Pizza Bread
Stasis
bread. It was a small loaf, similar in nature to bread, that had a pizza
filling (pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni). It was different from a
stromboli because the bread was more like a loaf bread then a pizza dough.
The bakery is now gone and I have tried a couple of ways to make this
without success. Anyone seen such a recipe?
Thanks
Greg
Ian McNeill
<sta...@wmis.net> writes
Greg,
As it seems that no-one may have such a 'recipe', I'll see if I can
help.
I would imagine that the bakery you referred to had Italian or Greek
origins.
To go back in history, it is often said that focaccia is like a thick
pizza. In fact, its the other way around that pizza is actually like a
thin focaccia.
Focaccia has been around for thousands of years as a bread baked under
the stones of open fires and as a peasant food eaten either as a simple
food or as an accompaniment to other food. It thrived throughout the
eastern Mediterranean basin and even gets a mention in the Italian
bible. Invaders from the North brought in the idea of baking thin
focaccia and using it as a plate for other food while invaders from
Greece brought in the idea that you could actually put other foods in or
on focaccia dough and cook the two together.
So where does that get us? Quiet simply that all this started just by
taking a successful formula for making bread and adding other
ingredients to it.
There are a number of ways in which other foods/herbs/spices can be
added in the bread making process and you will need to try and recall
how it was likely to have been done in the 'loaf' to which you refer.
The simplest, and most obvious, and more often the least exciting, is
simply to add the extras to the dough ingredients, and make the bread as
you would have done before, with possible slight adjustment to the water
content depending on the nature of the extra ingredients.
The next method commonly used is to roll the dough out into an
approximate rectangle after the first rise, scatter the 'extras' on the
dough leaving a margin around the edge, wet the margin and tightly roll
the dough up sealing the edges as you go and shape into a bread tin for
the second rise. Obviously in this case the 'scattered' extras will need
to allow most of the dough to come together again to form a cohesive
loaf.
The next method is again to roll out the dough into an appropriate shape
after the first rise, add the extras leaving a margin around the edge,
wet the margin and merely fold the dough over on itself and then sealing
the edges. The alternative would be to put the extras on just half of
the dough and then folding it over and sealing. Whichever, these can be
done either to produce a shape that then can be put into a loaf tin for
the second rise and thence producing a thicker and more loaf shaped
result, or by leaving to rise and baking as a self standing bread
producing something like the Stromboli to which you refer with a wider
flatter shape.
And finally, and one quite commonly used today in the Mediterranean
basin, one can divide the dough in two after the first rise, roll out
two roughly similar shapes, of which one would conveniently fit a baking
tray. Apply your extras to one of the rolled out dough shapes leaving a
margin right around, wet the margin, and lay the other dough layer
across the top making sure that the dough edges are well sealed. Leave
to rise and then bake.
Interestingly, in some parts of the Mediterranean, pizzas are still made
with the food enclosed between two layers of dough, although I last
experienced that having ordered a pizza in London about 3 years ago in
an Italian restaurant run by a Greek family!
Some of the extras or foods may need to be part cooked before use.
Others may produce much better results if processed with other
ingredients into a paste rather than merely being added as sliced or
chopped - Olives for example. Many of these types of breads are much
better eaten warm, but obviously that is depending on the contents.
And last, if the 'bread' was of Italian or Greek origin it is likely to
have had a slightly higher water content than a traditional Western
bread and thence a chewier texture and possibly with a good quality
olive oil added to the dough too.
So, first decide on your bread type by finding one that you like and
then find the best way of adding the food before final adjustment.
I hope that this helps.
Regards
--
Ian McNeill
siena
> In article <CtK56.517$Zf....@newsfeed.slurp.net>, Stasis
> <sta...@wmis.net> writes
> >A few years ago, I stopped at a bakery that made something
called pizza
> >bread. It was a small loaf, similar in nature to bread, that
had a pizza
> >filling (pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni). It was different
from a
> >stromboli because the bread was more like a loaf bread then a
pizza dough.
> >The bakery is now gone and I have tried a couple of ways to
make this
> >without success. Anyone seen such a recipe?
> >
> >Thanks
> >Greg
From _More Bread Making Magic_ by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway
(this and their other 3 books are my ABM bibles)
Pizza Loaf
Medium Loaf
Milk - 5/8 to 3/4 cup
Egg - 1
Tomato Paste - 6 oz. can
Olive Oil - 1 T
Sugar - 1 T
Salt - 1/2 t
Bread Flour - 3.25 cups
Dried Minced Onion - 2 t
Italian Herb Seasoning - 1 t
Garlic Powder - 1/4 t
Red Pepper Flakes - 1/4 t
Red Star Active Dry Yeast - 1.25 t
Pepperoni - 3/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese - 3/4 cup (3 oz.)
Chopped Green Bell Pepper - 1/3 cup
1. Place all ingredients in bread pan except last 3 items, using
the least amount of liquid listed.
2. Observe dough as it kneads. After 5 to 10 minutes, if it
appears dry and stiff or your machine sounds as if it is
straining to knead it, add more liquid 1 tablespoon at a time
until the dough forms a smooth, soft, pliable ball that is
slightly tacky to the touch.
3. Cut pepperoni and cheese into 1/4 inch cubes. At the beep add
these and the bell peppers.
4. After the baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan, place on
cake rack and allow to cool for 1 hour before serving.
Creative Suggestions:
1. Substitute cooked and crumbled sausage for the pepperoni.
2. At the beep add chopped mushrooms, sliced black olives,
Parmigiano cheese, chopped peperoncini or minced garlic.
