New Orleans Stuffed Pizza Rustica

New Orleans Stuffed Pizza Rustica

serves 8

(America)

When we visited New Orleans several years ago we fell  in love with its signature sandwich, the Muffeletta at the Central Grocery on Decater Street,  we also love pizza of all  sorts.  This recipe is a homage to both; it is the marriage of the ingredients of a New Orleans Muffeletta sandwich (good Italian Cold Cuts, cheeses, and olive salad) and a Sicilian stuffed pizza.  All though we used mozzarella, provolone, Genoa salami, cappacola, pepperoni, and prosciutto ham you can use cold cuts of your choice and the quantities can also be  adjusted to your appetite.

 

Ingredients

pizza crusts:

1 cup warm (110 degrees F) water

1  envelope active dry yeast  

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cup bread flour, plus additional for work surface

2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

olive salad:

1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped

½ cup drained Kalamata olives, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

2 tablespoons drained and rinsed capers

1 celery stalk, chopped

¼ cup marinated cocktail onions, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

¾ teaspoon ground black pepper

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

¼ cup red wine vinegar

¾ cup olive oil

filling:

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices mozzarella or smoked mozzarella

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices Genoa salami

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices cappacola

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices pepperoni

1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto ham

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices deli-sliced provolone cheese

corn meal for the peel

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

Preparation

pizza dough:

1.  In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine the water and sugar 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 2 cups of 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 high (labeled  knead on my mixer) 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.

olive salad:

1.  In a medium bowl, mix together the olives, garlic, capers, celery, cocktail onions, celery seed, oregano, basil, vinegar, olive oil.   Correct seasoning with black pepper and salt.

2.  If not used immediately, transfer the mixture into a covered glass jar (or other covered, nonreactive container), and refrigerate otherwise cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to marinate for at least 1 hour before using.

stuffed pizza construction:

1.  Place an appropriately sized pizza stone on the bottom (not on a shelf, putting the stone in contact with the oven bottom will allow it to get hotter and provide the SLIGHT charring on the bottom of the pizza that is the signature of a good Italian pizza) of your oven and pre-heat the oven to 450° F.

2.  Turn the dough out onto floured surface. Knead gently and shape into a 12-inch log. Cut the log into 2 equal pieces. Knead each piece into smooth ball, set one of the balls aside covered by inverted bowls to  keep it from drying out while working with the other.   

3.  Working with one of the dough balls at a time, place the dough ball  in front of you on  the lightly floured work surface and, with fingertips, press it into a disk of dough approximately 10 to 12 - inches round 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]). 

4.  Distribute some corn meal over the surface of a pizza peel (this will act as “ball bearings” and allow the dough round to move easily over the surface of the peel) and transfer the formed pizza base onto the peel; alternatively place the pizza base on a 12-inch round, metal pizza pan which has been previously sprinkled with some corn meal.

5.  Evenly distribute (spread) several tablespoons of the olive salad over the base leaving a clean 1-inch edge all around the pizza base.  Top this layer with the slices of salami, then the slices of provolone, then the slices of pepperoni, then the slices of mozzarella, then the slices of cappacola, and finally with the slices of prosciutto taking care of respect the 1-inch clean edge

.

 6.  Working with the remaining dough ball, place the it  in front of you on  the lightly floured work surface and again, with fingertips, press it into a disk of dough approximately the same size as the one created for the base and also about 1/8 inch thick (if necessary use a rolling pin to achieve the same 1/8-inch thickness.  

7.  Lightly brush  the 1-inch clean margin with some of the beaten  egg and carefully place this second disc over the first,  pressing and rolling the edge of  the stuffed pie to seal it.  Evenly brush the surface with some of  the egg wash.

8.  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  or alternatively place  the round, metal  pizza pan into the oven (on the pizza stone or on the lower deck of the oven)  and bake the pizza until it turns golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes in a 450°F oven (keep an eye on the bottom of the pie . . . . slight charring is desirable heavy charring is burnt!).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut into eight wedges and serve accompanied by a  green salad.

Pizza Gana alla Momma

Pizza Gana alla Momma

(Mom's Meat Pie)

Makes 1 pizza 13x9x2 inches

(Italy)

This is a family Christmas tradition, it is rich and relatively expensive to make but well worth the cost.  Its rich, subtle flavour is addictive to those that taste it, so much so that one friend of ours travels 400 miles each Christmas to trade her special fudge for it.  The recipe multiplies nicely; merely keep the proportions the same.  Pizza Gana is also known as Pizza Rustica or Pizza Carne in some regions.

Ingredients

filling:

1/2 pound Prosciutto ham, sliced very thin

1/2 pound Cappacola ham, sliced very thin

1/2 pound Genoa Salami, sliced very thin

1/2 pound good Pepperoni, sliced very thin

1-pound Mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated

3 pounds Ricotta cheese

6 eggs

1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

pie crust (or use your own recipe or a commercial pie crust):

3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/6 cups shortening

9 to 12 tablespoons cold water

Preparation

Filling  preparation:

1.  Preheat oven to 400º.  Into a large bowl, tear individual slices of each cold cut (except pepperoni) into pieces about the width and length of one's thumb (about 1"x 2" pieces).  Add the slices of pepperoni without tearing.  Toss the mixture to evenly distribute the different meats.

2.  Add the grated Mozzarella, Ricotta, eggs, and nutmeg and mix thoroughly with your hands until all ingredients have been evenly distributed.  Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper to taste, insure you mix thoroughly after adding the salt and pepper.

Pizza crust preparation:

3.  Sift flour and salt together; cut in shortening with a fork until the pieces are the size of small peas.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon water over part of the mixture and toss with fork, push the moistened flour mixture to side of bowl.  Repeat until all the flour mixture has been moistened.  Divide mixture and form into two balls.

4.   On a lightly floured surface, flatten one of the balls of dough.  Roll the dough out, starting from the center, to a rough rectangle large enough to cover the bottom and sides of a lightly greased, rectangular, glass baking dish (approximately 13x9x2 inches in size) and about 1/8 inch thick. 

5.  Place dough sheet into baking dish and form to cover the bottom and sides.  Add the filling mixture and distribute evenly.   On a lightly floured surface, roll out the second ball of dough to roughly the same size as the first and about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut into strips of dough 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide.  Lay strips on filled pie at about 1 inch intervals across the width of the pie, fold back alternate strips and begin forming a lattice by interweaving strips placed at 1 inch intervals down the length of the pie (beginning 1 inch from the upper edge) with the strips along the width.   After the lattice has been formed, trim excess dough around the edges of the dish by running a sharp knife along the outer rim of the dish.  Seal edges.

6.  Place the pie in the middle of the preheated oven and bake until the latticed top of the pie is golden brown, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.  Allow the pie to cool and set completely before cutting and serving (the pizza is customarily made the day before it is to be served and allowed to cool over night.  It is normally cut into 3-inch cubes for serving).