Pizza

Dear god, whats happening to this place...
Had a great PM exchange with pharoahsanders reg levains, going to give it a go... also, I don't use oil in my bases as metrocammell never mentioned it... or was the omission a mistake/typo?

http://www.designboom.com/design/fixie-pizza-cutter-slices-with-its-rotating-bicycle-wheels-02-21-2014/

Can anyone recommend a recipe for a good passata? Must be vegan and delicious!

For pizza? Just cook down tinned toms with some salt, olive oil and basil.
I do 2 tins for 1 hour for 4 10inch pizza.

Cheers, that simple eh? Sounds good to me!

Yeah, have tried others... frying down onions and garlic etc but I have decided at the end of the day purity and simplicity win...

I might try a bit of garlic because my girlfriend loves it (lucky me).

Careful not to burn it!

you need to sieve it after.. or blitz with a hand blender. Tomato seeds can >>>>

Nah... just mash it... it breaks down when you cook it for an hour....

seeds don't break down. It aint passata if it's got seeds in!

I went to Mother in Copenhagen and they had some ruddy awesome pizzas.

I cook my pizzas on a pizza stone/upside down heavy cast iron pan - so they cook quicker - what are you using Chris?

Slow roasted tomatoes are a good addition to pasata, as sometimes the tinned stuff on it's own is a little watery in flavour.

The issue is always going to be the temp of an oven, which is why the mozzerella above is a little more done than ideal but doubtless needs to be that way for the dough to be cooked...

Can anyone recommend a recipe for a good passata? Must be vegan and delicious!

I like salsina, the one in the glass jar with other bits in.

Or if you can find over ripe tomatoes and warm them down. I find that makes an different salsa.

seeds don't break down. It aint passata if it's got seeds in!

Roast and sieve baby.

If any of you fancy some sour dough starter they are really easy to start.

Details lynx... share the knowledge...

This one I followed but changed the flour to what ever I had. This was nicked from the guardian.

rhubarb 30g, finely sliced (ideally with a mandoline)
water 100g
organic strong white bread flour 50g
organic wholegrain rye flour 50g
"The rhubarb has natural yeast and acts as a catalyst to start the fermentation," explains Gellatly. "But people also use grapes, tomatoes or sometimes they put in a bit of yoghurt just to start the process: it's a sure-fire way of getting it right. But I've never had one fail with rhubarb." An accurate set of digital scales is essential.
Day One

Place the finely sliced rhubarb in a bowl, then pour on the water and mix the flours so it becomes a thick paste. Leave for 24 hours loosely covered with clingfilm somewhere warm.
Day Two

At around the same time the following day, mix in 50g water, 25g strong white flour and 25g rye flour and leave somewhere warm, again loosely covered. "If there's a little bit of skin on top just mix that in," says Gellatly.
Day Three

Repeat as day two.
Day Four

You should start seeing the beginning of the active fermentation. Then repeat as day three.
Day Five

By now, the starter should be bubbling away and smell tangy. Mix it to combine and then pour 30g of the starter into a larger bowl. Pick out any bits of rhubarb and discard, as the rhubarb has done its job, but it should have all broken down by now anyway. Whisk in 125g water and stir in 30g rye flour, 30g strong wholemeal flour and 80g strong white flour until well incorporated, loosely cover and leave in a warm place.
Discard any leftover starter. "The reason you are doing this is because if you have too much of the original starter in there it will feed on the flour too quickly and it will become dormant by the time you are ready to make bread," says Gellatly. Alternatively, pass it on to someone else to make their own one.
**Day Six **

Same as day five.
Day Seven

MAKE BREAD! "You can follow whatever sourdough recipe you like," says Gellatly. "One of mine is in The Complete Nose to Tail cookbook, but I'm sure that Paul Hollywood has got one in his book. You can also use the starter in other breads, combined with commercial yeast. So if you wanted a nice sandwich loaf, put some starter in and it will add a nice depth of flavour, some background tanginess. But generally it's for the sourdoughs, the big boys."
Caring for your starter

You now have a living, breathing starter – but don't be scared. "It's very robust," Gellatly assures us. After making a loaf, you will need to replenish your starter with half and half flour and water, in equal quantities to the amount that you took out. If you don't plan to make bread for a while, you can freeze your starter, or even better dehydrate it. Alternatively, just begin this process again from scratch.

I don't throw away the discard I either make pancakes with the left over.

The bread does take longer to rise, but I like to keep the dough in a cool place, such as the fridge, to gain more flavour.

The levain I use every week is a sour starter that mixes with the fresh dough.

Was the sour dough a sour dough to start with?

I have also modded my oven, with unglazed terracotta tiles to convert to a pizza/bread oven. Make sure they are unglazed.

For electric ovens

Easy to do go and purchase a few terracotta tiles and then lay them on the base of the oven. Trim the tiles so the base is covered with minimal gaps/ Then do this again till you have two or three layers. Depending on how many tiles you have bought.

For a gas oven

Do the same as the electric oven but on the lowest rack

Was the sour dough a sour dough to start with?

It is a plain dough but it has plenty of sour/pong/acid in it by now. It looks like this

This thread just keeps giving.
Amazing info from both you chaps.
I'm seriously considering my own pizza restaurant now... even have a building in mind...

I managed to break my oven making pizza last night. I hold you lot personally responsible.

What happened? Did it explode? If not you are doing it wrong :)

Tonight's effort. From this

To this, with buffalo mozzarella, parma ham, fresh oregano and pine nuts.

And since the kids aren't too adventurous, a classic margherita