There are many foods I love to eat but up there at the top of my “favorite dishes” list remains one simple, yet delectable, staple: pizza! Surpassed only by my Mom’s lasagna, pizza is a comfort food that transports me back to my childhood. I remember those weekend nights when my Dad would rent a movie and order a pizza, then we’d all spend some quality time together enjoying a funny film while chowing down on cheesy goodness (with a side of jalapeno poppers). Now that I live some 3,000 miles away from home we don’t often get the opportunity to share a meal, or a movie, but my love for pizza remains. There is a slight difference, however: greasy Dominos or Pizza Hut creations just don’t do it for me anymore. Why? Because ever since I learned how to make my own pizza, ever since I sampled the crunchy-on-the-outside fluffy-on-the-inside goodness of a homemade crust, I haven’t been happy with anything else. Why order when you can bake? Not only do you have the sweet satisfaction of eating something you made yourself, but you’ll never have to worry about the toppings being messed up again. Want mushrooms on one side and onions on the other? No problem. Extra cheese? Simple. Add as many toppings as you like - heck arrange them in a feng shui pattern if you want! - there are no limits to what you can do. Awesome? I think so.

Homemade Pizza with Potatoes, Rosemary, Thyme and Mozzarella

Pizza is one of those dishes that goes way, way back in culinary history. The Greeks, who dominated the southernmost regions of Italy from about 730 BCE to 130 BCE, were accomplished bakers and ate flat, round breads topped with oils, onions, garlic, herbs, vegetables and cheese. They called it plankuntos and left a thin rim of plain crust along the edges, just like we do. Some food historians claim that this dish was based on a Persian meal described by Herodotus, a Greek historian frequently called “the father of history.” He wrote about a recipe similar to modern day pizza dough that was made by Persian bakers, and it is believed that on long marches the soldiers of Darius the Great (549 BCE– 486 BCE) would bake a kind of flat bread on their shields, then top it with cheese and dates. Another ancient pizza parallel can be found in the Apicius, which records a recipe for flat bread covered with meat, pine kernels, cheese, garlic, pepper and oil along with instructions for cooling it in snow before serving. We also find evidence for the existence of an early form of pizza in the ruins of Pompeii, a Roman city near modern Naples, Italy, that was destroyed and completely buried in volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24, 70 CE. When archaeologists began excavating the ruins they discovered shops that resembled conventional pizzerias along with marble slabs (for cooking) and other tools typically associated with baking pizza.

If you noticed the absence of tomatoes in any of the aforementioned ‘recipes,’ that’s because they originated in the New World, and hence, were unknown. It wasn’t until the Spanish conquered America and brought tomatoes back to Spain that they became a part of the European diet, and eventually found their way onto pizza. (Although for years Europeans thought tomatoes were poisonous and used the plant as decoration only.) The transition from inedible to pizza staple occurred when, faced with starvation, Neapolitan peasants took a chance and added tomatoes and cheese to their yeasted doughs, creating the first simple pizza as we know it. In 1889 King Umberto I and his wife, Queen Margherita di Savoia were on holiday in Naples when they decided to call the most popular pizza chef (pizzaioli) to their home so they could sample his specialties. He made three kinds of pizzas: one with lard, cheese and basil; one with garlic, oil and tomatoes; and another with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes (the colors of the Italian flag). Queen Margherita liked the last one so much that baker dedicated it to her and the “Pizza Margherita” was born.

There is much more to be said about pizza (like the interesting fact that 19th century street vendors, typically young boys, walked around the city with small tin stoves on their heads; hence making piping-hot, fresh pizza available to anyone, anywhere) but I also want to include a book review in this post. The cookbook in question: “Jamie’s Italy,” by Jamie Oliver. I began testing recipes from this book back in December before I left for Israel and have continued sampling dishes over the past week. The pizza you see pictured in this post is based on Jamie’s recipe for pizza topped with potatoes, mozzarella, rosemary, thyme and tomatoes.

