Pizza with an Egg

[pizzanapoletana]

Bill

I was thinking today about the fact that your Camaldoli behave quite different from the norm, and I concluded that more then contamination, may well be the altitude and other environmental factors in your area.

I have read in the past of culture that would behave differently in completely different environmental factors then they originate from (a Russian starter in a sub-tropical area...)


Ciao

[Bill/SFNM]

Marco,

How does the Camaldoli work for you (fast/slow, sweet/sour)? I am sure the altitude effects the metabolism of the both yeast and bacteria, but whatever is happening, these starters are wonderful.  I know you have your private starter, but between the Ishcia and the Camaldoli, which do you find works best for true Neapolitan pies? My Santos mixer arrives next week, so I will be reworking my formulas and techniques. 

Thanks!

Bill/SFNM

[Pete-zza]

Bill,

I know it is possible to use a natural leavening like your Camaldoli starter to make a dough that can be used to make a pizza with eggs but I wondered whether the flavors produced from using the starter go well with the eggs. As you know, my practice has been to try to make the egg-based pizzas as quickly as possible, which rules out the use of natural leavenings.

Peter

[scott r]

I have found that the ishcia starter can actually be quite mild if you want it to.  My early posts about sour or strong flavored doughs were because I didn't know what I was doing.   I have found a fairly wide window of usability where the dough texture is right.  If you use the dough at the earlier part of the window I doubt the fermentation flavors would interfere too much with an egg flavor.  If you like the strong flavor like what Anthony does at Una Pizza, you can get close to it by just making your pies at end of the window of usability.

[Bill/SFNM]

I wondered whether the flavors produced from using the starter go well with the eggs. As you know, my practice has been to try to make the egg-based pizzas as quickly as possible, which rules out the use of natural leavenings.

Peter,

My Camaldoli, which may not be the same as other's cultures, is very mild, a little tang, but with a complex, sweet flavor. It went perfectly with the eggs. These natural starters have been taking about 12 hours to ferment, so you have to start the day before which precludes much spontaneity. But since I am baking some kind of bread or pizza almost every day, I'm always planning a few days ahead anyway.

Bill/SFNM

[pizzanapoletana]

First of all we need to understand that all the starter can be made stong or sweeter etc.

However, preparing the starters in the same way and in the sime time span, the camaldoli is very mild (ratio lactic/acetic acid 3:1), fater and indeed with mild tang aftertaste.

Between the 2, I indeed prefer it for pizza, and that is why Ed suggest its use in the pizza recipe.

Ciao

[Pete-zza]

I happened to come across a recipe at PMQ.com this morning for a no-yeast pizza. Another member used the recipe to make several breakfast pizzas using eggs and posted photos in a
“slide show” at his homepage, at http://homepage.mac.com/otisgunn/PhotoAlbum26.html. Apparently the crust has a biscuit-like texture. The recipe itself is as follows

NO YEAST PIZZA
1 c. flour
1/3 c. milk
2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients. Gather in a ball. Knead 10 times. Let stand 15 minutes. Put dough on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with wax paper and roll. Remove paper. Top with favorite toppings. Try it with no sauce, bacon, broccoli, tomato, seasoned with a little garlic and topped with cheese. Bake 20-25 minutes at 425F (220C) degrees.

Peter

[Pete-zza]

It’s been a while since I have made and reported on a pizza with an egg. So, for brunch today, I decided to make a pizza with an egg but using my recently acquired Deni 2300 pizza oven rather than my standard home oven. For those not familiar with the Deni 2300 pizza oven, it is a self-contained countertop pizza oven that can be used to make pizzas up to 11” size. It’s advantage to me is that it can be used to make a pizza without heating up my standard oven, especially at this time of year where outdoor temperatures where I live in Texas can easily get to 100 degrees F. For additional details on the Deni 2300 unit and its operation, including photos, please see http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2462.msg21445.html#msg21445.

