NO ANCHOVIES

pizzashares: A painting of a kitten under a pizza. Heaven...

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 11:54:54 -0400

A painting of a kitten under a pizza.

Heaven looks like this.

Pussy Pizza Party by Audrey May Erickson.

Okay, okay. This might look a leetle bit like the last pizza I...

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:48:00 -0400

Okay, okay. This might look a leetle bit like the last pizza I posted, but let me assure you, the taste was WILDLY different. I’ve set the horsey sauce idea aside for this one, and aimed for something akin to the Yukon slice we had at Blackbird Pizzeria last weekend.

This is another favorite, which reminds me: I’m adding a “favorite” tag to the more exceptional-tasting pizzas on NO ANCHOVIES, so if you click that you’ll get the (vegan) cream of the crop.

pomme de terre de provence pizza toppings:

olive oil (thin layer brushed on crust); thin slices of red potato and leeks, tossed with provincial herbs, sea salt, pepper and olive oil; daiya mozz, scattered in small hunks over top; merlot-flavored sea salt & arugula, added 2 minutes before removing pie from the oven

(Pizza) Pi Day toppings: thinly sliced potato, red onion,...

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:12:04 -0400

(Pizza) Pi Day toppings:

thinly sliced potato, red onion, arugula, aged balsamic salt, roasted garlic sauce with horseradish

The pizza was really tasty, but we were sad that the horseradish wasn’t more apparent. I plan to find an awesome way to use horseradish on pizza: you’ve been warned.

4th, 5th & 6th pizzas this week! toppings, left to...

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:53:00 -0400

4th, 5th & 6th pizzas this week!

toppings, left to right:

pepperoni with mozzarella daiya, hot peppers with cheddar daiya, and potato rosemary without cheese

At Blackbird Pizzeria in Philly, which was very good.

How to make a heart-shaped pizza!

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:06:40 -0500

How to make a heart-shaped pizza!

sweet & spicy kale pizza toppings: finely chopped kale,...

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:04:00 -0500

sweet & spicy kale pizza toppings:

finely chopped kale, mixed with thinly sliced sweet potato, garlic, crushed red pepper, rosemary-garlic vinegar and olive oil. caramelized onions (slow and steady wins the race). crimini mushrooms, quartered and roasted in the preheating oven with earth balance & more garlic.

I brushed the crust with the excess mushroom butter, then covered it with the kale mixture, sprinkled with onions, and topped with the mushrooms. Once it came out of the oven, I spritzed it all just a teeny bit with lemon juice. This was really, really good. A favorite.

The fellow in the cornicione video says “the cornicione is very different from the rest of the crust, because we push all the air into it”. That statement ran through my mind when preparing to toss the crust today, and I concentrated on rolling air outward to the edge with my hands, rather than just smushing downward. I think it made a huge difference; the cornicione was airy and soft after the initial crunch into it, rather than simply being the part of the pizza with thicker dough. You know what I mean?

Third Pizza Lunch of the week! This week is going so well!

Pizza lunch, Day 2 toppings: brussels sprouts, garlic, olive...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:55:00 -0500

Pizza lunch, Day 2

toppings:

brussels sprouts, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, sweet potatoes, cracked black pepper, maldon salt

How to pronounce cornicione, the outer crust of a pizza. Source:...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:57:00 -0500

How to pronounce cornicione, the outer crust of a pizza.

Source: Slice

I love you, homemade pizza lunch. toppings: tomato...

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:16:00 -0500

I love you, homemade pizza lunch.

toppings:

tomato sauce, arugula, potato, onion, daiya, maldon salt, cracked black pepper

On the topic of crust

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:43:00 -0500

On the topic of crust:

Here’s a round-up:

Making That Dough, Part 1

Making That Dough, Part 2

On the topic of the overnight rise

Getting Crusty

Do let us know if we missed anything!

Getting Crustyor, How To Turn Dough Into Pizza About 2 and a...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:09:00 -0500

Getting Crusty
or, How To Turn Dough Into Pizza

About 2 and a half hours before mealtime, take your dough out of the fridge — however many you plan to use. Let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

After one hour, preheat your oven (with the pizza stone inside!) at the highest temperature you can. Ours goes to 500°, but we wish it would go higher.

After 2 hours have passed, start shaping your pie. First, you’ll flatten the ball out to a disc, like so:

Next, you just might want to toss the crust! Exciting — check out the video up top! If you elect not to toss your crust, you can roll it out with a pin; that’s fine too. Some people even say tossing a crust is completely unnecessary, but they are chickens who hate impressing their dinner dates.

When you’ve got the pie on the (floured) peel, you’ll add your toppings, slide ‘er in the oven just like Aaron does in the video, and wait! Depending on the heat and number of toppings, this can be anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. You may want to rotate the pizza halfway through, so the edges get browned evenly. (Unless your oven rules and this is not necessary.)

Remember to wait a couple minutes before you take your first bite. You know that vegan cheese is going to burn the roof of your mouth, and you learned it the hard way. Once (or thrice) is enough.

