Toppings - Pizza in Teglia

[parallei]

Now that is "in Teglia" time of year, I thought it would be interesting to see what folks' favorite toppings are and to get them in one place.  Post if you feel like sharing.

Here are two I used last night that were pretty good. Both were done with the sheet baked as a bianca, removed from the oven, topped, then placed back in the oven:


Pizza Bianca with Potato, Pancetta and Smoked Mozzarella

-   Yukon Gold Potatoes
-   Pancetta
-   Dried Thyme
-   Olive Oil
-   Salt and Pepper
-   Smoked Mozzarella

1.   Peel, quarter and simmer potatoes in water until tender.  Allow potatoes to cool.
2.   While potatoes are cooking, dice and sauté pancetta, not too crisp.  Drain fat.
3.   Crumble (not too course) cooled potatoes into bowl.  Mix in pancetta, thyme, salt and pepper and olive oil.
4.   Top the just baked pizza bianca with potato/pancetta mixture and then the smoked mozzarella.  Place back in hot oven until cheese melts and browns a bit.


Pizza Bianca with Roasted Asparagus, Fresh Mozzarella and Prosciutto

-   Fresh Asparagus
-   Olive Oil
-   Salt and Pepper
-   Fresh Mozzarella
-   Prosciutto

1.   Trim asparagus. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast at 400F for 15 min or until tender.  Allow asparagus to cool.
2.   Top the just baked pizza bianca with fresh mozzarella, asparagus and a bit of olive oil.  Place back in hot oven until cheese melts.
3.   Remove from oven and top with prosciutto.

[dellavecchia]

Excellent thread Paul! I can't get enough of brussels sprouts this time of year - sauté them in oil with garlic and hot chili flakes. Add some stock and braise until tender. The stock should evaporate and the sprouts will begin to sear again. Top your half cooked teglia with cheese, the sprouts, rendered bacon and more chili flakes. You can also omit the cheese and drizzle olive oil instead.

John

[Jose L. Piedra]

One of my fav's is Kraft Singles with bacon atop. I parbake the pie with no other topping and then put cheese and pre-fried bacon on for the final 6 minutes or so of baking.

JLP

[Greenline]

Here's a variation on the classic "Margherita" (tomato and mozzarella) that works really well with Buffalo's mozzarella. This cheese has a wonderful taste but pours out a lot of water when cooked so it's usually not a good idea to put it into the oven.

First, preparation of the tomato. Take fresh, organic tomatoes and put them a few minutes in boiling water so it's possible to remove the peel. Open the tomatoes with your fingers and remove the seeds from inside. Put a little olive oil in a pan with some garlic and let the garlic sit a little until it starts to take color, then (remove it and) add the tomatoes, put the flame at minimum level and let the tomatoes cook with a lid for about 45 minutes. Add salt, basil and other spices if you like and let it rest in a bowl. In the meanwhile if we have saved some juice from the previous phases (especially if the tomatoes come out from a can) put it into the same pan, add a little salt and cook for a little while just to make it slightly more dense. This is also a good time to control the tomato acidity by adding a little bit of maize flour if necessary (or sugar), as this is what I put on top of the pizza.

Add the tomato on top of the pizza and bake in the oven.

When the pizza is ready break the mozzarella with your hands and add the pieces (definitely not small, not too large either) on top. Spray with a little bit of pepper and organic olive oil, it's a fantastic pizza.

It should look like similar to this:

http://www.pizzeriaitigli.it/la-pizza.php

(follow the link then click on the first pizza in the lower left corner "Bufala campana e Datterino al basilico").

[dellavecchia]

Greenline - Thank you for the topping suggestion, and the link to I Tigli. What an amazing place - I love the artistic approach with no reservation about the distance from neapolitan pizza.

John

[Greenline]

Greenline - Thank you for the topping suggestion, and the link to I Tigli. What an amazing place - I love the artistic approach with no reservation about the distance from neapolitan pizza.

John

I like that place too, but I've never been there (it's quite far in the north). The pizza there is indeed an original creation of Simone Padoan, the chef and mind behind the restaurant. He uses only natural yeast, "Petra" flour (http://www.farinapetra.it/Benvenuto/Eng_Petra.html) and the very best ingredients for toppings. As a result the pizza is good but the place is not cheap! 

[Greenline]

The topping that I'm about to describe actually has a pedigree as it has won a world championship for Alvaro Paganelli and Marco Lungo (who created the dough).

The starting point is a standard pizza in teglia with tomato.

When the pizza is done, you add "salsa boscaiola" on the tomato. Not much is necessary, just enough to color the tomato a little. This sauce is basically mayonnaise with mushrooms, mixed together into a cream. Usually, I just buy it.

Then rucola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruca_sativa) leaves are added. Don't have rucola? Not a big deal, skip this.

Then it's the turn of salame Golfetta (http://www.golfetta.it/en/). All the pizza must be covered with this.

Then Parmesan cheese. This is _not_ grinded but rather sliced in thin and large slices that fall on top of the pizza. Alvaro has used genuine Parmigiano Reggiano aged 30 months.

Then... lemon. Yes, lemon, again cut in thin slices and added on top. Not much lemon slices are needed, six or seven are enough for a large teglia. Alvaro has a particular way of cutting the lemon that makes it nicer to see but for me it's impossible to describe. Luckily I searched the web and found one picture here: http://www.golfera.it/item.asp?IDCatProd=20&ID=1044

A little bit of "extra-vergine" olive oil (optional for me but included in the original topping) and it's done!

I have yet to find someone who doesn't like this one and you also get the chance to tell the tale of the world championship... a pizza maker dream!