The Zen of Pizza

We are running our Artisan Pizza class with Damiano Cuccio a pro-pizza maker at the organic bread bar in Paddington, here are some info and pics from last time. Working in a working artisan bakery made is feel like professionals, especially using commercial ovens and equipment. And the pizza was amazing. All attendees agreed it was the best they had ever eaten. The love Damiano has for the grain is infectious and I have included some of his top tips here, click on the pictures for a closer look or hover over the image for a brief explanation. Hopefully it will jog your memory for those that attended last year (yes Damiano is SO busy it has been a year!) and whet the appetites of those who didn't!

Here is the recipe -

500g flour

370ml water

3g dry yeast (teaspoon)

15g salt (half a teaspoon)

20ml extra virgin olive oil

Method:

-mixing, in this part we just bring the ingredients together.

-first proofing for 1 hour, put some oil on the dough, covered with a cloth.

- 3 foldings in one hour.

- second proofing in the fridge for 12-24 hours.

- cooking, take out the dough 3/5 hours before going in the oven, set the oven to the maximum temp. For 30 minutes place on the bottom part of the oven then finish off in the top part.

Enjoy.