings to your taste or menu plan and have fresh bread with your meal with almost no fuss. The sky and your imagination are the limits as far as what you put on top. Classic toppings include a light brushing of a flavorful olive oil and a sprinkling of salt or one type of fresh herb. Alternatively, you can use fresh tomato (or other fresh vegetable) slices sprinkled with basil leaves. If this sounds similar to making a pizza, it is; Focaccia is widely understood to be the forerunner of pizza.

Focaccia flatbread is very much what its name implies; a flat layer of dough with some simple toppings. Focaccia flatbread is different from pizza in that the dough has a more general form than a pizza (i.e. no definite rim around the edge). Focaccia is frequently thicker than even the thickest pizza, and there is generally no t a combination of sauce, cheese, and ingredient toppings. However, this is one of pizza’s relatives where variation is the rule. The chef makes the choice of what is on top and it could be anything. You can easily tune the toppings on the Focaccia to match the rest of your meal.

Focaccia can be very thin and crispy, it can be thick like bread, or it can be light and airy with many large bubbles. You create the different variations by the way you shape the dough and by the moisture content of the dough.

Focaccia Toppings

Flavored Oil
Fresh Herbs
Fresh Tomatoes
Sea Salt
Fresh Garlic, minced
Onion, Chopped and Sautéed
Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
Parmesan Cheese, Grated
Seeds or Nuts
Mushrooms, Sautéed

As you can see, I have listed many different ingredients. Obviously, all of these ingredients are optional and tend to be used one or two at a time. You can top your Focaccia with anything you like. After all, it is yours! Generally, you are not trying to make an “everything goes” pizza, so pick just a few to try each time you make Focaccia.

Shallot and Tomato Focaccia

Makes one twelve inch Focaccia.

8 ounces grape tomatoes
4 ounces shallots
1 recipe Focaccia Dough recipe
page 98
(or Basic Pizza Dough recipe
page 92
)
2 – 3 Tablespoons basil flavored olive oil
coarse-grained sea salt
Italian herbs
Romano or Parmesan cheese, optional
unbleached all-purpose flour (for kneading and shaping)

Toppings
– Cut each grape tomato in half. Peel the dry outside layer off the shallots. Cut off the tip and tail of the shallot and discard them. Cut the shallots into 1/4 inch thick slices. If the shallot pieces seem too large, cut them into smaller pieces.

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 circle 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 can roll, press, or stretch the Focaccia into shape; use whichever method you like best. You will not be doing as specific shaping as you would for a pizza. Just form a circle, square, or other shape that is about the right size and thickness.

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.

Stretching
–
Using the flat of your hands (with your fingers close together in the same plane as your palm), flatten the dough circle a little over its entire surface, including the edges. You do not have to flatten it completely; rather, just push it down to even it out and start the shaping process. Stretch the dough by gently grasping the dough on opposite sides with your thumb and flat fingers. Move your hands around and around the dough circle to keep it somewhat evenly stretched. Keep stretching until the dough is roughly circular approximately twelve inches in diameter and no thinner than 1/4 inch in thickness. Frequently turn the dough over, sprinkle flour, and smooth it on in order to keep it from sticking to the surface.

Rolling
– Using the flat of your hands, flatten the dough circle a little over its entire surface until it is uniform in thickness. Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it is a circle approximately twelve inches in diameter. As you roll the dough, turn it around and around to maintain a circular or oval shape. Frequently turn the dough over, sprinkle flour, and smooth it on in order to keep it from sticking to the surface. Try to make the dough have an even thickness no thinner than 1/4 inch.

Pressing
– Place the dough circle in an oiled pizza pan. Starting in the very center of the dough circle, and using the flat of your fingers (i.e. fingers together with the palm of your hand elevated above the center of the dough circle), press the dough into the surface of the pan and out toward the edges of the pan. Work toward the edge of the dough circle until the dough circle is about twelve inches in diameter. Do not leave a rim on the edge; press the dough completely flat. Try to maintain an even thickness of no thinner than 1/4 inch and make sure that the center of the dough is as thick as the rest.

I describe the shaping of circular Focaccia, but you are by no means limited to circles. Feel free to shape them as your heart desires. I am sure that a square, triangle, oval, or rectangle might be called for on any given day. You can also vary the thickness. If you like your Focaccia thinner or thicker than I’ve described, shape it that way by stretching, rolling, or pushing it either further to make it thinner or less far to make it thicker.

When the dough has reached the desired size and thickness, place it onto an oiled pan, on a prepared pizza peel, or on an oiled pizza screen. Cover the shaped dough with a kitchen towel and place it in a warm, draft-free place to rise. Let it rise for ten to thirty minutes.

Assembly
– Brush the top surface of the Focaccia dough with the basil flavored oil and spread it to cover the entire Focaccia. You can use a pastry brush or your fingers to spread the oil. Press a half-grape tomato or a slice of shallot into each dimple, setting them in a pattern that pleases your eye. Sprinkle some coarse-grained sea salt over top of the entire Focaccia. If desired, sprinkle Italian herbs and Romano (or Parmesan) cheese to your taste.

Baking
– You can bake Focaccia on a stone, on a screen, or in a pan, whichever you prefer. Focaccia that have sparse toppings will cook fairly quickly. Those having heavier toppings or toppings with higher moisture content will take longer to cook. You will need to adjust your baking time accordingly.

On a Stone
– Immediately prior to putting the Focaccia in the oven, you need to loosen it on the peel so that it will slide off easily. Holding the pizza peel by the handle, give the pizza peel a few slight shakes back and forth to shuffle and loosen the pie. Place the pizza peel into the oven and hold it over the baking stone so you can gently slide the Focaccia onto the stone. With two or three small jerks, inch out the pizza peel from under the Focaccia. When done properly, this will leave the undamaged Focaccia centered on the pizza stone. 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.