To make the pizza, I decided to use the Bel Aria brand of 00 flour, which I have found from past experience to be a good choice for a breakfast-style pizza using eggs. The steps taken to make the dough were essentially those described in detail at Reply 12 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,2250.msg19793/topicseen.html#msg19793
The only differences were that I added a 5-minute autolyse-like period after the flour, instant dry yeast (IDY) and water were combined in the food processor, and I added 1/2 teaspoon of light olive oil to the dough and kneaded it in just after the salt was added to the dough in the processor bowl. For convenience in future dough making efforts, I converted the volume recipe referenced above, as modified by the addition of the olive oil, to baker’s percents, and I calculated the thickness factor TF. The thickness factor was predicated on using the dough ball to make a 9” pizza. Using the new dough calculating tool at http://www.pizzamaking.com/dough_calculator.html, I confirmed my math calculations and came up with the final dough formulation:

Flour, Bel Aria 00 (100%):          123.26 g  |  4.35 oz | 0.27 lbs, about 1 c.
Water (62.9%):                          77.53 g  |  2.73 oz | 0.17 lbs, about 1/3 c.
Oil (1.89%):                                2.33 g | 0.08 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.5 tsp | 0.17 tbsp
Salt (2.26%):                              2.79 g | 0.1 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.5 tsp | 0.17 tbsp
IDY (1.22%):                               1.5 g | 0.05 oz | 0 lbs | 0.5 tsp | 0.17 tbsp
Sugar (0%):                                0 g | 0 oz | 0 lbs | 0 tsp | 0 tbsp
Total (168.27%):                        207.41 g | 7.32 oz | 0.46 lbs | TF = 0.115
Pizza size = 9"
Note: All measurements are metric/U.S. standard

After the dough was put into a container and into the proofing box (for details of the proofing box and its construction, see Reply 6 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,403.msg4887.html#msg4887), it took about a half-hour for the dough to double. I then removed the dough from its container and pressed and shaped it into a 9” dough round, or skin. This was followed by docking the skin with a docking tool (a fork can be used instead), lightly oiling the top of the skin with olive oil, and pre-baking the skin on the pizza plate, which I had lightly oiled with light olive oil, for about 5 minutes, top and bottom, using both heating elements of the Deni 2300 unit. I then added a blend of shredded low-moisture part-skin mozzarella cheese (Precious brand) and imported Provolone cheese, which I mounded slightly at the rim of the pizza to form a barrier to contain the eggs (I used two of them) in the center of the pizza. I alternatingly placed slices of Portuguese chourico (slightly precooked) and pepperoni slices (uncooked, from a stick of Margherita pepperoni) around the perimeter of the pizza. The pizza was then baked, top and bottom, until the eggs set, but without turning hard or rubbery. A bit of the egg white escaped through the barrier of cheese and hit the pizza plate, but it quickly and harmlessly seized up as it hit the hot pizza plate. The front of the photo below shows that event. Once the pizza was finished baking, I distributed freshly ground black pepper over the entire pizza.

I thought the pizza turned out exceptionally well. The oven spring was decent considering the inherent limitations of the Deni unit, which bakes from a cold start, and the crust had a light brown coloration, both top and bottom, and it was chewy and reasonably thick (medium thickness). The bottom of the crust had a biscuit-like appearance but it was not cracker-ish in the least. The eggs were just about perfectly cooked for my taste. With a good cup of coffee, it made for a wonderful brunch. I didn’t exactly time the pizza from beginning to end, but I estimate that it took about an hour, just as with past “Last-Minute” pizzas. I will definitely use the Deni unit for future pizza and egg creations, although next time I will probably try the Caputo 00 Pizzeria flour.

Peter

[Pete-zza]

Today, for Sunday brunch, I decided to repeat my last dough, as described in my last post, but using Caputo Extra Blu 00 flour instead of the Bel Aria 00 flour. Also, instead of using whole eggs, I decided to use scrambled eggs. And instead of putting the scrambled eggs uncooked on the pizza in the Deni unit, I mixed a bit of water into the scrambled eggs and cooked them with melted butter in a skillet, stirring them just until they came together and were fluffy. In the past when I had made pizzas with scrambled eggs, I found that cooking the eggs directly on the pizza was fairly difficult to do without the uncooked eggs trying to run off of the sides of the pizza. This meant having to create barriers to prevent that from happening. Also, the eggs cooked that way can be a bit on the firm side and lack fluffiness. I suspect that I would have been able today to put the eggs uncooked on the pizza and fluff them up while the pizza baked--since it is very easy and convenient to lift the cover of the Deni unit to do that-- however, partially precooking the eggs in a skillet is much easier to do and they can just be put on the pizza when ready. And they will stay just where you put them on the pizza.

