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Pizza di Patate (Potato Pizza)

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December 19, 2018

I remember it clearly!  My love affair with Pizza di Patate began May 1992 in Rome.

All of my most favorite foods are carbohydrates:  pasta, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, pierogi, soft pretzels, and homemade bread, among them.  The favorites among my favorites, though, combine two different carbohydrates in the same dish:  potato gnocchi, bubba (and its relative, potato pancakes), potato pierogi, homemade bread rolls stuffed with mashed potatoes and rubbed with olive oil and garlic, and, of course, potato pizza.

When I first tasted potato pizza in Rome it immediately entered the highest level of my carbohydrate pantheon.  I knew at some point I would need to learn to make it as I had never had anything like it in the States.  I still haven’t unless it’s come out of my pizza oven, though there is a new breed of Roman Pizzerias cropping up around the country dangling the possibility that one, serving pizza di patate, might settle in near where I live.

May of 1992 was the month my (now) husband and I were to celebrate our fifth anniversary.  I had been discussing with John Bowker, a friend, Anglican priest and the dean of Trinity College, Cambridge, England, coming to the UK for our anniversary.  John had offered to perform a wedding ceremony (still not legally binding, of course) following the Anglican rite in the Trinity College Chapel with the Trinity College Choir there to sing.

After much thought, we decided against going to Cambridge for the ceremony.  Although a few of our friends might have attended, we felt that most would not and we wanted to be surrounded by friends on that day.

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We opted, instead, to have a ceremony performed at our house by John Fortunato, a friend and Episcopal deacon.  We had a calligrapher record our vows on parchment and signed by everyone present (in a nod to Quaker tradition) as an affirmation of our commitment to each other.

Invitation to our fifth anniversary and commitment ceremony

On our 25th anniversary, in 2012, we were actually married with 52 of our friends in attendance.  The wedding and reception were held in a private dining room at Del Posto in New York City.  But I digress…

In the early 1990’s Frank, my husband, and I were working full time but also attending Loyola University of Chicago studying for MBA degrees.  Loyola decided to offer MBA classes for the first time at its Rome campus in May 1992.  We jumped at the chance, leaving for Rome the day after our commitment ceremony.  We treated the trip like the honeymoon we had never had though by then we were very experienced world travelers.

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A pleasant walk from the Loyola Campus (located in an old convent in Monte Mario) was a small shop that sold prepared Roman food and a dizzying array of pizza by the slice (pizza al taglio).  Most nights we went there for dinner then went back to our dorm room to study.  The shop had a few stools lined up along a narrow counter on one side but every patron, except us, picked up food to go.

A funny moment during our wedding ceremony in 2012

After a few days, our routine became clear to the shop owners.  As soon as we walked through the doorway, without asking a question, one of them reached for a bottle of local red wine and handed it to us.  We then ordered from the food on display and sat at the counter enjoying a wonderful meal.

Theirs was the first pizza di patate that I’d ever had.  I ate it all over Rome on that trip.

It took me at least five years to try to make it, and at least another five years to perfect it.  Now that we have a wood-burning oven in Santa Fe I almost always make at least one potato pizza on pizza nights (which don’t happen nearly often enough!).

