Tangled Branches: Satiated
riveting tales of how we sustain ourselves
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Fried Pizza
We have a winner here!
I got so excited when I saw last week's NY Times Minimalist column. Fried pizza is something we've been missing ever since Cafe Petito on Connecticut Ave. in DC closed (years ago now). I realize fried pizza sounds like a greasy disaster, but it isn't. The crust at Cafe Petito was light and puffy, and they offered the usual array of toppings plus some things that were upscale for the mid-1980s (roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes).
Well, it just never occurred to me that I could make this at home, and I was eager to try it. Saturday was the earliest opportunity. The recipe claims to serve at least 4. Ha! We two ate 3/4 of it in one sitting.
I followed the printed recipe for the crust, except that I didn't have a food processor so I mixed and kneaded it by hand. I'd use more water for a slightly softer dough next time, but otherwise the recipe worked out fine. In the online video presentation, Mr. Bittman tops his pizza with sliced tomatoes, prosciutto, mozzarella, and fresh basil. I used a tomato sauce made from some tomato puree that I put in the freezer during the height of the tomato harvest. I chopped coarsely 2 garlic cloves and simmered them with the tomato sauce until it was pizza-sauce consistency. While that was cooking, I carmelized some onions, sliced some mozzarella, and finely minced some 'Zaatar' marjoram, parsley and Chinese chives.
When the dough was ready, so were we. After frying the first side, I layered on the tomato sauce, carmelized onions, salt and black pepper, mozzarella, and a sprinkling of minced herbs. I spent too much time fiddling with the toppings on the first one, and got the crust a little too browned on the bottom. I think a pizza should have bubbly cheese - just starting to brown - so I put it under the broiler to get that effect. Mr. Bittman ensured that his toppings heated through by putting the lid on the pan while it stayed on top of the stove. That's my only caution about the technique - you may need to experiment a bit to get it right with your ingredients, pans, heat source, etc., and I'm sure I'll be refining my version as time goes on, but this has earned a permanent place in my kitchen repertoire after just one try.
Labels: pizza
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