Since the speck and peas and pasta with cream sauce experiment, the thought of applying the same approach to pizza had been rattling around in my head. I took a few minutes yesterday to poke around the internet before I jumped in, and found that Jim Lahey has a recipe for prosciutto and pea pizza in his book 'My Pizza.' I took his idea of using bechamel and off I went.
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Representatives from the t:e organization spent a recent weekend whoring through Williamsburg. I had several goals in mind:
1) Neapolitan pizza
2) BBQ
3) cocktails
Even with what was essentially one Saturday, we managed to do it all, and more.
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As usual the ovens were preheated for over an hour. The stone was up to 650 by the time I slid the pizza in.
At 2.5 minutes in, I switched to the other oven, which had the broiler going, to finish the pie in about 3 minutes and 20.
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Oven at Porta
Porta intrigued me from the first time I saw the spray painted sign announcing its opening. Odd indeed, I thought.
Over the course of the next few months, the word was getting out: Porta is making some very good Neapolitan style pizza (and, apparently, incredible octopus). I found this to be the case during my few visits.
It's a funky place, in a warehouse looking space, decorated with some doors (porta, in Italian), with picnic table communal seating (tables made from reclaimed wood from the building, I'm told). Concrete floors, exposed HVAC and ceiling joists. My kind of minimalist thing overall.
Octopus at Porta
First the octopus. Rarely does anything live up to the accolades that you read on the internet. Let's face it, most people are idiots. Most people don't have very much experience with food to know good from bad, interesting from boring, exceptional from commonplace. But those idiots who gushed about the octopus were right (no offense intended, idiots).
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Yesterday was an excellent day. Not only was it National Margarita day (which means today is National the day after National Margarita Day), but I also disgusted a t:e reader by using store-bought eggs. Presumably this individual pulls them out of his hens' claocas moments before cooking breakfast. Those of us who do not live on or near a farm have to rely on places like Whole Foods for our eggs. I'm coming to terms with this.
But I did go ahead and totally put that egg on that pizza. Last night's selection of pizze (we speak Italian here at t:e) included a thyme/mushroom/taleggio/egg pie.
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Margherita
Clam and smoked pancetta
Soppressata and chile
Guanciale and egg. Always a crowd pleaser.
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Pizza all'amatriciana
A recent trip to Tarry Market in Port Chester yielded a nice chunk of guanciale. Normally I'd be making pizza carbonara, but I was looking for a tomato sauce-based pie. The obvious direction was pizza all'amatriciana, based on the fabulous pasta dish.
For the sauce, I use Pomi brand strained tomatoes, right out of the box, just as I always do. I'm not a fan of cooked sauces on pizza. I'm looking for bright, fresh, clean flavors. The rest of the ingredients are simply placed on the pie as it's being built.
Heat some chopped/diced guanciale in a pan, rendering some of the fat (which will be drizzled on the pizza), and giving a nice crunch/chew to the guanciale.
The onions should have been on the sauce, but I just kinda forgot until the end
The dough (made from a sourdough starter, slow rise in the fridge for 3-4 days) gets some salt and pepper, and then goes the sauce. Not too much. Less is more.
Thinly sliced onions on the sauce. They melt away when cooked on a pizza, lending a sweetness and subtle onion flavor. A bit of salt and pepper and red pepper flake as well.
Minced garlic is strewn about.
Throw some fresh basil on there. Why not. I usually dip it in my bowl of Pomi so it doesn't burn in the oven.
A bit of low moisture mozzarella cheese. Again, not too much.
Grated Pecorino Romano, of course.
That guanciale goes on along with a drizzle of the oil.
The pizza is cooked following the method I've been using for some time: two ovens as, hot as they go, preheating for well over and hour, and opening the door to let the air cool down once the element cycles off. This causes the element to go back on, adding more heat to the stone. Both stones on the top(pish) racks, 2 inches from the element. My stone is about 650 degrees when I put the pie in. The pie cooks for just about 2.5 minutes, and then it's slid into the second oven, which has been set to broil at the time I put the pizza in the first oven. This gives that second stone a blast of heat, ensures that the second stone is screaming hot as well, and gets the element screaming hot for the last 30 seconds of cooking. I've tried many variations with the stone placement, and the results are never as good as what I get with this approach. This is how I get 3 minute pizzas (sometimes quicker), from my regular ol' electric ovens.
I should have topped the finished pizza with parsley, but I completely forgot. Next time.
This will be in the regular rotation. Give it some consideration for your own experiments.
Tonight will be pasta all'amatriciana, based on Mario Batali's recipe, and I couldn't be happier.
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Photos by 'Curlz'
t:e field reporter jimmy:rocks has been telling me about this Mancinni's place for a while now. He's been making some outrageous claims about how good it is. I didn't doubt him too much.
Knowing t:e reader 'Curlz' enjoys good food and the Montclair area, I gave her the heads up on this BYO pizza joint. She gleefully reported back on how good it is. I now have no doubts whatsoever that this place is worth a trip.
One day 'Curlz' and jimmy:rocks, who don't know each other, ended up sitting next to each other at Mancinni's and chatting, unaware of the common link. I guess they go often. This was on the day after they apparently just missed each other at Pizza Town in Elmwood Park. Yet another time Curlz reported that she ended up sitting next to longtime t:e friend Rosie Saferstein of NJ Monthly. All of this is becoming too much for me to process.
Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to get down to Mancinni's myself. My pizza obsession will get me there soon. But, I think the word needs to get out, so I present to you the first official t:e guest blogging, by Curlz, on Mancinni's.
Curlz, take it away!
Continue reading "Mancinni's Coal Oven Pizza: Montclair, NJ: t:e guest blogger exclusive" »
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Margherita
I just want to take a moment to note that you can make great Neapolitan style pizza at home, if you listen to me. Don't listen to other people. They have no idea what they're talking about.
That is all.
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Pizza Carbonara
I was tooling around the recently awesome Asbury Park not too long ago, when I noticed a piece of plywood with a restaurant opening announcement crudely painted on the thing. Normally this would immediately turn me off. But the sign did make claims of "Neopolitan Pizza". Misspellings on menus and signs are another thing that generally turns me off. But given I knew what they meant, and they planned on serving my favorite style of pizza, I let all of this slide.
"Porta the Door" finally opens? Hey Porta, the door finally opens? Who is Porta? Is this a party or a restaurant. What is this. I'm confused. Asbury Park is weird.
I put it on my list of places to investigate, assuming the name was "Porta the Door". At that point, however, there was nothing on the internet about this place. Fast forward a few months, and the place is open, and they've got their Facebook presence and even sorted out a website. Porta National Park, it's called. Or maybe it's called Porta Pizza. Either way, it's getting some good reviews, and their pizza carbonara is getting some specific attention on blogs and from yelpers and what have you. (Edit: my thoughts on Porta can be found here-click me.)
I've made plenty of pizze with egg and guanciale, but never really considered them to be "carbonara." I just never really went for the carbonara thing whole hog. But since the combination of egg, guanciale, black pepper, Parmiagno-reggiano, red pepper flake and parsley really appeals to me, and Porta's version is getting some good reviews, I figured I'd treat a pizza just as I would the pasta dish and give it a whirl myself. At this point I hope you've realized that I'm not posting about Porta's pizza, but rather my own.
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