Great discussion on this board, although it looks like I missed the active discussion period.
Here's something folks on this board may find interesting -- an Oakland Tribune article from a year ago that lists A16's pizza dough recipe as told by Christophe Hille. Surprisingly, I could not find this recipe anywhere online (the Oakland Tribune site, Google, other online search engines, nor the SF Library's article databases). So I manually transcribed it from the paper version.
Note the error in the recipe for the amount of salt to be used. I'm leaning toward thinking it should be 10 grams, vs. 20. Any thoughts? But hope someone can try this recipe out with Caputo flour, and report back how it turns out!
-->Ryuji
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Excerpt from the Oakland Tribune
September 15, 2004
Neapolitan-Style Pizza Dough
Recipe courtesy of Christophe Hille, A16.
A home oven won't produce enough heat to blister the crust, but, says Hille, you'll still get a tasty result. Be sure to allow at least two days for this recipe, as the dough needs time to proof, which results in an exceptionally supple crust. Enjoy with a crisp Campania white such as Greco di Tufo or Fiano d'Aveltino.
1/2 liter lukewarm water
1/3 ounce (10 grams) fresh yeast (not packaged)
1/2 ounce (15 grams) pure olive oil
1/3 ounce (20 grams) kosher salt
[NOTE: Error in the recipe, not sure what amount is correct. If 20 grams is
the correct amount of salt, then this should of been printed "2/3" ounce.
Otherwise, 1/3 ounce = approximately 10 grams.]
2 pounds Type 00 Italian soft wheat flour, often sold as "pasta flour." Do not substitute semolina flour.
Whisk water, yeast, oil and salt in a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon, slowly mix in roughly 2/3 of the flour, adding more if dough seems to wet.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 8 to 9 minutes. The dough should come away from the kneading surface easily, and should feel slightly smooth to the touch.
Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap or a wet, oiled towel (to prevent sticking), and refrigerate for a day. If you are making the dough for same-day use, it will need to proof gently at room temperature for 5 or 6 hours. Alternately, it can be stored well-covered in the refrigerator for another night and then used the next day, at which point the procedure will again be to proof it for 5 or 6 hours at room temperature.
When ready to use, divide dough into five 9-ounce pieces and roll into balls on a flat surface, then tucking the ends under, so the dough on the top of the balls is slightly stretched, and the bottom of the balls are slightly flattened. Place the dough balls on a baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap or a wet, oiled towel, and let sit for a day.
Bring dough balls back to room temperature before preparing dough for shaping. They will have doubled in size. On a lightly floured countertop or cutting board, gently pat each ball down, and shape the pizzas by gently stretching or rolling dough until it is "about as thin as the edge of a quarter." Transfer the dough to a thin, upside-down baking sheet, which will enable the dough to be easily transferred to the oven. (You don't want a lip on the baking pan because it won't slide off easily.)
To make a pizza Marinara, add about 5 ounces of tomato sauce to the center of the pizza, then spread the sauce out in concentric rings, using the back of a ladle. Sprinkle the pizza with some chopped oregano, slivers from a clove of garlic, one basil leaf, and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
To bake, add your pizza to a pre-heated oven (as high as it will go) with a baking stone. Open the oven, lift half of the pizza up off the banking sheet and hold it, draped over the banking stone. Give the baking sheet a quick jerk to slide the rest of the dough onto the baking stone, gently pulling the draped edge of the dough at the same time, so the entire pizza lies flat on the baking stone. Bake until golden.
Makes dough for five, 13-inch pizzas.
Per Serving: 646 Calories; 6g Fat; 26g Protein; 133g Carbohydrate; 23g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 1434mg Sodium
