The Roman’s crunchy, airy response to the soft, chewy pizza coming out of Naples is a style of pizza commonly referred to as Pizza al Taglio or “pizza by the cut”. In this recipe Brasserie Bread’s Anthony Silvio uses Emmer grown by Geoff Black in Parkes and Lancer wheat grown by Simon Doolin in North Star, NSW.
Pizza al Taglio with Roasted Kipfler, Bitter Greens & Anchovy:
Ingredients:
BIGA (PRE-FERMENTED DOUGH)
44g Lancer Flour (or Stoneground Baker’s Flour)
22g Water
0.01g Fresh Yeast
SOAKER
75g Wholemeal Emmer Flour
75g Water
FINAL DOUGH (STAGE 1)
300g Lancer Flour
265g Water
9g River Salt
4g Fresh Yeast
2g Diastatic Malt Powder
150g Soaker
FINAL DOUGH (STAGE 2)
66g BIGA
10g Extra Virgin Olive Oil
STEP 1:
To make the biga, combine the ingredients and ferment until ripe. This takes 12 hours at our bakery.
Prepare the soaker 1 hour before the biga is ripe by combining the wholemeal emmer flour with the water and allow to soak.
STEP 2:
To make the final dough, start by combining the stage 1 ingredients in a mixer on slow. Once combined, switch to fast and mix until about three-quarters development.
Switch back to low speed and start adding Stage 2 ingredients, first the BIGA until well incorporated, then pour in the extra virgin olive oil and continue mixing to full development.
Ferment in an oiled tub for 2.5 hours giving the dough a fold after the first hour.
STEP 3:
Carefully tip the dough onto a heavily floured bench with semolina and gently stretch the corners out so it resembles a rectangle. Begin pressing the dough with flat fingers and even pressure all over until it has flattened and reached three-quarters of its ultimate size.
Flip the dough over the backs of your hands, allowing any excess semolina to fall off and carefully lay onto a peel.
Load into a preheated deck oven at 260C for 15 mins without steam.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into small squares.
Prepare toppings of your choice. For this recipe we prepared some roasted kipfler and chard, smashed together and topped with anchovy and a good glug of olive oil. Buon appetito!
