MORE DOUGH: STUFFED PIZZA

We were recently invited to a birthday "pie party", where the host asked us specifically to bring an "Italian dish with sausages". The request put me in a tough spot: Although sausages are a specialty of the Veneto region where I'm from, it is hard to find them in a dish that you can bring pre-cooked to a buffet-style dinner. Sausages in Veneto—peppery and coarsely ground, with no fennel seeds or other spices—are mostly grilled on the spot and served with polenta.

As I started thinking about a dish that would be appropriate for the occasion, I remembered the pizza dough from The Italian Store in the freezer, calling me hauntingly like Poe's tell-tale heart. I also remembered a recipe for "Escarole-Stuffed Pizza" in an old issue of Gourmet Magazine that sounded pretty fantastic. I knew what to do: a stuffed pizza with sausages, Swiss chard, and mozzarella.

The only problem was, I'm still completely terrible at stretching dough. I'm too clumsy and impatient, and I always pierce several holes in any dough (or fabric, actually) that passes through my nervous hands. (Upon close inspection, you will notice that my pies are just a perplexing puzzle of broken pieces haphazardly thumbed together.) I needed help, and my very helpful and patient husband was happy to do the stretching with the lovely but fundamentally useless assistance of MiniBee, our oldest son. So I stood on the side and took the pictures, and begged my husband to write a little how-to for you coordinated and smart readers. (You'll find it below; keep on reading.)

The pizza is fairly easy to make once you have mastered the dough-stretching part: It is simply a pie filled with sausages and Swiss chard, to be eaten warm (or any temperature, really) in slices. The only trick I learned from the Gourmet recipe is cooking the crust first in the oven so that it does not get too soggy once you add the stuffing. The final pizza is soft, chewy, and perfectly salty. The sausages add a decadent joy to this recipe, but pizza is so versatile, you can really stuff it with anything you like. Although pardon me for repeating myself: NO PINEAPPLE AND NO CHICKEN. Don't make me come there with my perforating fingers and Poesque delusions.

STUFFED PIZZA

3 sweet Italian sausages (about 1/2 lb)
1 crushed garlic clove
1/2 bunch Swiss Chard, chopped
1 C cubed mozzarella (drained for 10 minutes)
2 tbsp EVOO
Kosher salt 
pepper
flour
1 pizza dough at room temperature (only best-quality dough—DC people, you can only use Vace or The Italian Store or make your own)


MAKE THE STUFFING

• Heat the oven to 500 degrees and put a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Blanch the Swiss chard in water for 2 minutes, then strain it and dump in ice water. Dry with paper towels.
• Squeeze out the meat from the sausages' casing. If you don't love doing this like I do, find someone who will.
• Cook the sausage meat, breaking up large lumps with a wooden spoon, in a large skillet for 8 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Transfer a large mixing bowl.
• Cook the crushed garlic in the rendered fat for 2 minutes. Discard.
• Add the Swiss chard to the skillet and cook for about 4 minutes. 
• Mix the Swiss chard with the sausage, let cool for for a few minutes, and then add the cubed mozzarella.
• Sprinkle with one tablespoon of EVOO and salt and pepper to taste.

MAKE THE PIZZA

• Cut 1/3 of the pizza dough and stretch on a floured surface to a 9'' diameter.
• Place the dough in the cake pan, sprinkle with EVOO, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the dough is golden. Let cool for 10 minutes or until you can touch dough and pan with your bare hands without risk of erasing your fingerprints.
• Spoon the filling on the crust, keeping it about one inch away from the border.
• Stretch the rest of the dough to a 10'' diameter. Place the dough it over the pizza and carefully fold it underneath for about an inch. Press edges so that the stuffing is perfectly enclosed.
• Brush the top of the stuffed pizza with olive oil and sprinkle with additional salt.
• Cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until your pizza looks like the one in the picture above.

