Starter's Query

[Bada Bing]

Some time ago I saw a Food Network show (maybe a Tyler Florence "Ultimate" show in which he travels the world to examine top techniques for a given food type?).  Anyway, I was surprised when he visited the hills above Naples and, rather than showing us someone making what we call Neapolitan pizza, this woman was making pizza with a bready dough in a large rectangular pan, with tomatoes and basil (cannot recall if there was cheese).  Anyway, that sounds like what these boards call Sicilian.  

I'd like to take a crack at this type tonight.  Would anyone caution me on any points if my intention is to use my regular pizza dough (except that I added a touch of honey and some olive oil) in a quarter or half sheet pan made of, I assume, aluminum?  If anyone can point me to a reliable basic recipe, approach to oven temp, pan treatments, etc., I'd really be grateful.

[Jet_deck]

Would it be similar to the pizza in teglia in the Pizzarium thread ?  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9989.0.html

[Bada Bing]

Yes, the pan and crust approach seem similar, but my recollection was that the toppings were much more tomato-intensive, with basil leaves atop, and maybe with some modest amount of cheese (maybe not, memory fails). 

The particular maker from the TV  show actually used tomatoes that were harvested and stored very unusually: they'd uproot the entire plant of plum tomatoes, hang the plants upside down, smoke them lightly with a wood fire, and then pick tomatoes as needed from the plants, apparently for many weeks or months afterward.   

[Pete-zza]

Bada Bing,

I think I know exactly what you are talking about. Tyler Florence went to Italy and met with Signora Raffone. The dough was based on using Caputo 00 flour. My recollection is that she formed a cross in the dough before letting it rise, if that helps trigger your memory. I discussed some of the details at Reply 162 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1298.msg13791/topicseen.html#msg13791. Tyler Florence went back to NY and used the recipe given at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-pizza-recipe/index.html. His recipe is not exactly the same as what Signora Raffone used. For example, my recollection is that the Raffone dough did not include salt in the dough but some salt was sprinkled in the pan. The Florence recipe calls for salt in the dough, as well as sugar (maple syrup) and oil, neither of which I recall were used by Signora Raffone. I tried the Florence recipe but using the King Arthur clone 00 flour, with poor results.

You can read more on my travails at Reply 3 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,580.msg5342.html#msg5342 and Reply 2 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,3489.msg29533/topicseen.html#msg29533. I alluded to the tomatoes recently in Reply 2 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13410.msg132841/topicseen.html#msg132841.

Good luck.

Peter

[Bada Bing]

Thanks for these links, Peter! 

By the way, my understanding about 00 flour, discussed in your posts, is that the 00 reflects merely a fineness of grinding, so you can have lower or higher gluten content in one or another 00 flour, depending on the actual wheat(s) being ground. 

The 00 flours by Caputo (there are two or three variations) are all relatively high-gluten, like bread flour, whereas that King Arthur 00 is lower protein.  I tried the King Arthur once and the pizza crust came out like a cracker crust.  Not my favorite and I've never wanted more of it.  I don't understand why King Arthur doesn't make a 00 bread flour. 

What's odd about the show--which is indeed the show I recalled--is that I don't think that the woman used a very high heat oven, and I've heard many people on these boards insisting that 00 Caputo performs only modestly well at less that 700 or so degrees.