Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Roasted Red Pepper and Sausage Pizza



Roasted Red Pepper and Sausage Pizza
Makes 2 12-inch pizzas
(America)
Many restaurants offer a variety of pizzas including pizzas topped with roasted red peppers.  My interpretation of this classically topped pizza is unique because the roasted red peppers aren't just incorporated in the sauce, they are the sauce.
                                                                    Pizza dough:  3 hours
                                                                    Roasted red peppers: 1 hour
                                                                    Roasted red pepper sauce: 20 minutes
                                                                    Pizza bake time: 12 minutes per pizza
                                                                    Total time: 3 hours 24 minutes

Ingredients

authentic pizza dough:

2½ cups Bread Flour, plus additional for work surface
1 cup Warm (105° F) Water
1 Envelope Active Dry Yeast
¼ cup Honey
¼ cup Extra-virgin Olive Oil
4 teaspoons Kosher or sea salt

roasted red peppers:

5-6 large red bell peppers
Extra virgin olive oil

1 large paper bag

roasted red pepper sauce*:

1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced shallots
roasted red pepper (see recipe)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups chicken broth
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

toppings:

1 yellow onion, peeled, ¼-inch diced
1 cup roasted red pepper sauce (see recipe)
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano  cheese, to taste
8 ounces sweet or hot Italian sausage, casing removed and fried until crumbly  (still a little pink) 

 Preparation

authentic pizza dough: 

1. In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine the water and honey stir to combine and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes. If the yeast doesn't "proof" (get "foamy") pour it out and start again it is important to have a live yeast mixture.

2. Meanwhile place the flour and the salt into a sifter and sift it into the medium bowl of a stand mixer. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the olive oil and the "proofed" yeast mixture. Turn the mixer, fitted with dough hooks, to knead and turn on. Continue kneading (mixing) until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball around the dough hooks (scrap the sides of the bowl to move flour into the path of the hooks as needed).

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky (add flour gradually as needed to reach the slightly tacky state), 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl with about 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil the ball on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap cloth and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

5. After the dough has doubled in size, remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a 12-inch log. Divide the log in half and form each half into equally sized dough balls. Lightly oil a 2 large mixing bowl with about 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place each dough ball into its own bowl and turn to oil the ball on all sides. Cover each bowl with plastic and set in a warm, draft-free place until the nearly double in size again, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

While the dough is proofing, create the sauce and cook the sausage.

roasted red peppers:

1. Either (a) position the top rack of your oven as close to the broiler element as possible and turn on the broiler or (b) fire up your charcoal(or gas) grill or (c) turn the gas stove top element of your stove on.

2. Coat each pepper with olive oil.

3. If you’re using (a) the stove broiler method, place the coated peppers on a rimmed cookie sheet on the top rack and cook, turning as necessary, the peppers until they are well charred on all sides, remove them to a paper bag, fold the top of the bag over several times to seal the bag and set the bag aside for several minutes to allow the peppers to sweat or (b) if you are using the grill method, place the coated peppers on the grill and cook, turning as necessary, the peppers until they are well charred on all sides. After the peppers are well charred on all side, remove them to a paper bag, fold the top of the bag over several times to seal the bag and set the bag aside for several minutes to allow the peppers to sweat or (c)if you are using the stove top method, skewer the coated peppers (one at a time) on a long shafted fork and cook over the gas stove top element, rotating as necessary, until the pepper is well charred on all sides. As each pepper is finished charring, remove it from the fork and transfer to a paper bag, fold the top of the bag over several times to seal the bag. Repeat this process until all the peppers have been charred and are in the paper bag at this point, set the bag aside for several minutes to allow the peppers to sweat.

4. After the peppers have had several minutes to cool and sweat remove them, one by one, from the bag and remove and discarded the charred skin, the seeds and inner rib and cut the roasted peppers into strips and arrange them on a serving platter.

5. After all the peppers have been transferred to the serving platter pour marinate or dressing of your choice over the peppers and set aside to marinate or serve as is or use as required in your recipe.

roasted red pepper sauce:

1. Sauté shallots in the olive oil in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium-high heat until translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the roasted red peppers, stir in the sugar and sauté for about 2 minutes.

3. Add the chicken broth and simmer 5 minutes. Allow the broth and roasted red pepper mixture to cool slightly to avoid an unpleasant blender incident. When it has cooled and working in batches, puree the broth, red pepper, and shallots in the container of a blender until a smooth, creamy sauce is formed (if the sauce is too thick for your tastes, thin it by adding additional warm broth). Correct seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

construction and baking:

1. Place an appropriately sized pizza stone on the middle shelf of your oven and pre-heat the oven to 450° F.

2. Remove the risen dough ball from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured work surface , flatten it into a thick disk and with your fingertips and palms, working from the center of the disk out to the edges, press it into a thin disk of dough approximately 10 to 12-inch round and about 1/8 inch thick (if necessary use a rolling pin to achieve the 1/8-inch thickness [don’t worry if the pizza isn’t perfectly round . . . that’s called “rustica” and it’s the way “real” Italian pizza looks in Italy]). If you're really brave you can try the spin and toss method of forming the pie (this dough is perfect for it) just remember to use your knuckles when spinning and tossing . . . fingertips can cause holes). Sprinkle flour over the surface of this thin disk (this will become the bottom of the pie when you place the pizza base on the peel in the next instruction).

3. Distribute some corn meal over the surface of a pizza peel (this will act as “ball bearings” and allow the dough rounds to move easily over the surface of the peel) and transfer the formed pizza base onto the peel insuring that the lightly floured side is on the bottom. Lightly spread ½ cup of the roasted red pepper sauce evenly over pizza base keeping a ½ to 1-inch border of the base uncoated to form a crust; sprinkle about 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano and ½ the grated mozzarella evenly over the sauce (maintaining the uncoated border). Evenly distribute ½ the diced onion and ½ the cooked sausage over the sauce and cheeses and again maintaining the uncoated boarder .

4. Finally sprinkle a little extra-virgin olive oil over the surface.

5. Gently shake the peel to insure the pizza moves freely (if it doesn’t gently lift the edges of the pizza and distribute additional corn meal until it does), using the peel slide the pizza onto the stone and bake the pizza until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 12 minute in a 450°F oven. Remove from the oven, slice into 8 wedge shaped slices and serve.

6. Repeat with the remaining dough, toppings, and cheeses.

*roasted red pepper sauce recipe makes 4 cups of sauce, any leftover sauce can be jarred and refrigerated for future use as a pasta sauce or the base of roasted red pepper soup

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