Pizzeria Mozza Clone

[millions]

Hi All. I thought I'd submit my first post here to document my first attempt at the pizza that really rekindled my pizza obsession: Pizzeria Mozza.

I tweaked Nancy Silverton's recipe a bit. Instead of the 22 ounces of water Nancy's recipe specifies, I used 17, taking the hydration from 83% down to 64%. I also skipped the sponge, and instead used an (almost) no-knead recipe. (I worked the dough a little bit more than Jim Lahey recommends at the beginning to make sure all the flour is incorporated, and did some light kneading prior to forming the dough balls.) Even at the much lower hydration, I found this dough extremely sticky and difficult to work with. Probably because of the barley malt.

My first pie was baked after about 12 hours in the fridge. I baked on steel at 600, with my electric broiler on low. Just a hair over 3 minutes. I think this tasted pretty close to the real deal.

[Kostakis1985]

looks great, I like that bright red sauce- what is it?

[millions]

Just crushed tomatoes and salt.

[tinroofrusted]

That looks pretty close to a real Mozza pizza. Well done M! 

Regards,

TinRoof

[millions]

Thanks. I've still got four dough balls left, so tonight I think I'll see how it responds to much higher heat.

[TXCraig1]

Good looking pies. In some ways better than Mozza.

[moose13]

looks great

[millions]

Good looking pies. In some ways better than Mozza.

Even as a friendly compliment, I take that as an honor. Your pies blow my mind, and are the ones I aspire to (did you see my shoutout to you in this week;s MPM?).

But Nancy is another hero of mine. Even if Mozza's pizzas aren't the best in the world, the original Pizzeria Mozza is one of my happy places. I live less than a mile away, and would probably have qualified as a "regular" (5 or 6 times a month) for several years. I just feel good when I'm there. With that said, I have to admit, I enjoy most of my own recent pies more than anything I've had on Melrose in the last few years. Maybe it's paternal pride. Probably so.

So, I baked tonight's pie a little hotter. The steel was at 630 when I launched, and it finished in a bit under 3 minutes. I LOVED this pie, ans it was the same dough as yesterday's. Makes me really curious about what Nancy's pies would taste like if she fired that oven up a bit hotter.

[TXCraig1]

Even as a friendly compliment, I take that as an honor. Your pies blow my mind, and are the ones I aspire to (did you see my shoutout to you in this week;s MPM?).

I did, and what I said wasn't a quid pro quo. I meant it. 

[millions]

Final dough ball from this batch, and it's probably more appropriate for the Neapolitan forum. This pizza was delicious, but didn't look, feel, or taste anything like a Mozza pizza. It should give you some idea what Nancy's pizzas would look like if she fired up that oven. This one was launched when the steel was at 680, and cooked for 2 minutes, 5 seconds. The last 50 seconds or so were raised above the steel. I also forot to brush the cornice with EVOO pre-launch, but did so after it came out.

[PetersPizza]

Wow. You must be happy with that result! Perfectly melted cheese and good undercrust charring.

did you run the broiler for the whole bake?

-Peter

[millions]

Yep, I always bake under the broiler. (Broike?) 

It was a delicious and pretty pie, for sure. No complaints.

[Tscarborough]

I don't know from Pizzeria Mozza, but that is a fine looking pizza.