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 Pizza di Patate (Potato Pizza)
I first tasted this in Rome in 1992 and fell in love with it. There are numerous variations, such as using potatoes that have been shredded on the teardrop shaped holes of a grater or topping the pizza with cheese. This simple version is my favorite. Making the pizza in a rectangular pan most resembles Roman pizza al taglio. The dough can be divided to make two round pizzas approximately 12 inches in diameter. See the Notes section for instructions on making the dough in a bread machine as well as directions for making the dough in advance. You can use bread flour if you wish but the dough will be really springy from the gluten making it a bit more difficult to stretch out. If using bread flour it is really a good idea to refrigerate the dough as described below.
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Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 65 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Passive Time 4 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Dough
Topping
Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 65 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Passive Time 4 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Dough
Topping
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
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Instructions
  1. Warm the bowl and dough hook of an electric mixer with hot water. Drain and dry.
  2. Add the warm water and yeast to warmed bowl. Blend briefly.
  3. Allow the yeast and water to sit until creamy, approximately 10 minutes.
  4. Add about half the flour and mix to combine.
  5. With the motor running, add salt and drizzle in olive oil. Mix to combine.
  6. Add the remaining flour.
  7. Mix approximately 8-10 minutes after all the flour is added. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
  8. Place the dough in an oiled bowl or container. Oil the top of the dough. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise until doubled.
  9. Meanwhile, make the flavored oil. Sauté the bruised garlic in the oil over medium-low heat until light golden. Do not allow the garlic to turn brown.
  11. Allow the oil to cool for a few minutes. Add the rosemary. The oil should be warm to release the flavor of the rosemary but not so hot that the rosemary begins to sizzle.
  12. Allow the oil and rosemary to sit at room temperature to cool. When cool, remove and discard the garlic.
  13. When dough has doubled, punch it down to remove all air pockets.
  14. Using olive oil, oil an 11x17 inch rimmed baking sheet.
  15. Press the dough into the pan. Allowing the dough to rest for five or ten minutes midway through pressing it into the pan will allow the gluten to relax making it easier to shape the dough.
  16. Brush the dough lightly with some of the flavored olive oil.
  17. Cover the dough with an inverted rimmed baking sheet and allow it to rise until doubled.
  18. Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes and slice into very thin slices. A mandoline is best. If so, set it for 1/16 inch.
  20. Cover the potato slices with cool water to remove excess starch and to keep them from turning brown.
  21. When the dough has doubled, dry the potato slices thoroughly and put them on the top of the dough in a single layer that is slightly overlapping. You may have potato slices left over.
  22. Brush the top of the pizza with the remaining flavored olive oil and sprinkle liberally with coarse sea salt.
  23. Bake at 425°F for approximately 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and have golden edges and the dough is golden brown on the edges.
Recipe Notes

The dough can be made, with good results, in a bread machine on the dough cycle.  Though I don’t add sugar when making the dough by hand or with a mixer, the shorter rise cycles used by a bread machine work better with sugar.  Put the ingredients, above, into your bread machine following the manufacturers directions adding 1 tablespoon of sugar as well.  When the dough cycle is finished, press the dough into a pan, as described above, or refrigerate as described below.

If I have time, I prefer to make the dough a day or two in advance. After it has risen as described above, put the dough in an oiled container with a tight-fitting lid. Oil the top of the dough and refrigerate. Remove the dough from the refrigerator at least 5 hours before you plan on making the pizza. Punch down the dough just before making the pizza and proceed as above.

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Philadelphia-Style Tomato Pie

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March 14, 2018

Like many psychiatry residents, I used to moonlight to make extra money.

The money was good and the work was usually not difficult.  Many moonlighting jobs required being on-premises overnight.  Most of the time, this usually just involved sleeping but, again, not always.

One of my easier moonlighting jobs was at a private psychiatric hospital in the Philadelphia suburbs.  I had to do the histories, physicals, and psychiatric evaluations on the newly admitted patients and then be available for any issues that came up during my shift.  Usually I got to sleep all night.

This was in stark contrast to one of my other moonlighting jobs at the crisis service that covered a swath of northeast Philadelphia.  The patients were more acute and admissions unplanned.  Sleep was elusive.

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One morning as I was finishing up some work on one of the units at the private psychiatric hospital I spied a pizza box in the staff lounge, clearly intended for anyone who wanted to have some.

I opened the box and was presented with my first tomato pie, basically a focaccia topped with a prodigious amount of a jam-like tomato sauce.  There was no cheese and there were no toppings.

I had never heard of tomato pie like this.  Sometimes the term tomato pie was applied to a run-of-the mill pizza, usually by my Uncle Joe, but this was a whole different creation.

