Great New York/Neopolitan crust

[Timothy]

Pizza is one of those foods that shouldn't be healthy for you to eat. The cheese should have looong strings when you pick up a slice off the tray. You fight with everyone else to get as much cheese as you can. Onions, mushrooms, garlic and anything else you want on them should be semi-fried in lots of olive oil And don't drain them on anything. Just pile it on the top of the pizza with the pepperoni and cheese. I want to see pools of olive oil on the top under the cheese. I don't want to see what is underneath the cheese. There should be so much cheese, that the company is going to go broke buying mozzarella cheese. And definitely thin crust with a little bit of burn and corn meal on the bottom.

IMO, you just described the perfect pizza! That made my mouth water.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Pizza is one of those foods that shouldn't be healthy for you to eat. The cheese should have looong strings when you pick up a slice off the tray. You fight with everyone else to get as much cheese as you can. Onions, mushrooms, garlic and anything else you want on them should be semi-fried in lots of olive oil And don't drain them on anything. Just pile it on the top of the pizza with the pepperoni and cheese. I want to see pools of olive oil on the top under the cheese. I don't want to see what is underneath the cheese. There should be so much cheese, that the company is going to go broke buying mozzarella cheese. And definitely thin crust with a little bit of burn and corn meal on the bottom.

Addie, I'm truly sorry dear but I guess we won't be sharing a pizza anytime soon. I honestly couldn't eat something like what you describe. I like my pizza somewhat on the healthy side, with lots of fresh veggies and maybe a little sausage. But go light on the cheese and that sausage had better be well drained. When I'm done I don't want to feel like I've just eaten a gut bomb. Gobs of grease and cheese just doesn't do it for me. I have a history of heart disease in my family. It afflicted and eventually killed both my parents at far too young an age, so I take a little bit different approach to eating these days. Hopefully I can avoid their fate. I'm still overweight, but I'm working on it.

But to each their own, and I totally respect your right to eat what you enjoy. I just hope you can respect mine as well.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I don't like greasy pizza either. I know my preference is probably sacrilege to some but sausage is just too fatty, and pepperoni is too spicy and gives me heartburn. That's why I like so much to make my own pizza, so I can put just what I want and nothing more. For meat I like sliced meatballs although chicken and shrimp are good too. I get along with cheese just fine although there's a point where there could be too much of a good thing. I like tomato sauce most of the time, but I'm intrigued with the thought of non-tomato based sauces too.

And I like the crust, but there too there can be too much of a good thing. I particularly like Nestlund's pizza crust as pictured in the OP. That just looks perfect to me, just the right thickness, and just the right amount of crispness too! That's a pizza you can be proud of!

 

[Steve Kroll]

There's no right or wrong when it comes to pizza (or any food for that matter). It's all what you enjoy.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

There's no right or wrong when it comes to pizza (or any food for that matter). It's all what you enjoy.

Oh there is wrong food. My MIL used to reuse spice bottles, and fill them with other spices than the original. I made this marinara sauce one time, at her house. I grabbed what I thought was granulated garlic powder. What I put into my sauce was ground cinnamon. I couldn't remove it, and so tried to doctor it into something edible. I added raisins and brown sugar as well, trying to overcome the piquant flavor of the basil and oregano. It was horendous. We ended up throwing it out. There is wrong food, my freind, just not in the way your are talking about it.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[nestlund]

The pizza i made tonight was completely different. Preheated oven at max for 1 hr then turned on the broiler to get my preheated stone to even hotter temps (650 ish). This was necessary to melt real fresh mozzarella i had purchased earlier today. Pie baked in 4 mins flat. Excellent char on the bottom. Sorry everyone, no pics this time.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

GW, what you describe sounds very much like a calzone (see pic). Is there a difference?

It looks like a pizza pastie. But is it made with real pizza dough, and is it about ten inches wide, and does it have pepperoni, pizza sauce, mushrooms, sausage, onions, black olives, and lots of good mozarella cheese. If so, and if it's made in the U.P., then it's a pizza pasty. But you can call it a calzone if you want. And yes, it does look like the picture.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Longwind, I'd probably die and go to Heaven if they served that with a non-tomato sauce and something other than pepperoni. I think there's a whole vast gulf of ideas to explore, calzoni with maybe mushrooms, shrimp, vegetables, cheese and some sort of white sauce. I'll tackle it some day.

