Roasted Tomato, Eggplant and Smoked Mozz
Source of Recipe
Heidi
List of Ingredients
Roasted Tomato, Eggplant and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza
1 medium eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut crosswise into 2 pieces
3/4 pound plum tomatoes, halved
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, washed well, spun dry, and chopped
coarse
1/4 pound smoked mozzarella, grated coarse (about 1 cup)
1 recipe Pizza Crust
Basic Pizza Crust
Yields: 3 pounds of Dough
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 2/3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
7 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat or rye flour
1 tablespoon coarse salt or 2 teaspoons fine salt
Recipe
Preheat oven to 450 deg. F. and very lightly grease a large baking
sheet.
Cut smaller eggplant piece into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Spread
eggplant slices in one layer on half of baking sheet and season with
salt. Put remaining eggplant piece and all but 2 tomato halves on
second half of baking sheet. Roast vegetables in middle of oven 15
minutes, or until eggplant slices are tender, and transfer eggplant
slices to a plate. Roast remaining vegetables 15 minutes more, or
until eggplant piece is very tender. Remove baking sheet from oven
and cool vegetables slightly.
Scoop out flesh from eggplant piece into a food processor and puree
with roasted tomatoes, unroasted tomato, vinegar, sugar, and salt to
taste. Sauce and sliced eggplant may be made 1 day ahead and kept
separately, covered and chilled.
On a work surface sprinkled with 1 teaspoon cornmeal roll out 1
piece of dough into a 12- by 6-inch oval and transfer to a baking
sheet. Repeat with remaining cornmeal and dough, ending up with 2
ovals on each of 2 baking sheets.
Increase temperature to 500 deg. F.
Spread sauce on dough ovals, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge
of each pizza. Arrange eggplant slices on sauce and sprinkle pizzas
with basil and mozzarella.
Bake pizzas in lower and middle thirds of oven 15 minutes, or until
crusts are crisp and pale golden.
Proof the yeast for 5 to 10 minutes in 1 cup of warm water and a
pinch of sugar, until the yeast dissolves and the liquid begins to
appear creamy.
Add the remaining water and 1 1/2 to 2 cups flour, including the
whole-wheat or rye flour. Beat this well (a hundred strokes) until
it's smooth and soupy, and then let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes,
until it's bubbly and swollen. Add the salt and olive oil and
proceed to stir in the rest of the flour by the cupful until the
dough is stiff but still slightly sticky. Tip: Stir the dough in the
same direction so that the gluten strands retain a smooth,
consistent pattern.
When the dough begins to form a cohesive mass that's thick enough
to hold its shape, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and
let it rest. Meanwhile, clean and oil the bowl. Knead the dough,
turning it clockwise by quarter turns and sprinkling a little flour
on top and on the surface underneath before folding it over. Add
just enough flour so the dough doesn't stick and tear. (A dough
scraper is invaluable for lifting the mass of dough cleanly from the
counter.) Kneading takes about 5 to 8 minutes. When the dough is
smooth, springy, and pliant -- earlobe-soft -- return it to the
oiled bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise until
doubled. This generally takes between 35 and 45 minutes at 70 to 75
degrees.
After the first rise, you can form the crust, assemble the pizza and
bake it immediately or punch the dough down and let it rise again
before baking. This doesn't substantially change the resulting
crust, but it gives you more time if you need it before baking the
pizza. Or, you can refrigerate the dough for several hours or up to
two days. In this case, give it a final punch down after it has
chilled for about 40 minutes and put it in a plastic bag.
By letting the dough mature in the refrigerator, the gluten ripens
and relaxes and the dough becomes less sticky, and will stretch
farther when working with it. With this refrigerated dough, you can
obtain a thin, crisp crust, or a thick, chewy crust, depending on
how thin you roll or stretch the dough when forming it, and on
whether or not you allow it to warm up and rise before baking it. A
thick crust made from chilled dough is likely to have larger air
bubbles and be less delicate and more chewy--rather like the
difference between regular and sourdough breads.
Three options for crusts:
Basic Crust
*For a light, risen crust, use a freshly made dough, although you
can use a chilled dough. For the highest, puffiest results, add 2
teaspoons more yeast to the recipe and use the dough within three
hours of making it. For a finer-textured crust, simply roll it out
thinner and let it rise to the same height. Let the dough rise until
it's puffy, and fingerprints disappear when dough is pressed. This
takes about 10 minutes with freshly made, room-temperature dough, or
about 15 minutes with chilled dough.
*A thick, chewy crust can be made either with fresh or chilled
dough. Stretch or press the dough to about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick and
let it rise just slightly. Whether you'll end up with a thick and
chewy crust or a light and risen one depends on how thick you roll
it out and how high you let it rise.
*For a thin, crisp crust, use dough straight out of the
refrigerator. Roll it out as thin as you want it -- usually about
1/4 inch -- and get it into the oven within minutes, before it has a
chance to rise.
Assemble the pizza on an oiled, rimless cookie sheet. A third of the
recipe will make a 12- to 16-inch round crust, depending on how thin
you roll or spread it. Lightly form the dough into a ball and
stretch it out. First, hold it vertically by one edge and turn it in
your hands, allowing gravity to stretch it as you turn it. Then lay
it on the cookie sheet and press out the dough, starting from the
center. Be careful not to tear or poke holes in the dough. A floured
rolling pin is handy for rolling out thin crusts. If the dough
springs back, let it rest a minute or two, or chill it in the
fridge, and then continue to work it out.
Arrange the toppings, usually three to four items, so that they
don't overlap. Apply the cheese a little more than halfway through
the baking process. By adding the cheese when the crust is just
lightly browned, you can tell when the topping is sufficiently
cooked and also avoid overbrowned, leathery cheese and an
undercooked crust. Those toppings that don't need much cooking,
like blanched spinach or asparagus, paper-thin prosciutto, or
steamed shellfish, also go on at halftime, along with the cheese
Bake pizza in a very hot oven -- 475 degrees -- on a heavy baking
sheets and on a baking stone. Check the pizza during baking and
rotate it if it appears to be cooking unevenly. Lift the crust to
see how it's cooking underneath. If the bottom is still pale while
the top seems almost done, turn the oven temperature down and leave
the pizza in longer.
When the crust is lightly browned and the toppings are cooked,
sprinkle on the cheeses. Then bake the pizza an additional 8 to 10
minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. By this time, the
crust will be perfectly done.
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