HOW TO STRETCH PIZZA DOUGH

Whether you have been a show-off and made your own pizza dough or simply bought it from your local pizzaiolo, you'll still need to transform that sticky ball of goodness into a soft, elastic, and impossibly thin disc. The first thing is, the dough should be room temperature. Too cold and you will actually feel it resisting your touch (insert joke here). Then, you should have plenty of flour on your working surface. Once you're ready, plop the dough on the flour and dust it liberally. Do not to fold the dough over onto itself: The time for kneading has passed, and all you would be making is a really crappy croissant. Instead, flatten the dough with your fingers, pushing it outward from the center, and flip it often in the flour. Soon the dough will begin to soften, and at that point you can start to stretch it—literally, pick up the flattened dough, hold it in front of you, and pull at it gently while turning it like a steering wheel. Eventually the dough's own weight will be enough to continue stretching it (that's why those guys flip it in the air!). You really want to make the dough almost paper thin, but without creating any holes. There are other tricks to making non-compliant dough more elastic, including dousing with olive oil, but really—flour is your best friend. —Alec

Find the original recipe from Gourmet here: Escarole-Stuffed Pizza.

PIZZE FRITTE (DEEP-FRIED PIZZAS)

Last week I had my birthday. If you're dying to know, I turned 38, which apparently is considered the best age, at least according to this article I found by googling "38 is the best age". To celebrate, my dear husband fulfilled my dreams (and his) by getting me a deep-fryer. Of course, we had to put it to work right away, and the first dish that sprang to mind was deep-fried pizzas.

That's right: These are mini-calzones minimally filled and deep-fried. Please note this recipe is not a culinary junk dare like these deep-fried donut bacon cheeseburgers that I don't even want to comment on. It's actually inspired by a traditional Neapolitan recipe: the pizza fritta.

The original pizza fritta was born in the poor neighborhoods of Naples after the devastation of WWII. People could not afford pizza cooked in a wood-fire oven, so they started frying it in the streets instead. The pizzas were filled with ricotta and chitterlings, or left empty. In one my favorite movies, Vittorio De Sica's "L'Oro di Napoli" (The Gold of Naples) from 1954, you can see a young and impossibly beautiful Sophia Loren as a pizza fritta vendor. The pizza fritta is not as common today in its original form, but you can still find the calzone fritto: a whole calzone filled with ricotta, mozzarella, salami, and ham and deep-fried to perfection.

But back to my birthday. I have no illusion our deep-fried pizzas would compete with their Neapolitan inspiration, but they were super delicious: soft, chewy, salty, and not at all greasy. We filled them with mozzarella, a little bit of San Marzano tomato sauce, and fried eggplants. We didn't make the dough ourselves because, living in D.C., we are blessed with great ready dough from two delicatessens, Vace and The Italian Store. We used Vace this time, and were thrilled to try their own mozzarella, prepared in-store every day.

These pizzas are fairly easy to make, and definitely very fun for a Sunday with friends. Of course, this is if your guests don't mind the smell of fryer oil on their hair and clothes for a week. Present it as a party favor: You might get away with it.

D.C. people: Start frying.

PIZZE FRITTE

Makes 16 little fried pizzas.

3 quarts of frying oil (or 3 inches if you are doing it in a dutch oven over stove heat)
2 pizza dough disks

2 whole mozzarellas, cubed and drained for 10 min in a colander

1 1/2 C of tomato sauce (make your own with San Marzano tomatoes)
1 large eggplant, cubed and deep-fried
fresh basil leaves
EVOO
Salt
Pepper

• Heat the oil in your deep-fryer or dutch oven to 375 degrees.
• Cut each dough in 8 parts on a well floured surface (flour is your friend, it helps soften the dough and make it more elastic) and then flatten each mini-dough, starting from the center (about 4'' diameter). Be careful the dough doesn't tear. Use your hands here; using a rolling pin is not advised for pizza. (It will cause it to tear more easily.)
• On each pizza disc, place a small handful of mozzarella cubes, 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon of fried eggplants, and a basil leaf.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little EVOO.
• Fold the dough over and press firmly to seal the pizzas into tiny calzones. It is important to create a good seal so the moisture from the cheese and sauce does not mix with the hot oil and splatter. 
• Deep-fry until the pizzas are puffed-up and golden, turning once, just under 2 minutes. 
• Serve immediately.