It's not that I don't like tomato sauce pizza. It's only that I'm awed by the possibilities of making pizzas or calzoni and using some other sauce base. It just boggles my mind.

 

[Rocklobster]

A. When I'm done I don't want to feel like I've just eaten a gut bomb. Gobs of grease and cheese just doesn't do it for me. I have a history of heart disease in my family. It afflicted and eventually killed both my parents at far too young an age, so I take a little bit different approach to eating these days. Hopefully I can avoid their fate. I'm still overweight, but I'm working on it.

So, you won't be eating Panzerotti any time soon?

 

[Addie]

The pizza i made tonight was completely different. Preheated oven at max for 1 hr then turned on the broiler to get my preheated stone to even hotter temps (650 ish). This was necessary to melt real fresh mozzarella i had purchased earlier today. Pie baked in 4 mins flat. Excellent char on the bottom. Sorry everyone, no pics this time.

It is easier to melt aged moz cheese than fresh. I use fresh only in salads.

 

[Zereh]

I love fresh mozzarella on my pizza ~ it's the only kind we use.

I have made pizzas that were put into a hot hot cast iron skillet and then under a broiler to give the crust that crunch on the bottom. But I like your idea, SK, of the long preheat and combined with an extra blast-of-heat from the broiler. Gonna try it!

 

[nestlund]

Fresh mozzarella is really good especially if u can get your hands on some fresh buffalo mozzarella.

 

[Addie]

Fresh mozzarella is really good especially if u can get your hands on some fresh buffalo mozzarella.

And therein lies the problem. Getting your hands on true buffala mozzorella cheese means it has to be imported from Italy express overnight. If you live near an Italian neighborhood, you might get lucky. It depends on how large the Italian community is. And then you have to be at the vendor's door when it opens and wait for the Fed Ex truck to deliver it. It is very expensive and probably brought in for a particular customer(s).

We have a company here in the North End of Boston. The last remaining true Italian neighborhood. The company (Purity Cheese) makes all the Italian cheeses for all the major stores in the Boston and surrounding towns and cities. Whenever they get true bufflala mozzella cheese it is for high end fancy dancy restaurants and hotel kitchens. It sells for more than gold in this city. Like truffles, it is sliced very thin and used sparingly.

 

[buckytom]

and it loses something every day so that it's no better than regular mozz after a week.

addie, the italian deli i frequent takes orders for fresh buffala mozz once a week for express delivery. it's expensive, so i'm not sure i'd melt it on a pizza. maybe just in a caprese salad with just a drizzle of aged balsamic. or alongside carpaccio and some dressed bitter greens.


i've been avoiding this thread because here in new york, there are a half dozen thicknesses of "thin" crust pizza.

it ranges from what isessentially like a cracker that shatters if you try to fold it, to a 1/2 inch thick doughy crust.

depending on my mood, i can go to literally dozens of pizza joints and order what i crave. each place has a different thickness of crust, a different sauce, and adds different amounts of cheese.

my most commonly ordered pie is very thin crust that both cracks a little when folded but is also a little leathery, has sauce that's herby (oregano, savory, and basil) but not sweet, and is sparingly covered in cheese. not edge to edge with a thick layer like so many pizza places i've been to around the country, but some spots without any cheese at all. i can't even imagine a thick crust pizza with cheese stuffed in the crust, and then loads of cheese on top.

 

[Addie]

and it loses something every day so that it's no better than regular mozz after a week.

addie, the italian deli i frequent takes orders for fresh buffala mozz once a week for express delivery. it's expensive, so i'm not sure i'd melt it on a pizza. maybe just in a caprese salad with just a drizzle of aged balsamic. or alongside carpaccio and some dressed bitter greens.


i've been avoiding this thread because here in new york, there are a half dozen thicknesses of "thin" crust pizza.

it ranges from what isessentially like a cracker that shatters if you try to fold it, to a 1/2 inch thick doughy crust.

depending on my mood, i can go to literally dozens of pizza joints and order what i crave. each place has a different thickness of crust, a different sauce, and adds different amounts of cheese.

my most commonly ordered pie is very thin crust that both cracks a little when folded but is also a little leathery, has sauce that's herby (oregano, savory, and basil) but not sweet, and is sparingly covered in cheese. not edge to edge with a thick layer like so many pizza places i've been to around the country, but some spots without any cheese at all. i can't even imagine a thick crust pizza with cheese stuffed in the crust, and then loads of cheese on top.

