What's On My Plate » pizza

On The Town: Motorino (New York)

Tonya — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:13:24 +0000

Motorino Pizza
349 East 12th Street
New York, NY
212-777-2644

Pizza is easily one of my favourite foods in pretty much ever and I’m constantly on a quest for amazing pizza. The last few times I’ve been to NYC various people have recommended Motorino so I figured this trip I’d give it a try.

I went to the East Village location which is pretty tiny but kind of cute. I decided to make this a lunchtime excursion because they have a SWEET lunch deal. For the low price of $12 you get a pizza (limited menu) and either a green salad OR soft serve ice cream. Seeing as the pizzas are mostly $14+ the lunch deal was truly a steal.

I opted for the Brussels sprouts pizza with pancetta, mozzarella, garlic and pecorino. When I went to Co. a few months back I had Brussels sprouts on my pizza and totally enjoyed so I figured, why not? The pizza was good, don’t get me wrong, but not my fave. The toppings were fabulous but the pizza was a bit on the chewy side. Yes, it was thin but there was an overall chewy quality about it that I wasn’t in love with. My mom had the Soppressata Picante pizza which again was good on the toppings but the crust was not the way I liked it. And let me tell you, the sopressata was PICANTE!

We opted for the soft serve to finish the meal and it was the perfect end to a summer pizza meal. It was served in a lovely ice cream goblet and was topped with sprinkles. Sprinkles! I opted for a berry flavour and it was less like soft serve than frozen yogurt but it was delicious!

So the verdict on Motorino? Good pizza especially if you like a chewier crust. It’s not high on my list to visit again (I’d probably visit Co. again before I go to Motorino) but it is worth checking out if you’re in the hood.

The Perfect Pizza #5: A New York Times Option

Tonya — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:00:33 +0000

I haven’t done a pizza post in a while so of course when I saw this article in the New York Times I knew it was time to continue on my mission to make the perfect pizza at home. I also knew the article was worth a second look when someone from my beloved Pizzeria Libretto tweeted that the article talked about some of their at-home methods.

The article features two recipes, one with a sourdough starter and one with just yeast. I opted for the yeast version because the idea of a sourdough required a longer lead time than I had to work with. Next time I’ll definitely give that a try.

What sets this recipe apart from others that I’ve tried is the type of flour. This recipe calls for a 00 flour (often used for pasta) and a high gluten flour. I couldn’t find a high gluten flour but did some research into its protein content and then replicated it by using a regular flour and adding some gluten flour. This dough also requires a long rest time. It’s supposed to age in the fridge for between 24-48 hours. You definitely have to plan ahead. The article (referenced above) really details the reasons behind the flours, time required and etc. so I won’t summarize the discussion here.

Truth be told the pizza turned out well but I wasn’t blown away. I found it a bit tough and dense for some reason. I didn’t get too many bubbles in the dough which I look forward to. The colouring was nice and the flavour was really developed.

I’m a firm believer in trying things again so I may revisit this dough especially since I recently acquired a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I also want to try the sourdough version but I seriously would need to plan ahead.

Pizza Dough With Yeast

Time: 20 minutes, plus at least 27 hours’ resting

12 ounces 00 flour like Delvina or King Arthur Italian Style (about 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
10 ounces high-gluten flour like King Arthur’s Sir Lancelot (about 2 cups)
1/2 ounce salt (about 4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon instant yeast

Additional flour, for dusting.

1. Combine flours, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups of room temperature water, then mix on low speed using dough hook until dough binds, about 1 minute, adding more water as necessary. Let rest for 5 minutes. Knead on second-lowest setting for 5 to 7 minutes, until dough pulls away from the bowl and forms a smooth ball. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead and form into a ball, then let rest in a bowl for 3 to 4 hours.

2. Cut dough into 4 8-ounce pieces. (Or divide into 5 6-ounce pieces for smaller pizzas.) Turn out each piece on a floured surface, folding and kneading each three or four times until it forms a smooth ball. Set each piece in a plastic bin large enough to allow it to double in size, settle a sheet of plastic wrap on the dough, then cover with a lid. Refrigerate for 48 hours, or at least 24 hours, before shaping and baking.