I also used different toppings this time. The cheeses were the same (a blend of shredded Precious brand part-skim, low-moisture mozzarella cheese and imported Provolone cheese), but I used partially pre-cooked andouille slices and pepperoni slices. Later, after I was done eating the pizza, I regretted that I didn’t dust the pizza with a Creole seasoning blend, such as a Tony Chachere’s or Zatarain’s Creole seasoning, which I have used in the past and found added both flavor and heat. Fortunately, I saved a couple of slices of the finished pizza for breakfast tomorrow, so I will be able to use the seasoning on those. (BTW, the pizza will serve two normal eaters quite well.)

For my latest effort, I used a somewhat different sequence for baking the pizza in the Deni unit. When I discovered that the unit can be preheated, either top or bottom or both, without the pizza plate, I removed the pizza plate and allowed the unit to preheat both top and bottom for about 2-3 minutes. In the meantime, I shaped the dough to a 9” skin after I had removed it from the proofing box (where it spent about 20 minutes rising), and docked it with a docking tool. I then oiled the pizza plate, placed the docked skin on the plate, and oiled the top of the skin. The skin (on the pizza plate) was put in the pre-heated Deni unit and pre-baked, top and bottom, for about 4-5 minutes--just until the skin started to turn a light brown. I then distributed the cheeses over the pre-baked skin along with the slices of andouille and pepperoni, and continued the baking using only the top heating element, for about 2 minutes. While the pizza was baking in the Deni unit, I cooked the scrambled eggs on the stove and, when they were just set up, yet a bit wet and fluffy, I put them in the middle of the pizza, along with a few more slices of the andouille. The pizza baked for about another minute, using the top heating element only.

The photos below show the finished product. I was very happy with it and thoroughly enjoyed eating it. I would say that it baked just as well as if I had used my regular oven--with either a preheated pizza stone or a pizza screen. The crust was soft and chewy but still had color, both top and bottom. And the rim and crumb were better than I had achieved before in the unit. I might add that the Deni unit has advantages over a regular oven since it is easy to lift and lower the cover of the unit as many times as necessary or desirable without losing much heat since the heating elements are close to the pizza at all times and ready to apply heat as soon as the cover is closed. As I have gained experience using and understanding the Deni unit, I have found it easy to use and control to get the results I am after.

As alluded to above, today's dough was made using the same dough formulation and dough processing as I used the last time with the Bel Aria 00 flour. As between the Bel Aria 00 and Caputo Extra Blu 00 flours, I preferred the Caputo Blu. Maybe it was because preheating the Deni unit created a better oven spring, which was greater with the Caputo dough than the Bel Aria dough. I will have to experiment further with the preheat aspect of the Deni unit to see how much a factor that is.

This time, I timed the whole process, including the 5-minute autolyse-like rest period, and it was just about an hour.

Peter

[varasano]

This is not really a pizza recipe, but it uses a lot of the ingredients. My grandmother used to do this and I actually made this this morning for the first time in years. It's very simple.

start with olive oil and tomato sauce in a frying pan.  TI use my usual sauce, which is really just tomatoes that I've crushed an strained, with a little romano. It's not cooked. To that I drop whole eggs. Add some slices of mozz and a few fresh basil leaves.  Then you just cover and heat slowly. You are basically just poaching the eggs. Everything goes in the pan cold and you just heat it.  You can see the eggs turn white as they cook and you can either cook them all the way through or leave them a little runny if you prefer.  When they come off the heat, add black pepper and fresh fruity olive oil then scoop up with toast or english muffin.  One variation is that you can make it very spicy by adding a lot of red pepper to the sauce prior to cooking.

It's a simple savory healthy breakfast. You've got the olive oil, so you don't miss the bacon fat as much, so it's a bit healthier. Also super easy and fast.  Since you are not frying the eggs, cleanup is a breeze.

Jeff

[tonymark]

I have made something similar . . .

Saute garlic and onion.  Adds a 1-2 c chopped fresh tomatoes and fresh herbs.  Cook a few minutes to reduce tomato liquid.  Add the eggs and finish on low heat or in oven.  Top with good EVOO or mix it into the tomatoes before adding eggs.