I have to admit that you are one of the most fortuante ones. NY has it all. I have to go across the harbor to the North End to get genuine Italian eats.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Fresh mozzarella is really good especially if u can get your hands on some fresh buffalo mozzarella.

About 20 years ago, a buddy and I worked for the DOD and did a 4 week stayover in Naples, Italy. Mozzarella di Bufala was the local cheese. We would buy a couple balls of the fresh stuff (and I do mean fresh, as you could stand in the deli and watch the guy making it) and bring it back to our tiny little shared apartment and have a feast. Sliced mozzarella, locally grown tomatoes, shredded basil, and just a pinch of salt, pepper, and oil. I got spoiled on the stuff, but was brought back to reality when I got home to the states and found you just couldn't get it here.

For awhile, around the late 90's, I found a place online that would ship it overnight in a cryo-pac, and even then only certain days of the month. It was outrageously expensive.

We are very fortunate now in that it's possible to get American made Buffalo Mozzarella in small amounts. There is a cheese factory over in Wisconsin called Cedar Grove that makes the real deal. Quantities are limited to whatever milk they can get from the water buffalos. I've seen it in at least one Italian deli in the Minneapolis area, but it goes pretty quickly. Fortunately, you can also get it express shipped through mail order. I've had it a couple times and it tastes every bit as good as the stuff I remember from Naples.

 

[nestlund]

Why dont they make more in america? Are the variables all wrong here in the states?

 

[powerplantop]

Why dont they make more in america? Are the variables all wrong here in the states?

Not a lot of water buffalo here in the states.

When I was in Pakistan lots of them around. Perhaps we can setup a cheese factory there.....

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, the buffalo Mozzarella is made from a different kind of buffalo than we commonly have in America, which are probably more appropriately called American bison. What kind of buffalo is used in the Moz? African buffalo? Water buffalo? In any case we don't have many in America.

I understand our American bison herds are increasing, partly due to conservation and partly due to commercialization as meat animals. In fact in Los Angeles (and probably much of the nation) I can buy ground "buffalo" and it makes pretty damned good hamburgers!

Can they make buffalo Mozzarella from our American "buffalo" or is that just a crazy idea?

 

[Addie]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, the buffalo Mozzarella is made from a different kind of buffalo than we commonly have in America, which are probably more appropriately called American bison. What kind of buffalo is used in the Moz? African buffalo? Water buffalo? In any case we don't have many in America.

I understand our American bison herds are increasing, partly due to conservation and partly due to commercialization as meat animals. In fact in Los Angeles (and probably much of the nation) I can buy ground "buffalo" and it makes pretty damned good hamburgers!

Can they make buffalo Mozzarella from our American "buffalo" or is that just a crazy idea?

The American Buffalo is a different animal entirely. First they are very ornery. They at first were raised to bring back enough of their numbers because during the Indian wars, were almost killed to the brink of extinction. The Native Americans depended on them as a source of food, clothing, housing, etc. By killing of the American Buffalo, they were submitted into compliance of the American Government policy for the Native American. All of them were to live on designated reservations. By that time the Native Americans no longer depended on them. They became an endangered species and were protected and allowed to increase their numbers in our national parks. Yellowstone is an example. Ranchers decided to try and raise them to help in increasing their numbers past the endangered species. They were successful. But trying to have a buffalo roundup became an exercise in exhaustion. Unlike our cattle who will run, the American buffalo will turn and charge. You can't corral them in the same manner you would a Holstein for milking. Whereas you can a water buffalo. The Bison refuse to be domesticated. There are a couple of ranches or farms out west that are now experimenting with water buffalo. So real mozzarella cheese is become available, but is still very expensive.

So to answer your question, bison and water buffalo are two different animals. One has been domesticated to the point that we can harvest their milk and the other one refuses all efforts to do so.