Yield: Dough for 4 12-inch pizzas or 5 9-inch pizzas.
(From the New York Times)

The Perfect Pizza #4: Cook’s Illustrated Pizza Crust

Tonya — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 22:11:53 +0000

I’ve blogged about my journey to make the perfect pizza a few times already like here, here, and here. The other day @Sporadicity on Twitter saw one of my posts and suggested I give this recipe a try. It comes from Cook’s Illustrated, and we know how I feel about Cook’s Illustrated.

What makes this recipe different from others I’ve tried is the introduction of cake flour. The blog entry where I saw this recipe mentions that Cake Flour has less protein than regular flour and I guess that contributes to a better texture. Instead of kneading this dough by hand it’s made in the food processor. The food processor! Okay, so I’ve always kind of known that you can make some dough-based things in the food processor but I’ve never really thought about it. For someone who hates kneading making pizza crust using a machine is genius. The food processor quickly produces a silky supple dough. Oddly enough the dough was HOT when I took it out of the machine.

After letting the dough rise for a bit it was tough to work with. It drives me crazy when I dough snaps back while you’re trying to stretch it. No matter how much I stretched and let it rest the dough would not cooperate. As a result it wasn’t as thin as I would have liked it to be. On the plus side there were tons of great pockets throughout the dough and it cooked up really crisp. Of course I used my pizza stone. I also really liked the flavour of the pizza dough. It was pretty plain tasting but it had that lovely char taste to it from a hot oven. Seriously delicious.

I will give this recipe a few more tries. I loved the results but was really frustrated by the dough snapping back. If I can remedy that problem this recipe may fulfill my goal of finding the perfect pizza recipe.

For the record I topped this one with sausage and mushrooms… not too fancy, but delicious!

PIZZA CRUST
(from Cooks Illustrated)

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 cup water, room temperature
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 oz) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 cup (4 oz) cake flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 500F with your baking stone on the oven rack. This gives the stone about an hour to heat up while the dough rises.

Measure the ingredients. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Combine flours, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor.

Pulse flour mixture several times to combine it, then gradually pour in the yeast mixture with the motor running. Keep blended for about 2 minutes, until the dough is supple and elastic, as shown in the two photos below.

If the dough sticks to the sides of the mixer and doesn’t come together, add an extra tablespoon or two of flour. If it is too dry to come together, add an extra tablespoonful of water.

Once your dough is smooth and supple, take it out of the food processor and divide it in two. Shape each piece into a tight ball by gathering the edges and pushing them into the center, as pictured above. Pinch the edge to seal.

Place dough balls on a lightly floured surface and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap or a clean dish towel. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Take the risen dough and, working with one ball of dough at a time, place on a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough into an 8-inch disk, then stretch the edges gently until the dough is about 12-inches in diameter (pictured below). You can also gently stretch the dough by placing it on the backs of your hands, but take care that is does not develop weak spots.

Once the dough has been shaped, place it on wooden peel that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. If you do not have a peel, use an edge-less baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal instead.

Spread dough with a thin layer of pizza/tomato sauce and fresh mozarella that has been cut into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces. Do not overdo the toppings, as pizza margherita is meant to be thin and crisp.

Slide the pizza off of the peel/baking sheet and onto the preheated baking stone in a 500F oven. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until crust is browned and cheese has melted.

Slide peel under pizza to remove if from the baking stone. Serve immediately and repeat with remaining dough ball for second pizza.

(Via Slash Foods).

The Perfect Pizza #3

Tonya — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:12:54 +0000

My quest for the perfect pizza continues. I was not happy to let my previous endeavour be my authoritative post on the Mario Batalie Otto pizza dough recipe. I had to give it another shot especially since I”m pretty sure the problem was my yeast.

This time my dough rose properly and actually looked like pizza dough… very promising! However, when I baked it I didn’t love it. The dough was pretty dense and didn’t have the air pockets that my first attempt showed. There also wasn’t a lot of “chew” to it, the crust could have been a bit softer.

I will be removing this dough recipe from my pizza making repertoire for sure. Please give send along suggestions of other great dough recipes!

