Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar
My brothers used to have spaghetti and meatball sandwiches for breakfast. Maybe they had the right idea. This book has gorgeous, inspiring pizza recipes for every taste. Grandma pie? Hawaiian? Focaccia? Pastrami? Broccoli and lemon? I’m hooked. You will be too.
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SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS
MAKES TWO 9 BY 9 - INCH PIZZAS
It has become increasingly popular on restaurant menus to bring together two classic dishes, such as pizza with spaghetti and meatballs (or mac and cheese with pretty much anything), to create a delightful hybrid that is even better than the sum of its parts. To put it in perspective, how wonderful is buttery garlic bread served alongside spaghetti and meatballs? So why not swap out the garlic bread for a killer pizza crust and bring all the components together in one brilliant bite? I guarantee that your family, especially your kids, will thank you for this.
You can substitute an equal amount of ground chuck for the ground pork in the meatballs; or for a spicy and less labor-intensive alternative, try using Italian sausage instead of preparing meatballs from scratch.
White Flour Dough (see recipe below)
1 pound brick, provolone, Muenster, mozzarella, or fontina cheese (or a combination), cut into ¼-inch cubes
16 Homemade Meatballs (see recipe below)
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces spaghetti, linguini, or rigatoni
2 tablespoons olive oil
Any Marinara or Crushed Tomato Sauce (Store-bought is fine)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
¼ cup chopped flatleaf parsley
Five hours before baking the pizza, begin panning and dimpling the dough, at 20-minute intervals. After three to four rounds of dimpling and resting, the dough will have relaxed enough to cover the whole pan. At this point, top the dough with half of the cheese cubes and press them into the dough. Then allow 4 hours for the final rise. The dough will bubble up around the cheese and rise in the pan.
While the dough is rising, cook the spaghetti. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, add the salt, and then add the pasta. Simmer, stirring, until the pasta is al dente (the cooking time will vary, depending on the type and brand of pasta, so follow the instructions on the box). Drain thoroughly and transfer the cooked spaghetti to a large bowl. Add the oil, and stir until the pasta is evenly coated.
Heat the pizza sauce in a saucepan and bring to a mild simmer. Add the cooked meatballs to the sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes so that they can absorb some of the flavor from the sauce and impart some of their flavor to the sauce. Remove from the heat and reserve.
Twenty minutes before assembling and baking the pizzas, preheat the oven to 500°F (450°F for convection). Top the dough with the remaining half of the
cheese cubes, making sure to get plenty around the edges, where the dough meets the pan. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the meatballs from
the sauce and transfer them to the pizza.
Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta in the bowl and stir until the pasta is evenly coated. Spread the pasta over the meatballs, leaving any remaining sauce in the bowl. Let some of the meatballs peek through the pasta.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 8 minutes. Then rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking 7 to 9 minutes longer, until the cheese is bubbly, the meatballs are browned, and the pasta is slightly crisp. While the pizza is baking heat the remaining pasta sauce, if any, to just below a simmer.
Transfer the baked pizza to the stovetop or to a heatproof counter. Using an offset spatula or bench blade, carefully slide it around the edge, between the crust and the side of the pan, and then lift the pizza out of the pan and slide it onto a cutting board. Drizzle the pizza with any remaining sauce from the pasta bowl, then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese (if using) and garnish with the parsley. Let set for at least 1 minute, then cut into 3- or 4-inch squares and serve. Feel free to add more grated cheese when serving.
HOMEMADE MEATBALLS
MAKES ABOUT 16 MEATBALLS
4 ounces ground beef chuck
4 ounces ground pork
1 egg
¼ cup dried breadcrumbs or Japanese panko
¼ cup milk
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago cheese
¼ cup chopped flatleaf parsley
¼ cup freshly grated mozzarella, provolone, or fontina cheese
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed (optional)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients with your hands or a large spoon. Preheat the oven to 400°F (375°F for convection) and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a cherry tomato or about 1 inch in diameter, and place them close together but not touching on the prepared sheet pan.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 8 minutes. Then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake 4 to 5 minutes longer, or until they start to brown on the underside and are springy to the touch.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack or trivet and let the meatballs cool at room temperature for 1 hour. If working far ahead, cover the pan of cooled meatballs with plastic wrap (or place them in a tightly sealed container) and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Unused meatballs can be stored in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 3 months.
WHITE FLOUR DOUGH
This first dough, which makes a 100 percent white flour pizza crust, is the most popular, but the ones that follow, Whole Grain Country-Style Dough, with variable amounts of whole grain flour, and Naturally Leavened Dough are growing in popularity as interest in whole grain and sourdough baking increases. My suggestion is to first master this white flour dough and then branch out and try the others.
Note that the formula specifically calls for unbleached bread flour and not Italian double zero flour or all-purpose or high-gluten flour, though you are free to use these, and adjust the hydration as needed, if you wish.
Since the dough requires at least 12 hours of chilling, I recommend making the dough at least 1 day ahead. On the day you plan to bake, follow the steps according to the type of pizza you are making.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and yeast. Add all of the water and mix on
slow speed for 30 seconds or stir with a large spoon to form a coarse, shaggy dough. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil, increase the speed to medium (or continue mixing with the spoon or with wet hands), and mix for another 30 to 60 seconds to make a wet, coarse, sticky dough. It may seem too wet to form a cohesive
dough at this stage. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high (or continue mixing by hand) and mix for another 30 to 60 seconds to make a smooth, sticky dough. It should be soft, supple, and sticky to the touch, and offer a little resistance when pressed with a wet finger.
Use 1 teaspoon of the extra oil to make a 15-inch-diameter oil slick on the work surface. Rub some oil on a plastic bowl scraper and on your hands and use the scraper to transfer the dough to the oil slick. Stretch and fold the dough. Cover the dough with a bowl and let it rest for 2 to 5 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold (rub more oil on the work surface as needed), cover the dough, and let it rest for 2 to 5 minutes. Then repeat the stretch and fold, cover with the bowl, and again let it rest for 2 to 5 minutes. Perform a fourth and final stretch and fold to make a smooth ball of dough. The dough will have firmed up after each stretch and fold and will now be soft, smooth, supple, and somewhat sticky but firm enough to hold together when lifted. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 12 to 72 hours.
Pan the dough on the day you plan to bake your pizzas (or on the day before). If making focaccia, Sicilian-style, Grandma, or Roman-style pizza. For deep-pan pizza, weigh and divide the dough according to the size of your pans.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE TERM COARSE, SHAGGY DOUGH MEAN?
During the early stages of mixing, while the flour is absorbing the liquid (aka hydrating), the dough appears coarse and almost lumpy. The more it mixes, the smoother it gets. This coarse appearance is referred to as shaggy, as in the look of a shag rug. Not only will additional mixing smooth it out, but so will the stretching and folding. In my mixing method, it's important to get the dough to the shaggy stage during the first minute of mixing, before briefly kicking up the speed to medium (or, if mixing by hand, it increase the intensity of the kneading or stirring). Once the dough becomes somewhat smoother, you can move on to stretching and folding.
Excerpted with permission from Perfect Pan Pizza by Peter Reinhart, Photographs by Johnny Autry (Ten Speed Press).
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