Not only was it naked, except for the tomato sauce, the sauce was very dense (almost like tomato paste) and thickly applied to the dough.

Good quality tomato puree is essential for this sauce. I prefer imported Italian tomato puree, called passato (or passata) (both are correct) di pomodoro

Growing up, a regular mid-morning Sunday snack (after church and before our major meal of the day around 1:00 or so) was a bowl of my mother’s long-simmered tomato sauce that was almost always bubbling away on the stove on Sunday mornings and a stack of bread to dip into it.   Italian bread was preferred but I’d make do with American “slice” bread if need be…often six slices…to hold me over until mealtime.

Tomato pie was heaven-made for someone like me.  It was bread and sauce in an easy-to-eat package.  No bowl or dipping required.

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It’s pretty astounding to realize that I had lived in Philadelphia for about 11 years before encountering my first tomato pie.  I don’t really understand why.  Two of the bastions of Philadelphia tomato pie are on Ninth Street, an area that I started going to my freshman year in college.

This article provides some interesting background on Philly-style Tomato Pie.

I’m a big fan of making dough for pizza and focaccia in my bread machine.  If you don’t have a bread machine, use a mixer with a dough hook.  Failing that, some elbow grease and a smooth kitchen counter will do the trick.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

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 Philadelphia-Style Tomato Pie
Tomato Pie is a thick crust pizza dough topped with copious amounts of very thick tomato sauce. No cheese is put on the pie before baking. Some folks sprinkle grated Pecorino on the finished pie. It is usually served at room temperature. If the garlic taste in the sauce is too strong for you, the garlic can be sautéed in a small amount of olive oil before mixing into the tomato puree mixture. It is best to make the sauce a day in advance and refrigerate it. If you don’t have a bread machine, mix the dough in a mixer with a dough hook for about 10 minutes after the dough comes together. You can also mix it by hand which will give you a bit of an upper-body workout.
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Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts, Vegetarian
Cuisine Italian-American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Passive Time 24 hours
Servings
pieces
Ingredients
Sauce
Dough
Assembly
Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts, Vegetarian
Cuisine Italian-American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Passive Time 24 hours
Servings
pieces
Ingredients
Sauce
Dough
Assembly
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Instructions
Sauce
  1. Grate the garlic on a Microplane grater or crush to a paste.
  2. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce.
  6. Cover the sauce and refrigerate overnight.
  7. Before using, taste and adjust seasoning.
Dough
  1. Prepare the dough using the dough cycle of the bread machine.
  2. At the end of the cycle put the dough into an oiled bowl or covered container and allow to rise until doubled.
Assembly
  1. Oil a half-sheet pan (13" x 18") with a few tablespoons of olive oil.
  2. Stretch dough into the pan.
  4. The dough will spring back. Stretch it out then allow it to rest a few minutes. Stretch more, then allow it to rest a few minutes. With resting in between stretches, the gluten will relax and the dough won't spring back.
  5. Cover the pan. I invert another half-sheet pan on top.
  6. Allow to rise until doubled, approximately 30 minutes.
  7. Spread all of the sauce on top.
  11. Bake at 350°F until crust is browned and sauce is thick, approximately 35-45 minutes.
  12. Cool in the pan.
  13. Cut into squares and serve at room temperature.
  14. Sprinkle with grated Pecorino cheese, if desired, once cool.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Homemade Pizza

4 Comments

June 26, 2017

Before my bread machine it was my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  Before my Kitchen Aid stand mixer it was my hands.  I have always enjoyed making bread.

Junior year in college was when my bead making got started in earnest.  That was the year that I lived in the International Residence Project at the University of Pennsylvania.  I was notified of my acceptance into the Project, a College House arrangement that occupied two floors of a high-rise dorm, late in my sophomore year.  Current and incoming residents of the Project met at a social event where I was introduced to the roommate to whom I had been assigned for the coming school year, Ray Hugh from Georgetown, Guyana.