Note: These pizzas can be easily made vegan. Fill with tomato sauce, eggplant, olives, and everything you would like to see on pizzas with the exception of pineapples. 

Another note: Pizza fritta can also be made like this. My friend Checco makes this kind every year in Italy, and it's a celebration to remember. Just fry the open pizza dough and then spoon over tomato sauce and grated cheese.

PIZZA VIENNESE: THE UNDER(HOT)DOG

A few weeks ago I published a post on the foods you should eat when in Alto-Adige, the Italian region on the border with Austria. An Austrian reader lamented the absence of my often praised Pizza Viennese, which I'm happy to tell you is a pizza topped with sliced hot dogs. (If you can't believe Italians put hot dogs on their pizza, then I'm happy to disappoint you.) The thing is, I left out this gem because I thought it was common to all Northern Italy rather than just Alto-Adige. But is that so? I had to investigate.

You'll find this listed as a "classic" in Veneto pizzerias.

First of all, let me tell you that I really love Pizza Viennese. I love it because I love hot dogs, and because it was my favorite pizza during middle school (thus making it it the only happy memory of my pre-adolescence). Still, I must acknowledge that pizza with hot dogs is pretty far from the traditional Neapolitan masterpiece that I've eulogized in this blog. In fact, I'm pretty sure Neapolitan traditionalists would self-combust if they tried even a morsel of it. So where does this apparent abomination come from?

If I have to think about it, I would say that Pizza Viennese was born in Northeast Italy to please the hordes of German and Austrian tourists that descend on the beaches of Veneto and Friuli every summer. But am I right? What do other Italians think? First, I asked two friends from other parts of Italy if they knew about Pizza Viennese. Here's what they had to say.

"Never seen it. This is German stuff. I only go to serious pizzerias, although I know of a few places where they serve pizza with hot dogs and fries, but it's just for children." Mara, Chef (Rome)

"Pizza Viennese... Never heard of it. I know there's pizza with hot dogs, but it's more of a children's thing. I've never witnessed a sane adult eating one!" Martina, Photographer (Savona)

Harsh. I started wondering: Am I the only adult still ordering this pizza? Am I the one and only ambassador of Pizza Viennese in the world? Should I stop saying it's an Italian classic? I asked some friends from around Venice. The initial responses were not encouraging.

Personally, I have never been a fan of Pizza Viennese. I've eaten it in the past, and I still order it every now and then. I think it's a pizza for children in general, rather than for Germans. Matteo, DHL Centurion

I've always avoided it carefully. But I do the same with hot dogs in general: They disgust me. I don't think it's a pizza for German tourists. Pizza Viennese, in my opinion, is the ultimate pizza for babies and preteens. I don't think you'll find it in Naples, and I doubt it's served even in Rome. Anna, Science Teacher

Three people attempted to put Pizza Viennese in context, but were still critical.

You can find [Pizza Viennese] in almost every pizzeria or gyro place I've been, even in its "worse" version with fries. I remember eating it all the time as a kid. If I think about it today, it leaves me with an 80s taste in my mouth: the paninari scene and hamburgers, Wham! and "The Goonies", and evenings with friends, sitting on a bench with open pizza cartons on our laps. Today I'd eat it if I were throwing a trashy party, so then I'd have it cold with Nutella for breakfast the morning after. Christian, Art Connoisseur 

In my opinion, pizza with hot dogs is an oxymoron. I agree with others who said that the only ones who were authorized to order it were middle-schoolers during the 80s. Any other age group or historical period would make ordering this incomprehensible and deplorable. That said, you can eat whatever pizza you want. But then don't complain if you become a victim of bullyism as an adult. Alberto, Attorney 

