Secrets of Sicilian Style Pizza Crust

(photo Mark Luinenburg)  Growing up in New York in the 1960s and 70s, there were two options when you walked into a pizza place:  “regular” (thin-crust) baked right on the hearth, or “Sicilian” (thick-crusted), baked in a pan.  I’m fairly certain I didn’t know where Sicily actually was, and my parents were partial to “regular,” so that’s what we got.  Eventually I started going by myself and tried the chewier, thicker stuff.  It’s a hit with kids, and for many of our readers, a pan-built pizza is an easier trick than the traditional free-form pizza slid off a peel (see Zoe’s post on that). 

But first, we have a winner… of the pizza baking giveaway package from October 25.  The winner, picked randomly from among nearly 800 entrants is:  Dave W, who favors a soppressata, peppadew, and onion creation.  Dave, just answer my e-mail and we’ll ship out the package…

OK, here’s how to make the perfect Sicilian crust. 

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Rustic Wild Mushroom and Potato Pizza Provencal

Well, we do have a pizza book coming out in October, so we can’t start putting those recipes up on the site.  But here’s one of my favorite from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, our first book (2007).  It’s never been on the web before, and it’s a gem of Mediterranean simplicity.  In the next several days, I’m going to put up a video of the gas-grill version of this bread, so check back– for now, here’s the oven version (though you can probably figure out  how to do this from our old grill-pizza posts—https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=846

https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=248

As you can see, if you choose portobello mushrooms, they’re dark, dark brown in the first place and as they caramelize in the skillet and on the pizza, they become almost black.  Don’t be alarmed– they aren’t burned.  They’re just developing intense flavor as the dehydrate a bit. Read More

Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day is available for pre-order. Plus, outdoor bread and grilled flatbread ideas…

… and it’s available for pre-order on Amazon.  We are so excited, and it comes on the heels of the Wall Street Journal’s weekend announcement that our first book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, had made the Journal’s best-seller list for the second week in a row. Best-seller lists are not common for books that have been out for four years.  Thanks to all of you for helping our work come to fruition this way.

Our pizza book’s official publication date is October 25, 2011, so if you pre-order now, Amazon guarantees that your actual price will reflect the deepest discount they’re offering at the time the book ships (it’s 35% off list price now).

And in case you thought we stop making bread in the summer, think again. Here are some great grilled flatbread and outdoor Dutch oven baking ideas with our doughs– just click on these links:

Grilled pizza

In a Dutch Oven

Pumpernickel done on the grill

Rustic fruit tart on the gas grill

Brioche on a grill

Bread on a Coleman stove while camping

Kohlrabi Greens Pizza right on the grates

Fruit pizza on the grill baked with the stone

Grilled flatbread

Whole wheat pita on gas grill, on a stone

Limpa, in a cloche, on the grill

Our Pizza Book is Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

(Photo courtesy of Mark Luinenburg)

Though the official publication date for Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day is October 25, 2011, you can place an order for our third book on Amazon now (they’re discounting the book 34% as of today).  If you’re only interested in the electronic version, that can’t be pre-ordered; you’ll have to wait until October.  If you do pre-order the bound book, nothing comes off your credit card till the book is shipped in October.  If Amazon decides to discount it further between now and when the book’s first available, they guarantee that your final price will reflect the deeper discount.

I for one would like to see this thing in my hands.  Two years of eating pizza have gone into this book (nice work if you can get it!), and we are terribly excited.  Timing will be perfect for cooler weather (though we do pizza on the grill all summer, more about this in the upcoming months here on the site).