For the toppings I decided to get a bit fancier. I did potatoes, rosemary, sausage and mushrooms. Sadly, I overcooked my potato slices when I pre-cooked them but the pizza still turned out okay.

PIZZA CRUST

• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 package yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups double zero flour and 1/2 cup AP flour, sifted together

DIRECTIONS
Combine the wine, water, and yeast in a large bowl and stir until dissolved. Add the honey, salt, and the olive oil and mix thoroughly. Add 1 cup of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon to make a loose batter. Add 2 more cups of the flour and stir with the spoon for 2-3 minutes to incorporate as much flour as possible.

Bring the dough together by hand and turn out onto a floured board or marble surface. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, until you have made a smooth, firm dough. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Set aside to rise in the warmest part of the kitchen for 45 minutes.

Cut the risen dough into 4 equal pieces and knead each portion into a round. Cover again and let rest 15 minutes.

To make the pizzas: Dust a clean work surface lightly with flour. Working one dough round at a time, use your fingers and palms to flatten the dough into a 10 to 12-inch circle, each about 1/8-inch thick.

The Perfect Pizza #2

Tonya — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:02:36 +0000

My quest for the perfect pizza continues. This time the crust recipe came via Everybody Loves Pizza by Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby. I can’t remember exactly how I acquired this book but it was likely during my stint interning in network news or when I worked in the TV production world. Either way I love this book. It’s filled with information about pizza across the U.S. and tons of anecdotes about pizza. At the back of the book are a number of pizza recipes from recognized chefs and restaurants. Of course when I saw a recipe for Mario Batali’s pizza at Otto I knew I had to give it a try.

I’ve made this before and in retrospect I think I always found this recipe too yeasty. Incidentally this time around my yeast was wonky and my dough barely rose causing me to have a pizza cracker! Not stellar and far from perfect. I might try this again with fresher yeast to see how this dough reacts with the pizza stone and the higher cooking temps.

Topping wise the pizza was pretty great! I used mozzarella, goat cheese, mushrooms, spinach and roasted red peppers. It reminds me of the 90s!

So the quest for the perfect pizza continues. As Jay-Z would say… “on to the next one”.

PIZZA CRUST

Cut the risen dough into 4 equal pieces and knead each portion into a round. Cover again and let rest 15 minutes.

The Perfect Pizza #1

Tonya — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:58:55 +0000

One of my food goals for 2010 is to learn how to make great pizza. Pizza is one of my favourite food groups (up there with doughnuts and bacon) so me not being able to make a perfect pizza drives me nuts. I understand the limitations of my home oven but I’ve been pretty confident that I can get better results with some serious trial and error.

My first step was to buy a pizza stone. First I went to Williams Sonoma but their stones were $60+. Too rich for my blood! So instead I went to Kitchen Stuff Plus and bought this pizza stone for $12. I just wasn’t convinced that I had to spend a lot of $$ to get a pizza stone that would do the job. I was also going to buy a pizza peel but then I read that I could use the back of a cookie sheet and get the same results. DONE.

The part of pizza making that never quite turns out right is the crust. This time I decided to try a recipe by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery and the no-knead bread phenomenon and more recently of this great pizza spot called Co. which I blogged about here. The recipe uses the no-knead idea which I love because I do not love kneading anything. The only problem is that you have to plan in advance since the dough needs about 24 hours. But with some planning things are all good. I’ve read some horror stories about working with this dough but I didn’t find it to be that tricky, maybe because I’ve made no-knead bread so many times. Sure the dough is sticky but if you flour your surface and hands enough it works out just fine.

Before working with the dough I put my pizza stone in the oven and heated the oven to about 500 degrees. I let the stone sit in there for over 30 minutes to get to the right temperature. While the stone heated up I stretched out my dough on a pizza of parchment on top of the back of a cookie sheet to my desired size/shape. I then topped my pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms and some sausage (no sausage would make this vegetarian, obviously). I also sprinkled some rosemary and olive oil on the top. I then eased the parchment paper with the pizza from the cookie sheet and onto the pizza stone and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes.

