Panzarottas

[Musky]

I know, it's usually spelled panzarottis, but where I grew up in Waukesha, WI, there's a little hole in the wall joint called Jimmy's Grotto.  Their pizza is nothing to get real excited about, but they're famous locally for what they call a panzarotta.  They also serve good Italian sausages and hand breaded mushrooms and pepper rings.  The restaurant was once mentioned in a song by The Bodeans, if anyone is familiar.  Sam Llanas, one of the band members grew up on the alley behind the original location.  They later moved into a bicycle shop across the street.  The original building couldn't have been more than 500 square feet, and they pumped the pizzas, sausages, and panzarottas out of the place by the gross.

For the dough in these babies I used Randy's thin American with the honey and sugar, the version tweaked by Pete-zza.  Both my wife and I love the sweetness of this crust with the spicy sausage and pepperoni I've been using.  Fried the sweetness was not as pronounced, but the final product had an excellent texture.  You can see the corn meal from the corn meal/semolina/flour mixture I used when shaping.  This also added nicely to the texture.

They were quite good, but also quite large.     Next time I'll make them more like small empanadas so they are easier to handle while in the oil.

I included a couple of pictures.

Thanks everybody, I'm having a blast.

Kevin

Muskies anyone?

[Buffalo]

Good Morning Musky;
Great looking Pansarottas.....Could you give the actuat size as well as the filling ingredients, time and temperature they were cooked at, etc...These have caught my attention so much that I will definitely give them a try
Buffalo

[Musky]

Buffalo, I made the dough following the recipe in post #9 in this thread.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1707.0.html.

I cut the dough in half after it rose on the counter and stretched and rolled it (just a little rolling) to about the size of a 10" dinner plate.  I filled with a pile of shredded part skim mozzarella, spicy Italian sausage I pre-cooked, hand cut pepperoni cut into quarters 1/8" thick, and a small amount of pizza sauce.  Folded them over and pinched shut.  I trimmed them down to fit inside half the dinner plate so there was a little waste of dough.

I do my deep frying in a 10" wide pan that is 4" deep.  I filled it 1/3 full with vegetable oil heated to 350.  It think the temperature is important.  I use a candy/oil thermometer.  I gently lowered the two panzas into the oil.  I didn't time the cooking but just looked for the color you see in the pictures.  Turning them was kind of tricky.  I removed one of the panzas and placed cooked side down on a plate covered with paper towels, gently turned the other, then put the first back into the oil.  Though the full pan was kind of difficult to deal with, it helps to keep the uncooked side down after flipping, as they want to flip back over to the first side because they swell up.

Next time I would put four or five smaller ones in the pan.  That way they would crowd the top of the pan enough to keep them from flipping over, but they could easily be turned with a tongs.  Hope this all makes sense.

Kevin

Muskies anyone?

[Pete-zza]

I made the dough following the recipe in post #9 in this thread.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1707.0.html.

Kevin,

Did you mean post (Reply) 8?

Peter

[Musky]

Yes sir.  Reply #8.  This one.


16-Inch NY Version of Randy’s American Style Pizza Dough
100%, High-gluten flour (KASL), 11.73 oz. (2 1/2 c. plus 2 T. plus 2 t.)
61.5%, Water (at 72 degrees F), 7.21 oz. (between 7/8 and 1 c.)
2.0%, Sugar (ordinary table sugar), 0.24 oz. (a bit over 1 5/8 t.)
3%, Honey, 0.35 oz. (a bit less than 1 1/2 t.)
2.8%, Vegetable oil, 0.33 oz. (2 t.)
1.65%, Salt (ordinary table salt), 0.19 oz. (a bit less than 1 t.)
0.40%, IDY (SAF Red), 0.05 oz. (between 3/8 and 1/2 t.)
Thickness factor (TF) = 0.10
Finished dough weight = 19.85 oz.
Finished dough temperature = 83 degrees F


I use KABF.  Can't find high gluten, and haven't ordered any.  It done fried up real good.

Kevin

Muskies anyone?