HTH,
Cristina
twinky1156
focaccia dough recipe from the book, Baking with Julia for all my pizzas
and focaccia. It's absolutely delicious when brushed with some salt,
rosemary and extra virgin olive oil. I'd shape the dough, add the
filling and fold/roll it up before baking. Hope this helps, here is the
recipe exported from MasterCook:
FOCACCIA from BAKING WITH JULIA
* Exported from MasterCook *
FOCACCIA
Recipe By : Baking With Julia/Julia Child
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Breads
Italian Bread Julia Child
2 1/4 cups tepid water (abt.100F) -- (2 1/4 to 2 1/2)
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons salt
THE TOPPING
Herb-infused or other olive oil
Chopped fresh herbs, such as rosemary and/or thyme (2 to 3 tablespoons)
coarse sea salt
Makes 3 focaccias . The dough for these
focaccias is so active and bubbly it squeaks.
Indeed. Every step in working with this
dough is designed to keep the bubbles that
will give the breads their beautiful inner
open weave and speckled oil-glistened crust.
This dough is mixed quicklv in a heavy duty
mixer allowed to rise and then refrigerated
for at least twenty-four hours, the time it
needs to set that bubblv structure in place.
once developed it can be used to make a plain
herb-topped focaccia , this recipe) a sweet
fougasse (page 194) topped with streusel or a
savory fougasse (page 146). you can use
the full recipe to make any of these shapes
and flavors or vou can divide this recipe in
thirds and make all three kinds of bread.
Mixing the Dough Whisk 1/2 cup of the water
and the yeast together in the bowl of a
mixer. Set the mixture aside for 5 minutes
until the yeast dissolves and turns creamy.
Meanwhile pour 1 3/4 cups warm water into a
large measuring cup. add the olive oil. and
whisk to blend; set aside. Whisk the flour
and salt together in a large bowl and set
this aside as well.
Pour the water-oil mixture over the yeast and
stir with the whisk to blend. Add about half
of the flour and stir with a rubber spatula
just to mix. Attach the dough hook, add the
remaining flour. and mix on low speed for
about 3 min-utes. or until the dough just
starts to come together. If the dough appears
dry and a little stiff, add a few drops of
warm water, scraping the bowl and hook if
necessary to incorporate the water and create
a soft dough. Increase the mixer speed to
medium-high and continue to mix for about 10
minutes, scraping, down the hook and sides of
the bowl as needed until you have a soft.
slightly moist, extremely elastic dough that
cleans the sides Of the bowl. You will know
that the dough is properly mixed when a piece
can be stretched, without tearing, to create
a "window", an almost transparent patch of
dough.
First Rise: Transfer the dough to a work
surface and form it into a ball. Place the
dough in an oiled bowl, turn it around to
cover it with oil, and cover the bowl tightly
with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at
room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to
1-1/2 hours.
Second Rise:Fold the dough down on itself to
deflate it and let it rise again until
doubled in bulk 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Shaping and Resting: Fold the dough over on
itself again to deflate it (as you do this,
youu can hear the bubbles squeak and pop) and
turn it out onto a work surface. Using a
metal dough scraper or a knife. cut the
dough into 3 equal pieces. shape each piece
into a ball.
The dough needs to be refrigerated for
between 24 and 36 hours. (it is this long
refrigerated rest that gives the focaccia its
characteristic chewv texture and surface
bubbles.) Place each ball in an oiled
gallon-size lock-top plastic bag and
refrigerate.
About 1 1/2 hours before you plan to bake,
remove the dough from the refrigerator and
gently take the balls out of the oiled bags.
(If you have a problem cut the bags open with
scissors to release the dough.) Place the
dough on a lightly floured surface, dust the
tops of the balls with flour, and cover
looselv but completely with plastic (to avoid
having the tops go crusty). Let rest for 1
hour, until the dough reaches a cool room
temperature and feels spongy when prodded.
THE TOPPING
Herb-infused or other olive oil
Chopped fresh herbs, such as rosemary and/or
thyme (2 to 3 tablespoons),
and coarse sea salt
Position an oven rack in the lower third of
the oven and preheat the oven to 450F if you
have a baking stone, place it in the oven and
preheat it too, dust a peel with cornmeal. or
line two baking sheets with parchment paper
and dust the paper with cornmeal; set the
baking sheets aside. Fill a spray bottle with
water and set it aside as well.
Shaping the Dough Use your palm to press down
gently on each piece of dough causing bubbles
to appear on the sides, then slit the bubbles
with a single-edge razor blade to release the
gases. Gently pull and stretch each piece of
dough into a square about 10 inches across,
taking care not to overwork the dough or
handle it too roughly - you don't want
to knock out the bubbles you've worked so
hard to create. Let the dough relax, covered,
for about 10 minutes, then tidy up the edges
with your hands.
Baking the Bread: Transfer the foccacias to
the cornmeal-dusted peel or the parchment
lined baking sheets. Use a single-edge razor
blade to slash each square, cutting a
tic-tac-toe pattern, or making 3 slashes in
the center of the dough and enclosing them in
4 slashes to form a square with open corners.
Brush the foccacias with olive oil. sprinkle
with fresh herbs and coarse sea salt, and put
them into the oven.
Bake the breads for 15 to 20 minutes, or
until they are golden with a heavy speckling
Of small surface bubbles spraying the oven
with water three times during the first 8
minutes of baking. As soon as vou remove
the focaccias from the oven, brush them with
a little.additional olive oil and transfer
them to a rack to cool before serving.
Storing: The focaccias are best the day they
are baked, but once cooled, they can be
wrapped airtight and frozen For up to 2
weeks. Thaw the breads, still wrapped, at
room temperature and warm them in a 350f oven
before serving.
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