Roman Pizza
Rome was ridiculed by the Greeks as little more than a nation of porridge and bean eaters. On the other hand, the Romans also had an appetite for finer dishes, such as Trojan pig stuffed with sausages. While their recipes have been lost to us, Imperial Rome passed on something that continues to shape modern culinary practice—the Pompeii oven. Uncovered at Pompeii, the Roman brick oven has yet to be improved upon.
What these ancient bean and porridge eaters gave us was a gift in waiting until the modern pizza was born in Naples to the south. The Pompeii oven, still heavily used for baking bread, held the secret to making what is arguably the best pizza on the planet.
Ingredients
| 17.6 ounces / 500 grams | Flour |
| 11.5 ounces / 325 grams | Filtered water |
| 1/4 teaspoon | Instant yeast |
| 1 tablespoon | Sea salt |
| 1/4 cup | Almonds |
| 1 tablespoon | Olive oil |
| 1 | Medium onion (white or sweet) |
| 3 to 4 ounces | Brie with rind removed |
Makes 3 to 4 medium pizzas.
Steps
Mix the flour, water, yeast, and salt by hand or in a stand mixer. If you are mixing the ingredients by hand, knead the dough until it can pass the windowpane test: you should be able to stretch the dough until light filters through in the middle without the dough tearing. If you are using a stand mixer, mix dough 5 minutes on medium speed.
Divide the dough into 3 or 4 balls, depending on the desired size of pizza. Place the dough on an oiled tray. Cover and refrigerate it for at least 12 hours (or up to 48 hours).
Cut the almonds in half and toast them lightly in a pan or under the broiler. This should only take about 2 or 3 minutes. Slice the onion into 1⁄4 inch slices. In a saucepan, caramelize the onion in the olive oil over low to medium heat for about 45 minutes. The onions are finished when they appear brown and have a slightly gooey texture. Slice the Brie into bite-sized pieces.
Pull the dough into a very thin circle that can fit easily onto a pizza peel, a shovel-like tool used to slide the pizza in and out of the oven. Spread the Brie, toasted almonds, and onions evenly across the surface of the pizza dough. Drizzle olive oil sparingly over the assembled pizza.
The pizza is ready for the brick oven! For best results, cook 2 minutes at 650°F to 700°F.
For an alternate cooking method in a conventional oven: Heat a pizza stone in a 500°F oven for about 20 minutes. Then slide the pizza onto the heated stone quickly and close the oven door. The pizza will cook in about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how thinly you have pulled the crust. To crisp the toppings, turn the oven to broil for 3 minutes at the end of the cooking process.