The case of pizza with hot dogs is similar to that of pizza with fries. In both cases, what happens is that the pizza itself moves to the background, and the focus goes to the toppings. [...] Is it stuff for Germans? Maybe. Germans, unlike Italians, do not value the taste of the dough. They don't pause to ponder the quality of the rising or the sweetness/acidity of the tomato sauce, or discourse with their dining companions on the quality of the mozzarella. This means they have to add an ingredient from their own country, or someone else's (see pizza with pineapple). For Germans, the pizza is a plate: What matters is what you put on it. So if they want to eat a pineapple, they put a pizza underneath it. Marco, Songwriter & Musician

So, it seems Pizza Viennese is a middle-school homage to 80s Germany, which is not the best compliment you can pay to Italian food, as you may suspect. However, sociological analysis and culinary nationalism aside, there is still some love for this denigrated gem.

I simply adore hot dogs. I eat Pizza Viennese and if I'm making pizza at home and I have franks in the fridge -- I just slap them on the dough! However, the hot dogs have to be artisanal-quality or by Senfter! Federica, Travel Guru & It Girl 

Personally, in the face of the recession, bad government, and dieting, I eat pizza with pepperoni AND hot dogs. The infamous "FESTIVAL OF PORK". Roger, DJ 

I don't know what you'll make of me, but I count this among my favorite pizzas. But on the other hand, deep down I am German. Maybe I'm biased after decades of traveling in Veneto. We have pizza Viennese in Milan, it's more simply called "pizza with hot dogs." Although I'd say there are thousands of pizzerias in Milan, also owned by foreigners (especially from Egypt), that call their pizza whatever they want. I want to end this by saying, Hurray for hot dogs, always! Anna, Crafter

What can we say? Most Italians might be horrified by Pizza Viennese, but in the swamps and fogs of Northeast Italy, there is some love for this diamond in the rough. It might be that its devotees have a sentimental attachment to the carefree days this pizza evokes from their youth. Or they just might love a little junk food, every now and then. I mean... pizza with hot dogs. In Italy. You gotta love it.

BEST PIZZA IN THE DC AREA

In the past ten years, DC has experienced a really heartwarming explosion of great pizzerias. I followed this transformation with great joy. I don't go to Italian restaurants often because I think I can either cook Italian staples myself or wait to gorge on real Italian delicacies on my next trip back home. Great pizza, however, cannot be easily replicated in our kitchen and, most importantly, cannot be humanely eaten only once a year (that's what sets us apart from animals, by the way). Here are my picks for best pizza in DC. You'll notice a predilection for Neapolitan-style pizza, but it couldn't be any other way. I went to Naples on a pizza pilgrimage and let me assure you: You'll never going to eat anything as wonderful in your entire life.

DINE-IN PIZZERIAS

#1 Menomale, Brookland (DC)

This Neapolitan pizzeria opened last year, a week before I moved away from that neighborhood (terrible, terrible timing). Founded by a Neapolitan pizzaiolo, this place serves one of the most authentic pizzas I've had out of Naples. The crust is perfectly chewy, salty, and nicely charred, also thanks to a state-of-the-art wood-fired oven that takes about a quarter of the restaurant's space. Some of the toppings puzzle me (chicken? turkey?), but you can't go wrong with their Calzone Verde or their Prosciutto Cotto pizza. They also make pizza-dough sandwiches. They're called "Panuozzo", I tried them all, and they are amazing.

Prosciutto Cotto pizza at Menomale. There are more pics of my 2-year-old eating
a Neapolitan-style pizza than is considered normal.

#2 Pacci's, Silver Spring (MD)

When I first tried their pizza some 3 years ago, I remained speechless for a second, my eyes popping out of their sockets with pure joy. This was for me the first Neapolitan pizza outside DC. The crust was absolutely perfect, and all of their toppings worked wonderfully together. Their "Focaccia di Napoli", a pizza crust topped with prosciutto di Parma, arugula, olive oil, and shaved Parmigiano is perfect. Truth be told, though, I have not been back in a year. The last three times I dined there, I could not see the Neapolitan chef that was there at the beginning, and there was something less exciting about the pizza that I could not identify. It was always very good, but just not as perfect. That's why it takes second place.

