It’s Pi Day ! Let’s celebrate : Neapolitan Style

Good Morning everybody! It’s Pi day, March 14 (3.14), the celebration of all things pi: from the number to the food. I remember a few years ago, stopping at the Portland Pie company, only to find out they made pizza “pies” and no other kind of pies. That was a bit of a shock to the system, since we had already eaten dinner and were looking for dessert. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. As a result of that day (and to celebrate this one), we have a pizza recipe to share with you today. The dough is a classic crispy Italian dough that can be used in multiple ways. Although, to keep it simple, I have offered it as a Margarita pizza pie. No sauce, just fresh tomato, garlic, herbs, and fresh mozzarella. You can have authentic Italian style pizza in less time than it takes for delivery.

And for those of your looking for a sweet pie:

When I think of pie, I think of lazy, laid back days (it’s pi day after all). It is a comforting relaxing affair. In keeping with that tradition, we got lazy this pie day and picked up a key lime pie from our friend MamaB’s Tasty treats. Although, she is based in Massachusetts, you can check her out on line worldwide. She is a former educator who makes great treats. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a storefront yet. Consequently, it is very important to shop local to help out small businesses like this. Thank you for your support! @mamaBstastytreats on Facebook and instagram. (Disclaimer: We receive no compensation for this and are not affiliated in any way. We just respect and want to help local businesses.)

Stay tuned. We will be posting our St Patrick article and recipes tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want a sweet recipe to cap off the Pizza, check out this one. Sit, back, relax, and listen to “American Pie” by Don Maclean or really geek out with a math song about pi.

Margarita Neopolitan Pizza Pie

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Here is a basic pizza pie dough recipe

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Resting time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Equipment

• Pizza Stone

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 Lb Type 00 flour
• 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Tbsp dry active yeast
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 pint warm water Around 100 degrees fahrenheit
• 1 to 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Topping:
• 2 Lb Sliced Fresh Tomato
• 1 cup Thin sliced/shaved sweet Onion
• 2 Tbsp Thin shaved Fresh garlic
• 1 Lb Thin sliced and drained Fresh mozzarella
• 1/2 Cup Fresh basil leaves
• Olive oil to drizzle
• Flaked Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Oregano or 1Tbsp Fresh chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• corn meal for dusting

Instructions

 

• Put warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a mixer. Allow the yeast to activate for about 10 minutes
• Add in the salt and 1 Tbsp olive oil.
• Use a dough hook attachment on the mixer. Start at a low speed, and gradually add in the flour. Then increase the speed as you incorporate the last of the flour, so it doesn't fly all over.
• Mix until a dry dough forms. Add a little more oil if it is too dry.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and put on a floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top and cover. Let the dough sit about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour.
• Cut the dough into smaller portions if you want or leave whole if you have a large enough stone to accomodate.
• Preheat your oven to it's highest temperature. Most max out at 550. Have the pizza stone in the oven
• When the oven is hot, form the dough by hand. You can roll it out if you want, but I find the dough forms better and has a better mouth feel if done by hand.
• The dough can be formed on a pizza peel and slid into the oven or built on the stone itself. If you build it on the stone, be prepared to work fast. Either way, you want to dust the stone with corn meal to prevent sticking. If you are building on a peel, put some corn meal on the peel as well (also to prevent sticking).
• Drizzle the pizza crust with olive oil. Top with tomato slices (thin is better), onion, and garlic, top that with the fresh mozarella, then sprinkle parmesan, oregano, salt, and pepper on.
• Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on how well done you want it. The cheese should be somewhat browned. Be careful that it is not too wet.
• Either hand tear or slice the basil and sprinkle evenly over the pizza, Cut and serve immediately.

Notes

• Type 00 flour is a finely ground flour available in specialty stores. In Italy they categorize flour by the fineness of the grind. 00 is the finest grind. It’s gluten content is similar to AP flour, but the grinding makes the gluten react differently, resulting in a crisper dough. You can mix with AP or bread flour if you want a chewier crust.
• Fresh Mozzarella needs to be drained first. It has a lot of moisture, and can make your pizza soggy. Slice it thin. Otherwise it will not cook quick enough, and, the moisture will seep out. You can use regular mozzarella if you want. But, fresh or buffalo Moz is preferred in this type of pizza.
• Strain the tomatoes too. They can sog out the crust as well.
• This dough is universal. I like to make larger batches of it, cut into smaller balls, and freeze the dough. You can put whatever toppings you want on it. Try a fig, prosciutto, and blue cheese, drizzle with balsamic reduction! Molto Bene!

Keyword Neapolitan, Pizza, pie, dough, Classic, Italian, Cheese, Mozzarella