This was definitely the best pizza I’ve ever made. Not the best I’ve ever had but pretty darn good. The crust was crisp and light with some air bubbles but didn’t have that nice charred crust you get at restaurants. I’m guessing that’s because pizza ovens are far hotter than 500F. I was very happy with the crust but will be testing out a few other crust recipes to see how they turn out with the pizza stone.

Oh, and the bonus to making smaller pizzas is that everyone can top them as they wish. Perfecto!

No-Knead Pizza Dough

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Co.
Makes four 12-inch pizza crusts

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast (such as SAF brand)
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ cups water
1. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the yeast and salt. Add the water and stir until blended (the dough will be very sticky). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 12 to 24 hours in a warm spot, about 70°.
2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Generously sprinkle a clean cotton towel with flour and cover the dough balls with it. Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
4. Stretch or toss the dough into the desired shape, cover with toppings and bake on top of a very hot pizza stone.

On The Town: Co. (New York)

Tonya — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:25:09 +0000

Co. (aka Company)
230 Ninth Avenue (at 24th street)
NY, NY 10001
212.243.1105

(Photo via Serious Eats)

I love pizza.

That might be an understatement. Pizza is definitely in my top 5 favourite foods. I sometimes even buy the frozen mini pizzas and eat them for breakfast. There really isn’t an inappropriate time to have pizza.

I was in New York over New Years and decided to end the year right by going to Co. for pizza for lunch on New Years Eve… solo! I enjoy solo dining. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out with friends and eating, but solo dining is great. It makes me feel so grown up and confident. It also gives me a lot of freedom. No need to wait on someone to make a plan to go to whatever restaurant, I can just pick up on a whim and go. Plus it’s a great time to read a magazine, catchup on tweets or just people watch.

When I arrived at Co. the first thing that struck me was the space. I loved it. I’m a sucker for a nice open and airy restaurant. The place has two walls of nearly floor-to-ceiling windows and since I was there in the daytime the entire place was so bright. The decor is really minimal which I can always appreciate. They have nice heavy wooden tables that feel modern but channel rustic, a really great fit. One thing I didn’t love were the communal tables. The place has a mix of 2 and 4-tops and then two (i think) long communal tables. Communal tables are the trend I’m waiting on to die.

The menu is simple and bread heavy. Given that Co. is the brainchild of Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery (although those outside of NYC might know him as the source behind Mark Bittman’s No-Knead bread the abundance of breadiness is not surprising. There’s a bread section, a toast section, meat and cheese sections (they come with toast)… even the soup has bread in it (Ribollita – google it); this isn’t a place if you have gluten issues.

After a lot of soul-searching I settled on the Brussels Sprout pizza. I love Brussels sprouts and have never had them as an option on my pizza so I figured it was a go. PLUS the pizza had lardons, onions and chestnuts among all sorts of cheesy goodness. SOLD! The pizza arrived a blistery, topping backed pie. The Brussels sprouts were shaved and covered the entire pizza. The chestnuts added a subtle nutty, sweetness that I appreciated and the lardons just the right amount of bacon-y saltiness. The cheese component was a bit too subtle for my taste, although this pizza could easily verge on flavour overload.

The crust was great. A bit tough at some parts but the flavour was great. I wanted to run over to Sullivan Street Bakery and pick up some bread but it was cold and I had errands to run.

The advantage of going with a group? Trying a large part of the menu. I can’t wait to go back and try a few more pies and some of the appetizers.

All in all a good dining experience. I will definitely be back.

Here’s what others have said about Co.:
New York Magazine
New York Times
NY Daily News
Gourmet

On The Town: Great Lake (Chicago)

Tonya — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:07:55 +0000

Great Lake
1477 W. Balmoral Avenue
Chicago IL 60640
773-334-9270

(photo via Serious Eats)

My awesome friend Mandy offered to pick me up at O’Hare on my most recent trip to Chicago and suggested we check out Great Lake for some pizza. Since pizza is my fave meal of the day I was TOTALLY in!

Great Lake (they don’t have a website) is a totally buzzed about pizza spot in the Andersonville neighbourhood. Lots of magazines, newspapers etc. have been calling it the best pizza in Chicago. GQ even called it the best pizza in the country. They have also been complaining about the long waits… but I’ll get into that.

