Craziest Pizza Combo Yet: Limpa Dough, Tomato, Anchovies, and Black Olives

OK, so I rolled some ground anise, orange zest, and ground cardamom into some light rye dough (see page 65) and it was going to be a limpa loaf, the traditional Scandivian spiced rye, and I was going to use that dough for a class I taught Tuesday night.  Never got to it.  What to do?

Tonight it’s pizza topped with tomato, anchovies, fresh mozzarella, and cured black olives.  I’m starting to think you can get away with anything if you keep an open mind.  We all devoured it. 

18 thoughts to “Craziest Pizza Combo Yet: Limpa Dough, Tomato, Anchovies, and Black Olives”

  1. Sounds… interesting LOL!

    I left a message on Zoe’s blog but got no reply to my question.

    I am doing some ‘sprouting’ and I always see these amazing ‘sprouted’ breads in the store, which are supposed to be very good for you. Have you played around with a recipe using sprouts yet?

    I’ve been turning people on to your bread left and right. I bought the book and am encouraging them to buy it too. I am also doing a demo at the learning center where my husband works (adults completing their grade 12) and the local health food store is interested too. The owner would like to experiment with different organic flours etc.

    I tried the pumpernickel last night, only had no rye flour, will pick some up this weekend, it still turned out great and I added some bran.

    Oh, but what is caramel colour, is that like a syrup or browning stuff? I’ve never heard of it?

    I blogged my last loaf of bread, and I believe my friend has too!

    Thanks for your time.

    Barb
    http://www.lalalime.blogspot.com

  2. Hi Barb,

    I am so sorry not to have responded earlier. I did get your note and have been thinking about the answer! We are working on a new book about whole grains and healthy breads. In that book we are considering adding a recipe using sprouted grains. I too love these breads and am excited to play with it more!

    Thank you so much for your note and for your enthusiasm. It is wonderful that you have been sharing the book with so many people!

    Happy Baking!

    Zoë

  3. Hi Barb: You also asked about caramel color– it’s usually available as a powder, but the only place I know of that has it is King Arthur Flour through mail-order or the web. You can make your own, just go to https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=145, and scroll down to my post to Kathy on 10/14 to find the recipe. In that case, it’s a liquid not a powder and you probably should make a slight adjustment in the liquid in the recipe. Jeff

  4. Very interesting use of limpa dough! I first started making bread so I could have limpa, which we had at smorgasbord every Christmas when I was a child. It’s one of my favorites.

  5. Fran, you sound like an expert on Scandinavian breads; maybe you can help me. I’m teaching a class next week where I’ll demo a braided enriched bread. The recipe for challah and for the Finnish pulla aren’t all that different, except for cardamom. Isn’t there also a braided Swedish festival bread too? I’d love to mention three to make the point that Europeans from all the corners of Europe picked up on this style.

    THANKS, Jeff

  6. Welcome to the site, Sandy. Yeah, the anchovies kind of like the citrus zest and the spices. Maybe we can start a trend.

    We find that these doughs are forgiving and let us break rules all the time. Jeff

  7. Are there any specific tricks to doing pizza on a stone in the oven? Does it have to be flipped over before putting toppings on? (I saw the direct on the grill method, with flipping, and the fruit pizza, without, and was planning on trying something indoors tonight).

    thanks– my family thinks I’m a little crazy (not sure they have the bread gene) but I’m loving your book.

  8. David, welcome to the site! For regular indoor pizza baking, I don’t flip the crust before topping it. If you use a hot temp and keep the dough thin (1/8 inch), it isn’t needed.

    If you do your pizza directly on a grill, you DO need to flip before topping or it’s liable to burn before the crust is baked through. See my post on that at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=237

  9. Hi Jeff,

    I have a pizza question. First let me say, I LOVE, LOVE your book – can’t wait for the next. This is the second time I’m writing. Since I got the book, I’ve been making breads from the master recipe – sometimes adding some whole wheat. I finally made the olive oil dough. The focaccia is AMAZING! My friends and family are crazy over it. Sometimes I add little tomatoes sliced in half with the cut side down. And hard to believe but my rosemary in a pot outside has survived this brutal Brooklyn cold weather.

    I made really good eggplant pizza today, following your instructions.

    A few years ago, I took a class with Jim Lahey from Sullivan St Bakery. To my surprise, he used boxed Pomi tomatoes which was pulsed and then added 1/2 carton of water, as well as salt and some olive oil. I think he said something about the water being absorbed leaving the tomato. Since it was different dough, and it was in the oven for 25 minutes, I was afraid to use this method, although the drained Pomi with olive oil and salt was delicious. What do you think about the added water method?

    P.S. visiting French friends loved the boule and had it each morning with jam. They were shocked that it was homemade. They took the recipe home.

  10. Barbara: In general, I prefer drier sauces and vegetables on our dough because our dough is so wet in the 1st place. Maybe Jim is baking “blind,” (giving the crust some time in the oven un-topped so it doesn’t end up soggy). But I’d never add water this way. Odd thing is, Jim uses a very wet dough too.

    So fun to hear about your French guests. Does my heart good!

  11. I’m not sure this is the appropriate spot to ask this question…..Do you think it would work to make a batch of pizza dough, form it into multiple pizza crusts and freeze them individually? Then just pull them out, load then with toppings and cook or does the crust need to be prebaked before adding toppings? On Friday nights after work, I often “doll up” AMy’s frozen organic pizzas for a quick supper. I would like to make my own in batches and freeze. Thank you for any suggestions.

  12. Yes, a number of people have tried this. The only problem is how airtight the wrapping is… the longer you keep it, the more likely it will be that it might taste like the freezer!

    Go for it, see what you think.

  13. Question about Pizza dough. I have been making Napoletana pizza with just 00 flour, salt yeast and water, the traditional “kneading” way and the Jim Lahey way which both require a 2 hour rise either in a proofing box or under a floured kitchen towel. In your book, you don’t appear to require any rise after taking it out of the fridge. With your method, do you just take it out of the fridge and start rolling out the dough or do you require the same 40 minute rise your bread does?

  14. We had a pizza party at work today, and all but one had what looked like _chop suey_ on them. The party thrower wanted pizzas he like forgetting not everyone is like him. The pizzas had meat but multiple unrecognisable veggies. So, my vote for bizarre ingredients would be to in fact use chop suey (sans rice) as the topping!

  15. Hi Anon: I’m afraid I won’t be trying this! Though I guess I have to admit that I sometimes do vegetarian pizzas that start to look like this. Try marinated artichoke hearts, sliced thin.

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