What’s Good: One of my favorite things about this book is its originality. While based upon traditional recipes, Jamie adds his personal touch to many of the dishes. For instance, he added red wine, red onions, fennel and swiss chard to minestrone soup, producing delicious results. And under his influence regular ice cream became a delightful confection of Arborio risotto rice, sugar, white wine, milk, candied fruit, bittersweet chocolate and pistachios (among other things!). Flipping through the pages of “Jamie’s Italy” is a source of endless inspiration, while his willingness to personalize even the simplest recipe encourages you to do the same in your own kitchen. Hence, when I read his recipe for “pasta con acciughe e pomodoro” (anchovies in tomato sauce with pasta) and was tempted to try it - even though I hate anchovies - I had no qualms about modifying it. (Not that I ever feel bad about changing recipes, but if I were that sort of person Jamie’s attitude would have helped me get over it.) I took out the anchovies, added extra salt to compensate, replaced the pine nuts with almonds and changed the pasta - then enjoyed what has now become one of my favorite pasta dishes. I love Jamie’s informal writing style and especially appreciated how nearly every recipe is accompanied by a gorgeous photograph. The book is well bound, attractively presented, and each section is introduced by a few paragraphs about the culinary habits of Italy. My favorite section of the book, which also happens to be one of Jamie’s, is the “Street Food & Pizza” section. In this part of the text you’ll find recipes for things like fried crispy polenta with rosemary and salt, spaghetti fritters, and fried pizza. The other sections are: Antipasti (Starters); Primi (First Courses), including soups, pasta and risottos; Insalate (Salads); Secondi (Main Courses), including fish and meat; Contorni (Side Dishes) and Dolci (Desserts.) The desserts chapter is especially unique because it incorporates polenta, rice and olive oil into so many recipes. I particularly enjoyed Jamie’s “Florentine Rice Tart,” “Chocolate & Rice Semifreddo” and the “Torta di Nada,” a scrumptious cake made with red grapes or blueberries.

What’s Bad: There are only two things in this book that could possibly be included in this part of the review. First, I found that Jamie sometimes skipped over instructions because, I think, he assumed the reader would already know how to proceed. For instance, when making the pizza pictured in this post, the instructions tell you to cook the potatoes before adding them to the pizza - but not how to cook them. However, as Sam in “Lord of the Rings” said, you can “boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew” … not to mention steam them, fry them, bake them… shall I go on? I decided to boil them (see recipe details below) and the results were great, but I would have appreciated more detailed instructions. Second, on one or two occasions I found that the very quality that made me love this book - its creativity - could also be a bit of a pain. In the recipe for Autumn Minestrone soup Jamie tells you to cook, then throw away, a potato, tomato and a bay leaf (all used to cook the beans). This annoyed me because, although a creative way to add flavor, it seemed wasteful. I mentioned this in the original entry and one reader commented that the potato removes the gas-inducing enzymes contained in the beans, but I haven’t been able to verify this assertion. Plus, Alton Brown didn’t mention it on the “Good Eats” episode about beans - even though he talked about the gassy part - and I figure, if AB didn’t mention it, it probably doesn’t work. (Yes, I am biased towards AB.) I encountered a related problem with Jamie’s recipe for pizza dough, which was unlike anything I’ve read in other baking books in that it only allowed for 15 minutes of rest time. By contrast, my other books indicated that a minimum of 1 1/2 hours of rising/rest time was required for a yeasted dough. I gave Jamie’s instructions a try - twice, in fact - and in each instance the resulting dough was dry and hard, regardless of kneading time. In the end I swapped Jamie’s instructions for those of Beth Hensperger in “The Bread Bible.” It is the combination of her dough and his topping that produced that delightful pizza you see pictured here. Nevertheless, I should note that this was the only instance in which I encountered such difficulties when using this book. Perhaps there was a typo in the recipe, perhaps Jamie’s hands have a certain j nes se quoi that works magic, I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that as a home cook all I really care about is that recipes work and taste great. That didn’t happen with the original pizza recipe, but it did happen with everything else I tried.

Conclusion: “Jamie’s Italy” is a great book with many unique recipes based on classic Italian cooking traditions. If you are someone who is comfortable modifying recipes and making substitutions to satisfy your particular tastes it would be a welcome addition to your cookbook collection.

Homemade Pizza with Potatoes, Rosemary, Thyme and Mozzarella
(View larger pictures here.)

Recipe for an awesome pizza dough and a few topping variations after the jump.

Pizza Dough
Bakeware: Pizza stone, pizza peel
Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• A pinch of sugar
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Pour the warm water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast, sugar and 1 tablespoon of the flour over the surface of the water. Stir until dissolved and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, place 2 tablespoons of the oil, salt, 1 cup of flour, and the yeast mixture. Whisk hard until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until a soft, sticky dough that just clear the sides of the bowl is formed.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and vigorously knead to form a springy ball, dusting with flour only 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to prevent sticking, about 3 minutes. The dough should be quite soft, smooth, and very springy.

