The Doughs of My Life

[Icelandr]

Oh . .  . Did I just hear a Jolly Old Elf, the ring of an on line sale, the clearing of counter space AND the spiral mixer start up? must be Christmas, must be Christmas . . .  . .

[Arne_Jervell]

I got a deep fryer for Christmas. It's kind of small for pizza but I figured it might be able to produce some mini-montanaras.

The dough:

• 100% Caputo Pizzeria
• 62% Water
• 2.8% Salt
• 0.055% CY

Fermentation and maturation was done at 17ºC for 28 hours, of which 19 hours were in balls. The pluviometer showed a 75% rise (my little test ball of 80 grams expanded from 16 to 28).

I formed dough balls weighing 60-65 grams each. The fact that this is even less than what's in the little spy gave me a chuckle. But it turned out to be a reasonable size. Conceivably, I could have made them even smaller. Maybe I will go lower next time.

Forming the little crusts was easy and fun. I made sure to perforate them with the spatula and then dropped them into the hot oil sitting at around 190-200ºC. My deep fryer could not comfortably hold more than one at a time, so each crust got 3-4 minutes of personal attention from me.

We did three batches of 4 pies each, plus a few extras for snacks later, so the time added up. I did not mind working the fryer though, and it was also a fun change of routine having each family member dress their own crusts while I was busy frying.

Some of the pizzas were finished off in the oven, but to me the best pies were simply topped with tomato, mozzarella and basil and then eaten "raw". I had pre-cooked the tomatoes about 15 minutes by the way, since it would not be exposed to extreme WFO temps.

Fried pizza is really growing on me. These were delicious! My nuclear family agreed, and demands for a repeat have been voiced loudly. :-)

Below some photos of the session.

[SAUZER.ITALY]

Wow !! very nice montanara !! 

[Icelandr]

Very nice fried pizza! So glad you are able to find ways of making pizza now that the oven is put to bed.
I have copied your description for my own trials in future. Here is a screenshot from November, from Pepe in Grani, there was something very appealing about it. I can’t recall if it was demonstrated or not, believe it was from his FaceBook site

[Arne_Jervell]

Thank you for the nice comments Sauzer and Icelandr.

Greg, what an amazing photo! Very inspirational. THIS I've got to dive into.

[Arne_Jervell]

This winter, deep frying pizza seems to be my preferred way of getting into the "Neapolitan spirit". With time I have learned to appreciate this kind of pizza quite a bit. The photo Greg posted a few replies up has haunted me for a while and so I wanted to make a couple of fried pies inspired by the great Franco Pepe.

I was probably trying too hard, because an alarming number of mistakes were made today, small and large. The biggest blunder I made was when whipping ricotta into cream. Letting go of the container with the hand mixer still running literally spun out of control making a a huge mess of the entire kitchen -- in all directions. It took me the better part of 15 minutes to clean that up. There were also a number of minor issues (including both the Parmigiano cream and the ricotta cream ending up too runny) and one near miss where I slipped on the oily floor and almost took the wok full of hot oil with me (that was a close call). And that was just to mention a few. 

Anyway. I went with a rather dry dough this time:

• 100% Caputo Pizzeria
• 60% water
• 2.8% salt
• 0.050% CY

The dough rested for a total of 22 hours at 19ºC, the majority of this time (20 hours) in balls. Pluviometer rose from around 16 to around 27, so about 70% volume increase.

I prepared toppings to emulate "fried versions" of some of Pepe's signature pies:

• "Fried Scarpetta": Cream of Parmigiano, tomato compote, shaved parmigiano and basil oil.
• "Fried Viandante": Mortadella, ricotta cream, pistachios and lemon zest.

For some reason I cannot remember I had decided to make 100 grams dough balls. But when the oil was hot, I realized I wanted larger crusts than that, so I combined two balls and ended up making 200 gram crusts. Still a little on the low side perhaps, but I went with it.

Ok, so there were a few mishaps, the cooking could have been more consistent, and the presentation leaves something to be desired.
But the meal: Oh boy. This was one of the best Scarpettas I've had in a long while. Thankfully I made way too much of that tomato compote. Great for the munchies!
The Viandante was not bad either.
But that Scarpetta.... 

[Icelandr]

Apparently the similarities between our pizza making only extend to mishaps, not my quality of pizza and presentation . . . Beautifully done Arne, they look marvellous! Something else to look forward to on your deck!

[sk]

Mishaps aside, it looks delicious!  Your mistakes look wonderful and mine well, not so good!   

I must try the inside method after standing in the wet sleet last weekend.

To St. Valentine, spring is but a neighbor!!

[Wario]

Looking good! Have you tried panzerotti too?

[Wario]

This is how they look.

[Arne_Jervell]

Looking good! Have you tried panzerotti too?

This is how they look.

Wow no I have never even heard of it. This peaked my interest and so I did a little bit of research on Panzerotti. Apparently they are often confused with pizza fritta.

I have now learned that they have different origins and different traditions. Also, despite their obvious similarities, there are some variations as to how the dough is made. For example, fats (oil or strutto) are cited as being used traditionally for Panzerotti. This is with the goal of producing a crisper end product. Eggs are sometimes used too, for color. The traditional fillings also differ, though nowadays people fill both fried pizza and panzerotti with whatever their hearts desire. The shape of the Panzerotto is supposedly always a half moon shape, while fried pizza can be either filled or not. But I guess the lines are getting blurrier now.

Have you ever had Panzerotti, purchased or self made?

[Wario]

Yes i have made them often, they are delicious.

[Wario]

Here is a video with a nice recipe Arne_Jervell if you'd like to try panzerotti at home.

[Arne_Jervell]

Here is a video with a nice recipe Arne_Jervell if you'd like to try panzerotti at home.

Thanks, will give this a try for sure!