Gabriele Corcos Pizza Dough Recipes

SPECK AND MUSTARD GREENS PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat a wood-fired pizza oven to very hot 4 hours before cooking.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the mustard greens and cook about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Chop into large pieces.
• Sprinkle some flour on your pizza peel. Using a rolling pin, stretch your dough to a very thin 10-inch round.
• Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on each round, leaving a 1-inch crust. Sprinkle with a quarter of the mozzarella and a handful of fontina.
• Gently put the pizza on the floor of the pizza oven. Bake until the cheese is just melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pizza and top with a quarter of the greens and a quarter of the slices of speck. Place back in the oven and bake for another minute. Remove the pizza and drizzle with olive oil. Slice and serve immediately.
• Repeat with the remaining 3 balls of pizza dough.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir the yeast, lukewarm water and 1/2 cup bread flour. Mix well and let sit until bubbly, about 30 minutes.
• Whisk together the remaining 3 1/2 cups bread flour and salt in another bowl.
• Once the yeast mixture is nice and bubbly and looks like foamy beer, add the cold water and olive oil. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on and add the flour in increments. Mix the dough until the dough starts creeping up the dough hook and comes away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
• Place the dough in a large bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Turn to coat all sides with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a tea towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Punch the dough down, and let rise another hour.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal disks.

WHITE PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat your wood fired pizza oven 4 hours before cooking. Alternately, you can use a preheated pizza stone in your home oven. It's best to heat it for 1 hour in a 500 degrees F oven.
• Sprinkle some flour on your pizza peel. Using a rolling pin, stretch your dough to a very thin 10-inch round.
• Top the dough with 1/4 of the cheese and arugula, leaving a 1-inch border on the crust. Place the pizza on the wood oven floor until the cheese is just melted. Remove the pizza and top with a 1/4 of the prosciutto slices. Place back in the oven and bake for another minute.
• Remove the pizza and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

BREAKFAST PIZZA: PIZZA A COLAZIONE

Steps:

• For the pizza dough: In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the yeast, lukewarm water, and 1/2 cup of the bread flour. Mix well and let it sit for 30 minutes, or until bubbly, like foamy beer. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 1/2 cups bread flour and the salt until evenly combined.
• Add 3/4 cup cold water and the olive oil to the yeast mixture. Turn on the mixer and begin adding the flour mixture in increments, then mix for 5 minutes, until the dough starts creeping up the dough hook and detaching from the sides of the bowl.
• Grease a large bowl with oil and transfer the dough to the bowl. Turn the dough to coat its surface with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a tea towel. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Punch the dough down, then let rise another 1 hour.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and form into discs. On a work surface lightly dusted with flour, use your fingers or the heel of your hand (and a rolling pin, if you prefer) to stretch the discs until they're 13 inches in diameter. The disc should be very thin, less than 1/8 inch.
• For the pizza: Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F for 1 hour before baking. (Or preheat a wood-fired pizza oven to very hot, 4 hours before baking.)
• In a food processor, puree the tomatoes until smooth. Season with salt to taste.
• In a skillet, heat the olive oil and pancetta over medium heat and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until crisp.
• Using a spoon, spread one-fourth of the pureed tomatoes on 1 disc of dough, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Sprinkle one-fourth of the mozzarella on top. Gently place the pizza on the pizza stone and bake for about 5 minutes, until golden with slight signs of charring. (If using a wood-fired oven, gently place the pizza on the oven floor, and bake for 3 minutes, or until golden and crisp.)
• Remove the pizza from the oven and break an egg over the center of the pizza. Top with one-fourth of the cooked pancetta, return the pizza to the oven, and bake another 3 to 4 minutes (1 to 2 minutes if using a wood-fired oven), until the egg is cooked.
• Remove the pizza from the oven, transfer to a cutting board, and top with one-fourth of the basil. Serve immediately. Repeat with the remaining 3 pizza discs. IMPORTANTE! If you're making pizza within the hour after forming the pizza dough discs, they can be kept at room temperature. Otherwise, place them on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 12 hours before baking, as long as the dough doesn't rise too much, because acidity will creep in and the flavor will sour. Ideally, though, you should make the pizzas the same day you make the dough.

