Pizza, Parmigiano & Pavarotti!
The cast of Pizza Parmigiano & Pavarotti. L-R Eleanor Lyons, Melissa Don Port, Vladimir Fanshil, Lisa Goldberg, Ilan Kidron, Eddie Bronson, Ben Adler.
Did you catch our LIVE performance this week? This amazing, talented cast and crew of volunteers, produced this fun and entertaining piece of art for the Dunera Project, a not for profit, online resource platform, keeping people connected over isolation.
Set in an Italian Villa in the hills looking over Chanti (Sydney suburbs) we recreated the vibe of making Homemade Wood Fire Pizza (without the wood fire oven) and enjoyed the sweet sounds of opera and melodies from the little Italian village of Castelina Marrone.
You can watch it here 'Pizza, Parmigiano & Pavarotti".
Sourdough Pizza
Dough
1 sachet sourdough culture
6 cups 00 plain flour
3 teaspoons salt
3 cups warm water
Pizza toppings
- Margherita: Passata, bocconcini, basil
- Pizza con Palate: Potato Rosemary
- Salsiccia Pizza: Salami
- Pizza Bianco: garlic oil salt
The night before
Combine the culture, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the centre. Add the water and use your hands to mix to create a sticky dough. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to ferment and rise at room temperature overnight.
The next morning
Perform a set of stretch and folds. Wet your hand with water to prevent the dough from sticking. While the dough is still in the bowl, gently pull one side of the dough up and over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat this on all sides of the dough until you turned the bowl full circle.
Cover the bowl and place in the fridge, up to 36 hours until ready to bake. (The dough can be used at this point to make your pizza, the cold ferment is optional.)
That night
Remove the dough and let rest on the counter for 30 minutes to come to room temperature.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and on a generously floured work surface, shape each portion into a ball shape. Cover the mounds with a tea towel let rest for 30 minutes.
Turn on your oven's grill and heat a cast-iron skillet over medium to medium-high heat. While the skillet is preheating, use your hands to press a ball of dough into a 20 cm circle on a floured surface. Use more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Do not worry about adding too much flour!
When the skillet is smoking hot, lay the circle of dough onto the skillet. Immediately place the sauce and toppings on the crust and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is starting to char.
Once the bottom has turned brown and charred, transfer the cast iron skillet to the griller, to finish baking the top of the pizza for 4-5 minutes. Remove, slice, and serve hot.
Notes
Sourdough culture sachets can be bought online
100 grams fresh sourdough starter = 1 sachet
Use all-purpose flour or flour with a low gluten content for best results.
If you find the dough difficult to shape into a pizza crust, let it rest on the counter for 15 minutes. This will allow the gluten to relax and make it easier to shape.
Use any oven-safe skillet if you do not have cast iron.
Pizza dough is refrigerated for up to 36 hours. To freeze unbaked pizza dough, form the dough into a ball and place each dough ball into individual re-sealable freezer bags. Make sure to remove any air from the bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to use, thaw in your refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight. Once you're ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature. Shape the pizza crust and bake according to directions.