2022 Giro d’Italia - Stage 8: Napoli.
Today’s stage started in the city center of Napoli (Naples), then up some hills, back down to the coast, once more through the hills of the outskirts of the city and, finally, ending near the Ovo Castle. I was actually surprised how hilly Naples was when we visited there, this past fall, on our honeymoon. It was a glorious, but arduous, endeavor to find the best margherita pizza in the city. After eating at 8 different pizzerias (including one very famous tourist spot - their pizza was garbage) in less than 24 hours, we found the best to be at Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba, which has been slinging pies since 1738.
While we were there, we also discovered our waiter made a better negroni than the bartender! We enjoyed a couple of negronis, a pizza margherita, and a gentleman practicing his operatic skills in his apartment. He was really good and we could hear him from a couple blocks away; a truly magical experience. So, today, I decided to try and make that pizza and negroni. Below is my “Near”politan pizza. It’s pretty close, and delicious. But, there is nothing like the real thing, which is to be expected not having a real pizza oven. However, I get around all of that. The negroni, though, is as real as it gets. This is one of those be-sure-to-measure drinks to really achieve a harmonious balance.
Mangia’s Nearpolitan Pizza Margherita
If you don’t want to go through the whole grill part, you can bypass and just place the oven racks in the top third and bottom third of your oven, placing the stone on the lower rack and preheat the stone in the oven for 1 hour at 550 degrees. Cook the pizza on the stone for 4-5 minutes, then follow the broiling instructions.
Pizza Dough - to get this dough as authentic as possible, you need to achieve 62% humidity when using a home oven. Be sure to use the measurements, and a scale, as noted below for the flour and water. You may also want to have semolina flour on hand for the pizza peel…oh yeah, you’ll need a pizza peel and a pizza stone for this recipe.
22 oz 00 flour - (weigh the flour, trust me)
1.5 tsp table salt
1 packet rapid-rise yeast
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
403 ml of water (~110 degrees)
Sauce
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves
28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
Leaves from 2 fresh oregano sprigs, rough chopped
Pizza Toppings
Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
1 lb high-quality Mozzarella (not pre-shredded) - 12 ⅛-inch thick slices
Basil
Extra-virgin olive oil
Three days before you are going to make the pizza, prepare your dough by combining the flour, salt, and yeast in the large bowl of a stand mixer and whisk briefly to incorporate. Then, using the dough hook attachment, start the mixer on Speed 2. Add the evoo and slowly pour in the warm water. Once the water is poured in, increase to Speed 4 and let it knead, for about 10 minutes, until the dough comes together on the hook and appears smooth.
Meanwhile, prepare a large bowl by lightly spraying it with cooking spray, as well as the top (or cling wrap). When the dough is ready, form into a ball and place in the bowl, cover, and set aside 2 hours to rise. After 2 hours rest, divide the dough into 4 equal portions (roughly 8.5 oz each) and form into smooth dough balls. I highly suggest you watch this video for both dough ball forming and stretching technique. After the 4 balls are formed, place in a 13x9 sized container, sprayed with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap (sprayed with cooking spray) and place in your fridge for at least 48 hours and up to even 7 days !!! -- I went with 72 hours.
When the dough has fully rested, pull from the fridge and place on the counter for 2 hours to come to room temperature.
While the dough is coming to temperature, prepare your sauce and toppings.
For the sauce, preheat the oil and the smashed garlic over medium heat. After a few minutes, pour the tomatoes and their sauce in. Add the oregano and 2 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Using a hand blender, briefly purée the large tomato pieces (or process in a blender) and simmer for about 30 mins over medium-low heat.
About an hour before you’re ready to cook the pizza, place the pizza stone on your grill and turn all the burners to high and let it pre-heat for an hour. Soak wood chips in water while the grill heats up. After 45 minutes, place the chips in a smoker box (or foil packets with some small holes for smoke to escape) and place on the burners for the last 15 minutes of pre-heating.
Preheat your oven to 550 degrees with the oven racks in the upper third.
Once everything has preheated, it’s time to stretch the dough. If you’ve never stretched pizza dough, use your weaker-looking dough balls first, as practice tries - but these are free-form pies, don’t worry about perfect circles! You want to stretch the dough, like this. Most importantly, while working on one dough ball, keep the remainder covered with a damp kitchen towel or cling wrap. We’re going one-at-a-time here.
Once you have 1 pizza dough ready, place it on a pizza peel, dusted with semolina flour or 00 flour, and spoon on a ladleful of sauce, spreading it around with the back of the ladle. Sprinkle on some Pecorino Romano, then place a few basil leaves around the pizza, followed by the mozzarella. Drizzle with evoo. Give the pizza a little shake to ensure it’s able to slide off the peel.
Using the pizza peel, slide the dough onto the hot stone and cook for 3 minutes with the cover closed. Meanwhile, turn the oven from 550 degrees to the broil setting.
Using the pizza peel, sliding it under the pizza swiftly at a 45-degree angle, transfer the pizza to the pizza tray (or an aluminum foil lined baking sheet) and place it on the top rack under the broiler. Cook for 2- 3 minutes. Remove from the oven with the pizza peel, garnish with some extra ripped basil and let cool for a few minutes before devouring.
Note: If you’re bypassing the grill/smoke method, you’ll need to cook in the lower third of the oven on the stone at 550 for about 4 minutes and still move off the stone for the broil portion.
Negroni
2.5 oz quality gin like Hendrick’s
2.5 oz Campari
2.5 oz Martini Rosso (sweet red vermouth)
Orange rinds
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour in the liquid ingredients. Cover and shake.
Fill 2 lowball glasses, each with a large ice cube, and using the strainer, pour the shaker ingredients among the glasses. Garnish with a twisted orange rind and serve.
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Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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