CARPACCIO PIZZA

Steps:

• For the pizza dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1/2 cup of the bread flour, the lukewarm water and the yeast. Mix well and let sit until bubbly, about 30 minutes.
• Whisk together the remaining 3 1/2 cups bread flour and the salt in another bowl so it will be evenly distributed.
• Once the yeast mixture is nice and bubbly and looks like foamy beer, add 3/4 cup cold water and the olive oil. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on and add the flour in increments.
• Mix the dough until it starts creeping up the dough hook and coming away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
• Place the dough in a large bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Turn to coat all sides of the dough with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean tea towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Punch the dough down, and let rise another hour.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal disks. Lightly flour a work surface. Using your fingers or heels of your hands (or a rolling pin, if you prefer) stretch the disks out to a 10- to 12-inch round. Poke your fingers in the dough a little to "dock" it. Repeat with the remaining 3 pizza dough disks.
• Preheat the oven to 550 degrees F.
• For the carpaccio: Chill the beef in the freezer for 10 minutes.
• Thinly slice the beef against the grain with a very sharp knife. You should get close to 40 slices. You should only do this about 1 hour in advance of eating the meat, or it will discolor and become unappetizing. (You could also have your butcher do this for you on a professional meat slicer, but you will have to time it so that you are home in time to make the pizzas in the oven!) Store the carpaccio slices on waxed paper in one layer in the refrigerator until ready to use (up to 1 hour). If you stack the waxed paper layers, the bottom ones will discolor and become gray, so leaving them in one layer is best.
• For the pizza: One at a time, drizzle each round of dough with olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper, and sprinkle the surface with fresh rosemary.
• Slide the dough onto a baking sheet into the oven and bake on the center rack until the sides are slightly charred and the pizza is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes (less if you're using a grill!). Rotate the pizza in the oven or on the grill as necessary to keep it from burning.
• Remove the pizza, set aside to cool off slightly and repeat with remaining pizzas.
• To serve, use a pizza wheel or a sharp knife to cut each pizza into 8 to 10 slices. Lay 1 to 2 slices of the carpaccio over each slice. Sprinkle the micro arugula over the top of all of the slices and season with salt and pepper. Serve with a lemon wedge on the side. Repeat with the remaining pizzas.
• To eat, squeeze the lemon wedge over the meat and enjoy immediately.

SCHIACCIATA SANDWICHES

Steps:

• For the bread: Preheat the oven, pizza oven or grill to 550 degrees F. Add 1/2 cup of the bread flour, the lukewarm water and the yeast to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix well and let sit until bubbly, about 30 minutes.
• Whisk together the remaining 3 1/2 cups bread flour and the salt in another bowl so it will be evenly distributed.
• Once the yeast mixture is nice and bubbly and looks like foamy beer, add 3/4 cup cold water and the olive oil. Fit the mixer with a dough hook and begin mixing, adding the flour mixture in increments. Mix the dough until the dough starts creeping up the dough hook and comes away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
• Place the dough in a large bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Turn to coat all sides of the dough with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean tea towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Punch the dough down, and let rise for another hour.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal disks. Lightly flour a work surface with semolina flour. Stretch each disk out to a 10-inch round using your fingers or heels of your hands (and a rolling pin, if you prefer).
• Flatten the disks of dough into rounds about 1/2-inch thick and press with fingers to make holes. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
• If using a pizza oven, bake until the bread has browned and is starting to char slightly on the edge, about 10 minutes.
• If using a grill, lay the dough oiled-side up and grill until char marks appear on the bottom. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes on the second side.
• If using a regular oven, turn a baking sheet upside-down on the center rack of the oven. Slide the schiacciata onto the baking sheet. Bake until browned on the edges, 10 to 15 minutes. (Ovens vary, so times will be different. Use the visual clues to help you know when it's done.)
• Set the breads aside to cool.
• For assembly: Slice the schiacciata in half horizontally to make sandwich halves. Cut into quarters and fill with assorted fillings as desired. Serve immediately.