TM

[Pete-zza]

Jeff and Tony,

I did something similar but in a pizza format, with a Mexican huevos rancheros with chorizo, at Reply 7 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,637.msg6332.html#msg6332.

Peter

[pizzagirl]

I try to keep it simple with scrambled...

[pizzagirl]

Another ...

[pizzagirl]

My stone is peeling from the high heat ...

[November]

The breakfast pizza carries with it a great traditional significance for me.  It's the only pizza I've had on a timely basis without fail for almost a decade now.  In fact, I had my 19th semi-annual breakfast pizza last Tuesday.  The exact pizza I have has changed a little over the years, but it's always with a thick crust, scrambled egg, and bacon.  I have had them in 6" and currently make them in 9" sizes.  The following is the current dough formula and instructions:

Dough (2 ^_x 9" + 8 cinnamon twists)
 492g   bread flour
   84g   semolina
 356g   water
   14g   soy butter (or 11g soybean oil)
   11g   granulated cane sugar
     8g   kosher salt
     1g   active dry yeast (ADY)

Start with semolina in the mixing bowl.  Heat 200g of water to 140 F, melt soy butter (or oil) in water, and add to the semolina.  Allow it to soak while preparing the rest of the ingredients.  Heat the remaining water (156g) to 104 F and add the sugar, salt, and yeast.  Sift the bread flour into the bowl with the semolina mixture.  Add the sugar-salt-yeast solution to the mixture.  Mix until fully incorporated, then knead for seven minutes.  I divide the dough into two 300g balls and one 366g ball (for twists).  Store one 300g ball (along with half the 366g ball if desired) for another breakfast.  Lightly oil the balls and keep at room temperature (68 F) for six hours.  Do not punch down the dough at anytime, regardless of what it looks like after a few hours.  After six hours, without reshaping the dough, place the dough directly in an oiled 9" pan that has at least 1.5" walls.  Spread out the dough while in the pan so that there's a 0.5" gap between the dough and the walls of the pan.  Cover and allow to proof for two hours.  After two hours, add toppings (outlined below) and bake for about seven minutes at 525 F.  If someone wants instructions for the cinnamon twists, I can provide them in a separate post.

Toppings (1 ^_x 9", in order of addition to pizza)
35g   mozzarella, low moisture, part skim
35g   cheddar
  3   eggs, scrambled (with 25g water + 25g skim milk, adobo seasoning)
  3   bacon strips, slightly microwaved, cut into one inch pieces

Note: The soy butter is used to achieve a buttery flavor without using actual butter.  If actual butter is used, the flavor will likely change from buttery to slightly sour during fermentation.  This is a good thing if you like sourdough.

- red.november

[November]

Tomorrow is the day for the 21st semiannual breakfast-pizza breakfast for me.  This time I decided to post before and after.  I am going to switch up the ingredients just a little this half of the year to exclude the less common soy based butter substitute in favor of simple soybean oil.  I'm also going to use maple sugar (syrup) instead of plain cane sugar.  I had contemplated using butter flavored pancake syrup, and I might still try it one day, but I'm going to keep it to ingredients most people already have on hand to see how significant the difference is.  The new dough formula for two (2) 9" pan pizzas (300 g dough balls):

The Flour (100 %)
85.00   %   King Arthur bread flour
15.00   %   semolina

The Rest
61.00   %   water
01.91   %   soybean oil
02.80   %   maple syrup (1.9 % sugar)
01.73   %   kosher salt
00.17   %   ADY

- red.november

[November]

It recently occurred to me that I never mentioned the addition of a white sauce starting on the 20th.  The sauce as of last year was based on the following:

77 %   non-fat cream cheese
22 %   butter
01 %   hickory smoked salt

Tomorrow I will be using ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese, and eliminating the butter.  I also apply thinly sliced mushrooms on top of the white sauce before adding the egg and bacon.

- red.november

[November]

I didn't favor the ricotta base over the cream cheese base.  I will probably switch back to the cream cheese next time.  Attached are a couple of images.

- red.november

[JerryMac]

Pete,

How did I miss this post 

You are INSANE with your Imagination 

I Dub thee the "The Royal Breakfast Knight" 

God I gotta get to work in the mornings 

Sooooooo Much Thanks.

Jerry