Ray and I started hanging out together for the last part of sophomore year and found that we really hit it off.  Since we were both staying in Philadelphia for the summer, and since students could not stay in undergraduate dorms during the summer, we did what most undergrads did during the summer.  We sublet an apartment in Graduate Towers from graduate students who were not staying in Philadelphia for the summer but who, as graduate students, had year-long leases.

I had pretty regular hours working in a research lab for the summer but that left evenings and weekends free to explore cooking which Ray and I did together.  It quickly became clear that the kitchen in our apartment in the International Residence Project, which we would begin occupying in September, was going to need an upgrade.

At my request, my father made a five-foot long kitchen counter with a laminate top.  There was in integrated pull-out table that would seat two in the regular configuration but four when pulled out.  That counter became the epicenter of our cooking universe.  Set opposite the Pullman kitchen (three electric burners, an oven, an under-counter refrigerator, and an integrated sink) we had a very efficient kitchen set-up.  A deep shelving unit that I made housed equipment and several stacks of plastic milk crates held ingredients for which there otherwise would have been no space.

I made bread on that counter every week, kneading it by hand.

I made bread the way my Italian grandmother did.  Flour, water, salt, and yeast went into a big bowl.  The yeast was not proofed.  I mixed the ingredients by hand, adding more flour as needed.  Periodically I would rub the inside of the bowl with lard.  After enough flour had been added, I would put the dough on the counter and knead it for about ten minutes.  The dough would always rise twice, getting punched down and kneaded lightly after each rise, before being put in bread pans for the third and final rise before being baked.

Decades later I got my first Kitchen Aid stand mixer and started using that to make bread.  Good thing, too, because I was starting to have trouble with my joints from all the kneading necessary.

A few years ago I got my first bread machine, a Zojirushi BB-PAC20.  While I have no doubt that bread baked in an oven is better I also have no doubt that we would not eat anywhere as much homemade bread if I had to do all the mixing, rising, shaping, and baking unaided.

With less than five minutes’ work spent measuring ingredients, I can push a button and have bread a few hours later.  And I am completely at peace with the ingredients in my bread.  No sugar.  No high fructose corn syrup.  No dough conditioners.  No preservatives.  Nothing but flour, water, salt, olive oil and yeast!  The bread machine has more than paid for itself in savings.

My Zojirushi BB-PAC20 bread machine

I especially like the dough cycle.  As noted in a previous blog post, I use the dough cycle to make the dough for my focaccia.  A quick final rise after being shaped and the focaccia is ready for the oven.  The dough cycle also makes pizza dough in a snap.  I like to make it at least one day in advance and allow it to rise in the refrigerator.  Two days in advance is even better.

I still pretty much use the same recipe for bread dough that I followed in college though I’ve swapped out the lard for olive oil and modified the directions to suit mechanization instead of hands.  (Every now and then, I just get the urge to do it by hand, though!)

Usually I bake pizza in a wood-burning oven.  Since wood-burning ovens are not very common, the pizza featured in this post was baked in a conventional oven.  I don’t have a pizza stone since I don’t usually bake pizza in the oven.  All the better though, since I know few people who have pizza stones.   I simply went old school and used heavy aluminum pizza pans.  I didn’t even use the convection feature!

Our DoughPro wood-burning oven from Australia
Baking chamber above and fire chamber below

Until a few years ago I always cooked my pizza sauce.  Then I tried uncooked sauce as is often done in Naples and found that I really prefer it.  It has a fresher taste and it is really easy to make.  (Sorry mom!)

I usually use tomato puree because I like a smooth sauce but crushed tomatoes work well if you prefer a chunkier sauce.  You can also just whizz a can of whole peeled tomatoes in the blender or food processor to whatever degree of chunkiness or smoothness you want.