#3 Redrocks, Columbia Heights (DC)

I love this place in the summer: It has the perfect Italian pizzeria vibe. Their crust is another success, and the pizza options are very good (I won't go for the pineapple pizza, although you will find it in Italy, too, but that's me). Their roasted olives appetizer is one of my favorite things to eat in this town. Simple, not expensive, delicious, and just fun to eat.

#4 Comet Ping Pong, Chevy Chase (DC)

Tom Sietsema from the Washington Post declared this the best pizza in town a few years ago. I had not tried it then and was skeptical: I had seen the pizzas on a few outings to Comet Ping Pong, and it did not look right. Then I finally dined there, and I have to say I was very impressed. This is not Neapolitan pizza, but it would not disappoint a Neapolitan. The toppings' combinations are unusual, but work amazingly well, and the crust is flavorful and nicely cooked. Sorry, Comet and Tom. You were right. (What's up with their website, though?)

#5 Roscoe's, Takoma Park (MD)

Another Neapolitan-style pizzeria that does a fantastic job with the pizza dough. It's wonderfully soft and chewy, and salted just right. The menu options are a little too foreign for me, so I stick with a Margherita topped with one other ingredient. The Cafone pizza, though, with sausage, rapini, and smoked mozzarella is also a winner. They also make kids' pizzas which are the perfect size for a toddler (and with a couple of crust pieces left for Mamma, thank you very much).

TAKE-OUT & DELIVERY PIZZA

#1 The Italian Store, Arlington (VA)

I'm sure you're not surprised. Who does not know about the fantastic pizza slices at The Italian Store? The dough is chewy and flavorful, the sauce tastes fresh, and there's just the right amount (a ton, but not two) of cheese to make it trashily stellar. Their white pizza with garlic, fontina, and mozzarella is amazing, too, but I would not go beyond one slice. If you're making pizza at home their dough is just the best around. Please stop buying it at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. This is the real thing.

Home-made pizza with dough from The Italian Store. That's love.

#2 Vace, Cleveland Park (DC)

This is different from any other pizza I've ever had. I suspect this is more like a Sicilian pizza, since the dough is more bready, almost like a focaccia. Any Italian I took to this place LOVES it. The crust is thick, crispy, and flavorful, and the tomato sauce is abundant and delicious (usually you get only the first). Their white pizza with spinach is also one of my favorites. I like to order pizza with ricotta salata, which is not an ingredient you find often on take-out pizza. Vace does also a great job with cured meats, which are fresh, trimmed of unnecessary fat, and sliced thinly as they should be. Not many delis and supermarkets around here can do that, believe me.

#3 La Villa Pizzeria, Upper 14st Street (DC)

I have to admit, I have not ordered many pizzas for delivery since I moved here. I was scarred by the liquid "butter" oozing from my first and last Pizza Hut Supreme, the cardboard-dough of my first and last Domino's pizza (ironically, it was their revamped recipe), and the childishly and insultingly sweet dough and sauce of my first and last Papa John's pizza. When I ordered a pizza from La Villa, though, I was instantly hooked. It is heavy, it is over-cheesed, but oh-my-god after the first bite I could not get it out of my mind for DAYS. Perhaps it's my pregnancy megalo-appetite talking, but I can eat their pizza anytime. And in all fairness, their list of toppings is pretty great, with caramelized onions and roasted eggplants among the choices.


And now for the inevitable question... What about 2Amys? Well, I am really sorry to say this, but it just does not do it for me. I know it's supposed to be authentic Neapolitan pizza, with D.O.C. certification to boot, but this pizza does not taste Neapolitan to me. It's good, but never great, and often the toppings do not quite come together as they should. I went back many times, but I'm always underwhelmed. I will say though that I definitely applaud 2Amys for bringing Neapolitan pizza to DC and back into my expat life. I could not have lived without it, and now you can't, too.

And now, dear reader. What should I add to the list?