I’ll start with the food to be fair…

THE FOOD

The night we were there they only had 3 pizzas on the menu (I’ve read that they sometimes have 4 or 5). We opted for a tomato basil variation and one with zucchini. The pizzas were delicious! No doubt. The ingredients were fresh, interesting and well chosen. I really enjoyed the tomato basil pizza because it had a ton of garlic!

While this place is in Chicago it is NOT Chicago-style pizza. Don’t go to Great Lake expecting deep dish pizza at all. This is thin crust. And I have to add the crust is AMAZING. Apparently they also sell loaves of bread made out of the dough. I would eat that up given the opportunity.

I went into this restaurant not knowing much about it or its reputation at all so I was just looking for good pizza. It was totally good pizza. Was it the best in America? Probably not. My meal at Pizzeria Mozza was a lot more memorable. As far as my favourite pizzas, Pizzeria Libretto in Toronto has my heart.

We also had a really delicious and fresh salad. The particulars escape me (and since we were eating outside under the streetlights it was hard to distinguish ingredients by site) but there was were fabulous purple carrots in there and some cheese, lettuce and a yummy dressing. I fully recognize that this is the worst description EVER. But trust – it was good.

THE SPACE

The space is adorable! It’s small with only 14 seats. They could easily fit another 3 two tops with some rearranging but clearly that isn’t a priority. They also have outdoor space that seats about 8-10 people.

They have a hodgepodge of things for sale inside. I didn’t get a good look but the things looked random and kind of neat. It sort of adds to the mishmashed vibe of the place.

They have an open kitchen which is always neat because you get to watch what’s happening in the kitchen. One thing about the layout… the restroom is at the very back of the restaurant meaning you have to walk through the kitchen. It’s super bizzare and seems kind of unsanitary… but if it meets code it’s all good!

THE SERVICE

As we were driving over my friend gave me the lowdown on what she’d been reading about the service. A lot of people complain about the staff being rude and aloof. There are also stories about waiting hours for a table than an additional 90 minutes for the pizza! I can handle rudeness… but 90 minutes for a pizza? No bueno papi!

So we get there and are told the wait for a table will be 15 minutes (it was about 845 on a Wednesday). The woman takes our number and says she’ll call when the table is ready. We didn’t stray too far and the table was ready in about the allotted time. SWEET! We placed our order (a salad and 2 pizzas) and took a seat outside.

The table next to us (a group of 4) were grumbling about the wait. Turns out they had been waiting an hour and a half for their pizzas. It took us 30 minutes to get our salad and they were STILL waiting for their pizzas. Sucked for them. When the food finally came the waiter said “sorry for the wait… we had a lot of orders”.

Now I was sitting facing the kitchen and there was something funny going on. A lot of orders? Pizzas were coming out at a rate of 1 pizza every 20 minutes or so. This led me to wonder: does the oven only fit one pizza? Are they perhaps cooking these pizzas using a lighter? Pizzas in a pizza oven don’t take 20 minutes… do they? At Pizzeria Libretto pizzas literally take 90 seconds. So 20 minutes is just mind numbing!

What was also mind numbing was the level of detail going into every pizza. Watching the chef/owner arrange the basil on each pizza was INSANITY. He would spend at least 5 minutes on every pizza arranging basil… and lord knows how long he spent arranging the other ingredients! When you’re sitting there ready to eat your arm and the arm of the person next to you all you want to do is hop over that counter and just throw the basil on!

We finally got our food shortly before 10. It seems that in the closing hours of the restaurant they get their act together and just whip out the pizzas! In a 10 or 15 minute time span I saw about 5 or 6 pizzas come out! True story.

THE VERDICT

Good pizza. If it were in a more convenient neighbourhood and the waits weren’t insane I would check it out again for sure. I like the idea of a rotating menu. But given the crazy wait times I’ll pass.