An array of tomato products

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 Homemade Pizza
Make the dough at least one day before you plan to bake the pizzas. The dough will benefit from the slow rise in the refrigerator. Two days is even better. Be sure to put the balls of dough in containers that seal well to keep the dough from drying out and that are large enough to hold the dough after it rises. Remove the dough from the refrigerator the morning of the day you plan on making pizza. It will take 3-5 hours to warm up and rise. If you’re not ready to make pizza when the dough has doubled in bulk, just punch it down and allow it to rise again. The dough recipe makes enough for two 16 inch pizzas but the sauce is enough for four. Extra sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Since I make so much bread, I buy dry yeast in bulk. You can substitute one envelop of yeast for the two teaspoons of yeast called for in the recipe. For the sauce, use tomato puree if you prefer a smoother sauce and crushed tomatoes if you prefer a slightly chunkier sauce. In either case, really good tomatoes are called for. Buy genuine San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy, if possible. I find Cento to be a good brand and generally available in the markets in my area.
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Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes (for each)
Passive Time 24 hours
Servings
pizzas
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
Pizza Sauce
Assembly of Pizza
Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes (for each)
Passive Time 24 hours
Servings
pizzas
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
Pizza Sauce
Assembly of Pizza
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Instructions
Pizza Dough
  1. One or two days before you plan to bake the pizza, prepare the dough.
  2. You can use the dough cycle of a bread machine, the dough hook of a stand mixer, or you can make the dough by hand following the directions in the blog post.
  3. If using a bread machine, follow the manufacturer’s directions for the dough cycle.
  4. If using a stand mixer, put warm, not hot, water in the bowl of the mixer. Add four cups of flour, the yeast, and salt and begin to mix. Gradually pour in the olive oil. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a slightly tacky dough. Chances are you will need all of it. Allow the dough hook to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.
  5. If making the dough by mixer or hand, oil the dough and place in an oiled bowl. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, covered lightly with a kitchen towel.
  6. After the dough has doubled, or when the bread machine has completed the dough cycle, remove the dough and punch it down.
  7. Divide the dough in half and shape into two balls. Rub the surface of each ball with oil and put each one into a separate oiled bowl or LARGE plastic container.
  8. Cover tightly using plastic wrap if needed.
  9. Put the dough in the refrigerator until the morning of the day you plan to bake the pizza.
  10. On baking day, remove the dough from the refrigerator in the morning and allow it to sit at room temperature until doubled in bulk. This will take 3-5 hours (or maybe a bit longer if your refrigerator is really cold). If you are not ready to bake the pizza, just punch the dough down again and let it rest. It is better to err on the side of taking it out of the refrigerator too early rather than too late!
Pizza Sauce
  1. Mince the garlic.
  3. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce.
  4. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to mellow.
  5. Some brands of tomatoes can be a bit tart. Taste the sauce right before you use it and, if necessary, add up to ½ teaspoon of sugar but no more. (Some people consider this heresy but it is a common Italian technique to counter tomatoes that are too tart. Remember agricultural products vary and sometimes you need to use your judgment to correct a situation that is not addressed by the recipe.)
Assembly of Pizza
  1. Shred the mozzarella on the tear-drop shaped holes of a box grater. Reserve.
  3. Lightly dust a 16 inch round pizza pan with cornmeal.
  4. Put the dough on a metal pastry "board" or a second pizza pan and gently stretch it by pressing on it and moving your hands apart. The dough will spring back. Each time it will stay stretched a little more. After six to eight stretching motions, allow the dough to rest for several minutes to permit the gluten to relax. This will make it easier to stretch. I usually allow two or three such rest periods.
  6. Stretch dough into a 16” round.
  7. Flip the dough over onto the cornmeal-dusted pizza pan. (OK, I don't have the skill to stretch the dough by tossing it in the air and putting it on the pan so this is my hack. If you can toss pizza dough in the air, please give me a lesson!)
  8. Spread the sauce on dough to within one inch of the edge.
  12. Add toppings of your choice, if desired.
  15. Evenly sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
  16. Bake the pizza at approximately 450°F until the edges are golden brown and the dough is fully cooked, approximately 12-15 minutes.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2017 by VillaSentieri.com.  All rights reserved.

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