Pizza

http://uuni.net

That is fucking wicked!

It would also fit on a rack of a bicycle...

This is my go to pizza sauce at the moment. Keeps well in the fridge and good for pasta too!

Wood pellets though, hmmm.

My latest dough... as per pizza pilgrims. Only 1g of fresh yeast!

Obviously Parmesan. Grana Padano or aged Pecorinos.

Cantile mozzeralla di bufala is wonderful stuff. It comes in tub foating in lots of juice. This is the whey (lol) to import mozzarella - more important than the breed the milk comes from even (there are loads of good cows milk mozzerellas in Italy). If you spot a deli selling cheeses from a tub, taste it, they're probably doing it right.

Ricotta, even more so than mozzerellas is super fresh so you need to find a local importer. Mozzerella usually tastes best after the sell by date (the whey will be a little yellowed) but with ricotta the fresher the better and should involve sheep's milk. Galbani ricotta you can buy in supermarkets, it's OK but it's cow rather than ewes milk and therefore doesn't taste like ricotta! It's OK though.

Alternatives? Buying Italian cheeses flown into the UK fresh and at great expense is kinda bizarre and kinda goes against the ethos of buying local quality. All UK mozzerellas I've tasted are shit (simon weaver etc) but there are some UK fresh cheeses now and of course lots of good goats cheeses. For pizza it's good to have a soft mild (fresh) cheese and a hard strong (mature) cheese. Both of these can be goats.

If you're into dominos though what are the chances of liking goats cheese? :-)

I've never eaten a dominos but I'm sure they use a blend of grated dry mozzarella (the cheapest) and 'cheddar' - buy the cheapest yellow cheese.

I see your point reg moz... but I wanted the best I could get so splashed out...

Have you tried this... waitrose.com/shop/ProductView­-10317-10001-75551-Laverstoke+Park+Farm+­buffalo+mozzarella#.UwI2s0KrfBc

Good call on the shopping locally, really ought to.

^^ I'm actually not taking the piss here. If you buy cheddar that's been properly matured it won't have the blend for the cheesy gunk texture. Same applies for cheese over Mexican food. People want the slime!

I haven't but I totally will (try Laverstoke moz).

Thanks will look into these cheeses...so best to mix mozarella with say a cheddar? Cool.

Ha actually am a big fan of cheeses! Come on im allowed at least one guilty pleasure!

^^^ When I go to visit my parents in 'merica, there is a local pizzeria that makes a broccoli and cheddar pizza. Instead of tomato sauce it's slathered in butter and garlic, then coated with steamed broccoli, cheddar and some mozzerella. It sounds a bit Domino's but it's not bad. Maybe it's just nostalgia for a sense of place.

A sence of place is important!

From a couple of years ago, pizza stone on the Weber BBQ with the lid raised on bricks and some lumps of firewood in with the charcoal. Wrapped the gaps with tin foil but heat was so fierce it melted but managed to get a couple of pizzas done. Next time maybe some ultra heavy foil.

I love cheese too but Cheddar on a Pizza sounds grim, although I make a grilled aubergine and smoked cheese (Applewood) pizza which is I'm quite keen on.

I use grated Parmesan and Moz on all, then add toppings accordingly. Going to try Blue cheese, Roast Beetroot and Walnut this eve. Trying to stick to very English toppings.

Will add some pics later.

Nice thread, i bake pizza myself fairly regularly. What's the viewpoint on wholemeal and sourdough bases?

If anyone is ever in manc get to Slice, really good Pizza, just the right balance of crisp and chew in the base.

Some of my efforts...

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For smoked cheese... Scamorza are great. You can even get it in m&s these days #thuglyf Soft smoked mozzarella can be a bit strange but this is a dried, harder, cows milk smoked moz. Sliced thin on pizza = amazing texture, subtle smokiness.

Is there a cheese thread? Should there be a cheese thread?

Im salivating.

Brilliant input again. I will hunt it out, Apple wood always feels a bit wrong.

@Buckaroo pizzas look nice, a wee bit dry for me but thats often what happens when cooked in a conventional oven. Hopefully my pan pizza will work as well as the bread did last week... short cooking time and extreme heats are the winner.

Do you use a pizza tray for a conventional oven?

Ta Chris, yeah I'm going to try the PP pan method and see how that looks.

I have a stone and a peel, both make a difference as a peel means you can get the pizza in the oven quicker and thus prevent heat loss.

@Buckaroo doing the pan method this eve... fingers crossed.

Is there a cheese thread?

There is!

I don't really know anything about Polish cheese but the one goonz just posted sounds like it's formed in whey, spun and brined/smoked... i.e. it's a Polish Scamorza!

The a similar process in a different location produces a different result but it could be a nice alternative and easier to find. Unpasturised and ewes milk... it actually could be amazing!