As I write this, yet another bunch of family gathers in our den. On their first evening, I made a corn and chicken chowder from Jasper White’s 50 Chowders, because my daughter Molly said it was so good. It turns out I made different chowder but it was very similar, and I’ll write about that one next week.
The second night, it was all about pizza. All our children have Charles van Over’s The Best Bread Ever and granddaughter Lily baked rolls and brought two from Oregon to Newbury, Mass., (which is where we spent Christmas) for me to try. It was so good we called Charlie on Christmas Day so Lily could talk to him.
The Portland contingent decided we would do make-your-own pizzas when they visited us in Old Lyme. Son-in-law Bob and I bought toppings, and Doug made and proofed the pizza dough. In the afternoon, I caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and roasted garlic and red peppers (from which the skin and seeds had been removed). An hour before we began to make pizzas, I turned the oven to 500 degrees with the HearthKit in it. You don’t need the HearthKit or a baking stone, but it sure does make the bottom of the crust great. Around the same time, Doug cut the dough into six rolls and let them rest a little in a linen towel.
Once we were ready to roll our pieces of dough into pizzas (many of which looked like Connecticut, Italy, and Maine), the kitchen counter held the following: caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, paper-thin slices of prosciutto, julienne basil leaves, crème fraiche, fig jam, anchovies, cooked sausage (from Ferraro’s in New Haven), small pieces of maple-smoked bacon, grape tomatoes, and Charlie’s Bright Tomato Sauce. We ate and ate and ate…
Basic Pizza Dough
From The Best Bread Ever by Charles van Over (Broadway, New York, 1997)
3 1/2 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons water
Cornmeal for the peel or baking sheet
Place flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor fitted with metal blade. Using an instant-read thermometer, adjust water temperature so the combined temperatures of the flour and water give a base of 130 degrees if using a Cuisinart or KitchenAid, or 150 degrees if using a Braun. With machine running, pour all but 2 tablespoons of water through feed tube. Process 30 seconds. Stop machine, and if dough seems too dry, add remaining water during the last 15 seconds of processing for a total of 45 seconds.
Stop machine and take the temperature of dough with the instant-read thermometer, which should read between 75 and 80 degrees. If temp is lower than 75 degrees, process dough for an additional 5 seconds, up to twice more, until it reaches the desired temperature. If the temp is higher than 80 degrees, remove thermometer, scrape the dough from food processor into an ungreased bowl, and refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes. Check temp after 5 minutes; it should be 80 degrees or cooler by that time.
Remove dough from processor and place in a large ungreased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to ferment for 2 1/2 to 3 hours to room temperature, 70 to 72 degrees. It will not double at this point, but it will increase in volume somewhat.
Place bowl of dough in the refrigerator and retard for at least 4, and up to 36, hours. (Doug did not retard the dough in the refrigerator, and it was still delicious.)
Bright Tomato Sauce
Adapted from The Best Bread Ever by Charles van Over (Broadway, New York, 1997)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 28-ounce can Italian-plum
tomatoes (I use Muir Glen, Charlie likes Red Pack)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 pinches sugar
In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add garlic and soften it for 2 to 3 minutes without browning. Add canned tomatoes and their liquid, salt, and sugar. Simmer the sauces for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to break up tomatoes.
The sauce is ready to use immediately, but should be at room temperature before being spread on pizza dough. (If sauce seems too watery, return to the pan, set on heat, and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes until it is reduced.)
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can e-mail her at Leeawhite@aol.com.
Nibbles: A Recommendation by Lee
I would love to call Ferraro’s a find, but for many Connecticut residents, including Jacques and Gloria Pepin who told us about it, it is more like a treasure trove. Sure, it’s not in the best of neighborhoods, however the residents shop here not only because it has superb meat and fish but because it has incredible prices and staff that knows everything there is to know about what’s available.
On a recent visit, we picked up an 18-pound, 7-bone-in standing beef roast. As we were hoisting it onto the cash register belt, a guy asked, “How much is that baby?” We were about to say it was around $147, but the cashier said that was Angus, $8 per pound, but the regular choice is less, reciting a lower price.
When we picked up the rib roast, we got two packages of Italian sausage—buy one, get the second free, and they make the sausage here. I also picked up a sirloin loin of pork at $1.57 per pound—just $12 of meat that will feed eight of us tonight. And the butchers? Adorable. Especially Robert, who is, according to Jacques, the second generation of owners at Ferraro’s.
It’s worth a trip—believe me.
Ferraro’s Food
664 Grand Street
New Haven
203-772-4926