Here’s what others have to say…
GQ
Food & Wine
Chicago Tribune
Serious Eats

Barefoot Bloggers: White Pizza with Arugula

Tonya — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:45:43 +0000

It feels like I’ve been away from Barefoot Bloggers for a minute! It’s nothing personal really, I just haven’t been cooking as much as I usually do. I’ve been out of town the past few weekends and I’ve generally just been lazy in life. ::le sigh:: But I’m back and better than ever in so many ways. TRUST.

I missed the first recipe this month which happened to be a Mango Banana Daiquiri (I’m making it though… I have everything in my fridge!) but awoke from my BB slumber to make White Pizzas with Arugula which was picked by Andrea of Nummy Kitchen. Thanks for the fab pic Andrea!

I was a bit hesitant to make this one. It involves THREE cheeses. Now i love cheese but this was sounding expensive. Fontina, Mozzarella AND goat cheese? PLUS I have to buy arugula? I usually spend under $30 a week on groceries so this was sounding like a splurge kind of dinner. But I figured why not, I hadn’t bought groceries in weeks!

Um, boy was I glad I did. This was beyond a hit! It was a home run! I even made this from scratch on a weeknight after work… so easy. You have to make the pizza dough which isn’t painful because you really just have to let it rise. You then make a chili garlic oil which gets brushed on the rolled out pizza dough. You top it with the three cheeses and sprinkle with more oil. After baking the pizza for 10 minutes at 500F you top it with arugula tossed in dressing. It’s health food really.

SO GOOD. AND It would be great to modify this one. I think this recipe BEGS for thin sliced potatoes or spinach.

Make it. Enjoy it. It will change your life.

P.S. When my roommate (aka female parental unit) was eating it she made yummy eating noises. YES, it’s THAT GOOD. Ina Garten/ Barefoot Contessa does it again.

WHITE PIZZA with ARUGULA

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:

3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled

For the vinaigrette:

1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced

Directions

Mix the dough.

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

Knead by hand.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Portion the dough.

Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the doughs on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.

Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you’ve chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

TIP Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.

TIP Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.

TIP To make sure yeast is still “alive,” or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it’s active.

(From Back to Basics by Ina Garten)

Pizzeria Libretto

Tonya — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:13:32 +0000

When starting this blog I had the greatest intentions of doing all sorts of restaurant reviews but that never really panned out. Mostly because I haven’t been eating anywhere THAT thrilling and also because when I do go out I tend to visit the same spots over and over again.

But not tonight! Tonight I checked out the new pizza place in town, Pizzeria Libretto. What sets PL apart from other pizza joints is that it’s the only place in Toronto that makes “real” Neapolitan pizza meaning that it uses the guidelines set by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association and as set by the Italian Government and European Union. They also use San Marzano tomatoes exclusively and get their Fiore di Latte Mozzarella brought in daily. AND they had their pizza oven imported from Naples. This is some pretty serious stuff.

We arrived on a Saturday at around 5:10pm (opens at 5pm) and the place was about half full. About 15 minutes later a line started forming. By the time we left, just after 6pm there was a solid 15 people in line. I couldn’t even imagine showing up for dinner at 8pm!

My party of three shared three pizzas: Quattro Stagione, Home-made Sausage and the Wild Mushroom. All were delicious! The Quattro Stagione was my favourite as it feature cacciatore sausage, mushrooms, green olives and artichokes. I’ve never been a huge fan of green olives but these olives were INCREDIBLE. I want to call them and find out more about these mystery delicious olives. The artichokes were also great. They were marinated and very flavourful which was a great surprise as I expected them to just be plain. The sausage on the home-made sausage pizza was totally flavourful and wonderful as well. The wild mushroom was good too but it wasn’t the symphony of wild mushroomy flavour that I was expecting.

The atmosphere was really laid-back and accommodating for a new “hot spot”. Kid friendly, lingering service and every single employee in the restaurant seemed REALLY friendly. The decor is very clean, light and comfy. I loved the granite bar.

I will definitely be checking this place out again as I didn’t get to try any of the delicious sounding appetizers on the menu.
Check out their website: Pizzeria Libretto
221 Ossington Avenue
Toronto, ON

Also see what’s been written about them:
Chowhound
The Toronto Star
The Globe & Mail
The National Post
Taste T.O.