Form the dough into a flattened ball and place in a greased deep container. (Grease it with about 1 tsp of olive oil.) Turn once to coat the top and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until tripled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

About 30 minutes before baking, place your pizza stone in the cold oven on the lowest rack. Preheat to 500 degrees F.

Flatten the dough into a disk. On a very lightly floured surface, roll the dough from the center out, rotating as you go. Lift the dough edges and gently flap them to relax them as you work. Place the round of dough directly onto a cornmeal sprinkled baker’s peel. (Use a generous amount of cornmeal so that the dough doesn’t stick.)

Immediately after shaping, brush with sauce (see below) and assemble the toppings on the dough. Open the oven and dust the pizza stone with cornmeal. Slide the pizza directly onto the stone and bake until the dough is crisp, the topping is hot, and the cheese is melted, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven using the bakers peel (use it like a spatula), transfer to a cutting board and cut pizza into wedges with a pizza wheel or serrated knife. Enjoy!

Pizza Toppings
As your sauce base you can simply use your favorite pasta sauce. We love “America’s Choice Italian Style Marinara.”

From “Jamie’s Italy” :

Spicy salami, zucchini, basil, tomato and mozzarella
Ingredients:

• 4 tbs tomato sauce
• 6 thin slices of firm zucchini
• 8 fresh basil leaves
• 10 thin slices of spicy salami
• 3 oz. mozzarella
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Smear your tomato sauce evenly over the pizza base. Lay on your zucchini and basil, then your salami - you want this to go on last so it goes crispy. Place small torn up pieces of mozzarella into the gaps, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp and golden.

Potatoes, mozzarella, rosemary, thyme and tomatoes (The one I made)
Ingredients:
* items marked have been modified or added

• 6 tbs tomato sauce
• * 2 cooked new potatoes
• * dry, crushed rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• extra virgin olive oil
• lemon juice
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• * 4 oz mozzarella

* Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling. Peel your potatoes, add to the water and cook until a knife passes through them easily, about 15 - 20 minutes for medium to large potatoes. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain and allow to cool.

Smear the tomato sauce evenly over the pizza base. Slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick slices and toss in a bowl with the rosemary, thyme, a good glug of olive oil, a small squeeze of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Scatter them over the pizza base and put small torn up pieces of mozzarella into the caps, then scatter randomly over the top. Cook until crisp and golden.

Smoked pancetta, mozzarella, fresh chili, and tomatoes
Ingredients:

• 6 tbs tomato sauce
• 3 oz mozzarella
• 1 fresh red chili, finely sliced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 slices of smoked pancetta, thinly sliced
• olive oil

Smear the tomato sauce evenly over the pizza base. Tear the mozzarella into pieces and dob these over, then scatter over as much chili as you like and season with salt and pepper. Lay the pancetta over the top so it will crisp up during cooking and the juices will cook into the pizza. Drizzle with olive oil and cook until crisp and golden.

Other topping ideas: From “The Bread Bible”
- Oils: Extra virgin, virgin, pure olive oil, walnut oil
- Tomatoes: Fresh or canned Italian, sun dried tomatoes
- Cheese: Shredded low-moisture mozzarella (buffalo milk, cow’s milk, smoked); fontina; provolone; soft Jack; grated Pecorino Romano; Parmesan; ricotta; crumbled fresh goat cheese
- Olives
- Peppers: Roasted or sauteed green, yellow or red bell peppers; dried or fresh chilies.
- Meats: Cooked sweet or hot sausage, pancetta, or bacon; salami, pepperoni, or prosciutto
- Onions and Herbs: Sauteed onions, shallots or garlic; raw chives or green onions; fresh and dried herbs
- Others: Anchovies and cooked shrimp; capers; cooked vegetables such as spinach, eggplant, artichokes, and mushrooms.

Tips for great pizza
- Coat the dough with a layer of sauce or oil before assembling
- Limit yourself to three to five topping ingredients
- Distribute the topping ingredients evenly, so that every bite will contain all flavors

Pizza topping recipes from: Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver. The pizza dough recipe is from The Bread Bible, by Beth Hensperger.

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