Saturday, March 09, 2002


took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and opened up a kilo bag of my new italian 00 flour. . .

and a fine, crispy thin crust pizza did i make! unlike my usual pizza dough, for which i use the king arthur sir lancelot high-gluten flour, this one was just a dream to work with.

let's be honest, the sir lancelot is an excellent flour, with a high ash (mineral) content for great flavor. it's also more than 14% protein. this means it has a lot of gluten; it rises well. but this also means it can be a bear to roll out. the high level of protein creates a dough that will roll and then spring back. so you have to re-roll, let rest, roll again or use dough relaxer. . .not so with the italian 00 flour. it drifts out to your desired size in seconds, with no effort, and stays put. i simply picked up the risen ball of dough, held it by edge, turned it, and let gravity stretch the dough. by the time my fingers had scurried all the way around the rim of the dough, i had a perfect, paper-thin, 12" pizza crust.

plus, it has the most delicious smell. from the second i started mixing it, i reveled in its sweet, wheaty perfume. it turns your whole kitchen into . . .well, an italian bakery. don't get me wrong, i love the king arthur flours, but no american flour has such an appetizing scent. also, the italian flour is ground in such a way that it feels soft between your fingers, not gritty or scratchy. i don't know how to say it, really. . . it feels like baby powder in your hands.

usually, when you look at recipes for pizza, you see instructions like "use high-protein flour," or "use bread flour." sometimes you will see recipes that mention all-purpose flour. i'm here to tell you to fuggedaboudit, as we say in bklyn. high protein flours can be as much as 15% protein; bread flour is often 12-13%; american all-purpose is usually about 11.4%. the italian 00 flour clocks in at around 7.4%; less than some american cake flours!

it's often said that you need high-protein flours for making pizza to get good rise and to allow the dough to roll out without tearing. so this afternoon i was a little worried that the dough wouldn't rise and would certainly tear. but hey, it works in italy and it certainly works at difara's, as if have seen myself. i'm a convert to italian 00 flour!

without further ado, here's my recipe for thin crust pizza:

2 c. italian 00 flour
3/4 c. water
1-/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon SAF yeast

combine the ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. attach the paddle beater and mix just until the dough forms a rough, shaggy mass around the paddle. oil the dough hook with a little olive oil, and knead the dough for 30 mins. at speed 3. flour a baking sheet, divide the dough in half, sprinkle the tops with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 4 hours, or until light and puffy -- like a big hollywood cotton-ball cloud. shape each ball into one 12" personal pizza crust as described above. for a slightly chewier crust, let each unbaked crust rest for about 30 mins.

then simply brush the crust with a little olive oil, lightly sauce the pizza (choose from my red or yellow sauces), sprinkle with fresh herbs and about 4 oz of cheese. i personally like to use 3 oz. fresh mozzarella with 1 oz. provolone. bake for 6 mins. on a well-heated pizza stone at the highest temperature you can coax out of your oven without being arrested for arson.

be happy -- it's delicious! the italian 00 flour has a heavenly taste all its own.

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