I saw these little pizzas at a new restaurant opened near my place called Urban Plates. They were small and thin and topped with some interesting ingredients. I just knew I could recreate these at home without much trouble. I used the same dough recipe from my pissaladièr Here’s my take on a few…

Old reliable: sauce and cheese.

Summer Veggie: zucchini, fresh tomato, and mozzarella.

The little stinker: Blue cheese, apricot jam, walnuts, and micro greens.

Pesto Mesto: Cilantro pesto, egg, and micro basil.

Obviously you can top these however you’d like. Since they are so small, you should try all sorts of combinations; if they don’t work, there’s always another one waiting!

On one of my last weeks in Massachusetts I had dinner at a French Bistro on Newburry Street with my good friend, and apprentice, Marcelo. The Bistro had all of the normal French classics that you would expect but this French pizza, or pissaladière, caught my eye. Normally when you think pizza the first thing that comes to mind is Italy, or at least red sauce and mozzarella cheese. This Pissaladière did not have either.

The French pie was thin and crisp, topped with thinly sliced beef, a stinky blue cheese, and dressed baby arugula. It was nothing like the pizza you would expect from Boston’s North End, this pizza was light and crisp and packed with flavor. With the geeks changing coasts again I knew that I would have to come up with something of my own to taste this again.

I set out to recreate the thin, crispy, cracker-like crust using a basic pizza dough recipe. The proportions of several ingredients were changed and I added rice flour to try to cut back the gluten count; pastry flour could have been used instead, but there was none in the house. The dough was rolled as thin as I could get it and cooked in a very hot oven. The crust was very light, crisp, yet not overly chewy. The dough could take a bit more cooking, but overall it was almost a match.

For my pizza, I decided to change the toppings up a bit: apples, caramelized onions, spinach, and brie. Everything almost worked out perfectly except for the part where I put the spinach on BEFORE cooking the pizza; it pretty much wilted into nothing. Hindsight tells me I should have waited until the cooking was completed, and, taking a play from the bistro, place the dressed spinach on the pie prior to serving. When I make one of these again, this knowledge will come in handy.

Please don’t be too afraid to make this dough yourself. The dough comes together fairly quickly and isn’t all that hard to put together. I used my kitchenaid to mix the dough but you could very well do it by hand if you so desired.

Pissaladière

1 cup water, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil

Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a the bowl of a mixer and stir to dissolve.

Mix the two flours and salt together in a separate bowl.

Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the flour until a dough forms. Continue to mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Add more flour if the dough feels a little sticky. Stop mixing when the dough is slightly tacky and soft-to-firm.

Remove the dough from a mixer and place in a lightly oiled bowl covered with a towel. Let the dough rise for about an hour.

Preheat oven to highest temperature (mine is 550F).

Roll out dough into oval shape, top with your favorite toppings, and cook until golden brown.

This month the Daring Bakers tackle pizza making. This isn’t anything new to me, one of my first posts was pizza making (I even threw the dough!). The rules are a little slack this month: use the recipe provided, get a picture of yourself throwing the dough, and top it with anything you want. Here’s my throwing proof!

No crazy ingredients involved, techniques aren’t anything new, and I can use my mixer! This was too good to pass up; besides, I love pizza.

The dough was easy to put together but nothing to write home about. It wasn’t my favorite, but how can you dislike pizza? At least I had fun throwing the pizza around.

The recipe made six medium-sized pizzas, and like a champ, I made them all. My six pizzas were:

1. Cheese – a classic
2. Egg topped cheese pizza – sounds weird, tastes good
3. Hearts of Palm – the apprentice claims it’s a Brazilian staple
4. Potato with goat cheese bechamel – my take on a white pizza
5. Mebrillo and Manchego – dessert? appetizer? Either way, it was good
6. Hearts of Palm – a mishap with the dough sticking to my ‘peel’ turned this one into a mess

If you’re interested in the dough recipe, it can be found here or in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

Ahhh, pizza. Who doesn’t love your thin crust, your melted cheese, and all of the wonderful toppings that are piled upon you? Pizza is so loved that you can get it almost anywhere in the world with any topping you can imagine.

This flatbread is the perfect vehicle for just about any topping you desire. From the common Italian marinara and mozzarella to the more creative Brazilian chocolate and banana, pizza is a world traveler that does not discriminate. While I like experimenting with foods, I prefer to stick to the basics with pizza: marinara, mozzarella, and basil.

The base of the pizza, the dough, has probably as many variations as the toppings that are layered upon it. Different cultures and regions claim their recipe is the best. The same goes with how the dough is prepared. The dough is sometime rolled out, stretched by hand, or my favorite, thrown into the air.

When I attended culinary school, I found that throwing the dough actually had a purpose (other than just plain fun). By throwing the dough into the air with a circular motion, you actually help stretch the dough out symmetrically into the all-important pizza shape. While the same results can be achieved by rolling out the dough and stretching it by hand, it just isn’t as satisfying as throwing the dough in the air, especially if you have guests over to watch the theatrics.

Basic Pizza Dough

15g yeast
180ml water (90-110F)
5g sugar
30ml olive oil
5g salt
15ml honey
285g flour (bread or high gluten)

If you have a pizza stone, now is probably the best time to put it in the oven.

Preheat oven to 550°F (or as hot as it will go)
Mix yeast, water, honey and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and let stand for about five minutes until the mixture starts to bubble.

Add olive oil, salt, and all but a few handfuls of flour in the bowl and mix with the dough hook. Adjust the consistency with the extra flour, scraping down the sides as you go.

The dough is ready when it is smooth and elastic and comes away from the side of the bowl.

Remove from mixing bowl, form into a ball, and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Let rise until doubled in volume (about 2hrs).

Punch down, reshape, and let rest in refrigerator overnight. This step isn’t absolutely necessary but it helps develop more flavorful dough.

Divide the dough in half and form circles about 30cm in diameter. Top with your favorite ingredients.

Bake directly on pizza stone for about 10min or until the crust is browned and cheese is melted.