- - - - -

toppings:

pesto, roasted tomatoes, thinly sliced onion, daiya mozzarella (in teaspoon-sized hunks scattered over the top), and thin slices of pickled garlic! We especially loved the pickled garlic.

crust recipe: Neo-Neapolitan, Peter Reinhart’s American Pie

how to:

Making That Dough, Part 1
Making That Dough, Part 2

music: Little Windows by Ducktails

"The prolonged fermentation of an overnight rise not only develops the dough’s structure, it also..."

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 23:21:00 -0500

“The prolonged fermentation of an overnight rise not only develops the dough’s structure, it also enables starches to transform into flavorful sugars. The dough becomes complex and nuanced. It’s a crust you want to eat.”

- It’s also a crust you want to admire. While a three-hour rise yields a crust that has the pasty pallor of raw flour, the caramelized sugars from an overnight rise give the cornicione, or edge, a color that goes from golden brown to the deep bronze of a ’70s tan.

- - - - -

The Slow Route to Homemade Pizza, Oliver Strand for the New York Times — explaining why you put your dough in the fridge overnight.

Blackbird Pizzeria, in Philadelphia

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:58:00 -0500

Blackbird Pizzeria, in Philadelphia:

A new all-vegan pizzeria, in the old Gianna’s Grill location. Have you been? Is it awesome?

"Making That Dough, Part 1: This is the recipe we use to make pizza dough."

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:15:00 -0500

“Making That Dough, Part 1:
This is the recipe we use to make pizza dough.”

- We’ve adapted it pretty slightly from Peter Reinhart’s Neo-Neapolitan recipe in his book, American Pie. Namely, we use agave nectar instead of honey or sugar. You could use either of those in the same amount, though.

A note on flour:

High-gluten flour is what Reinhart recommends, but we don’t usually have that on hand. He says you can sub in bread flour, which is what we’re doing here. The more gluten, though, the more authentically pizza-y your pizza will be.

A note on yeast:

Reinhart’s recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of instant yeast, but we often just have active dry. That’s okay, but you need to do one thing a little different! Use 25% more yeast — 1 ¼ teaspoons — and mix that with some of your water to dissolve.

- - - - -

instructions & video:

Making That Dough, Part 2

form & bake your pizza:

Getting Crusty

Making That Dough, Part 2:Mix it, and let it just chill. First,...

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:47:00 -0500

Making That Dough, Part 2:
Mix it, and let it just chill.

First, see Part 1 for notes on flour & yeast. Then set aside a medium bowl of room-temp water, and combine all your ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix with a spoon or your hand, occasionally dipping into the water. (The video above shows how the dough should look as it comes together.) As the dough starts to form a ball and get a little tough, let it rest for a few minutes, then mix for another couple of minutes. Through the process, you can add water or flour if needed, tiny bits at a time. In the end, your dough should be “supple” and only a little sticky. To be sure you’re really done mixing, use the windowpane test, shown in the video at ~1:30.

At this point, cut your dough into sections. Reinhart calls for 4, and that’s what we did here, but we actually love to just cut it into thirds for a slightly larger and slightly thicker (but still thin & crispy) crust.

Round these sections into balls, brush with olive oil, and place each in its own storage container. We usually put the dough balls in bowls with lids (leaving room for expansion), because these are easily cleaned and reused. Reinhart calls for freezer bags, which are fine, but we don’t like to throw that much stuff away all the time. Leave the balls out at room temp for about 15 minutes and then move them to the fridge overnight.

note: These instructions are for mixing by hand. Reinhart’s American Pie has details on using a mixer. Also, his book is fantastic and you should buy it. The goal of these posts is to provide a visual guide & some adjustments for your vegan convenience.

- - - - -

get the ingredients:

Making That Dough, Part 1

form & bake your pizza:

Getting Crusty

music: The Razor’s Edge by Ducktails

World Pizza Championship Dough Throwing More at Eat Me Daily

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:30:00 -0400

World Pizza Championship Dough Throwing

More at Eat Me Daily

Have Cake, Will Travel

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:56:00 -0400

Have Cake, Will Travel:

Favorite things about Celine’s vegan recipe blog:

The desserts are especially tempting, with a refreshingly wide variety of real-food ingredients.
The photos. Beautifully styled & shot, every time.
The laughs! Girl is not afraid of a corny food pun or a (v) cheesy joke.

i would love to hear more about your crust. tips and tricks. like do i really need to get a pizza stone? or how do you tweak your recipes? actually if you could just tell me everything to do so i don’t have to think at all thatwouldbeawesomethanks.ok but seriously. crust!

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:47:00 -0400

- - - - -

Really good idea, Karen!

I think our next entry will go into some detail about crust, as a matter of fact. I have kind of a lot of thoughts on crust, so maybe we'll spread it out over more than one entry. Kinds of crusts, tossing vs rolling vs etc. Different oven situations... you get the idea.

So my quick thoughts are:

Yes, you should get a pizza stone. I mean, if you want a more pizzeria-like crust. If a pizza hut vibe satisfies your craving, a pan would probably be okay. But the stone is worlds away from the pan. I've seen cheaper ones that you can put your pizza on and then put into the oven – don't bother with that. The point is for the stone to absorb and retain a lot of heat, so it needs to preheat with your oven. Spring for a stone and a peel (the giant spatula, for transferring your pie into and out of the oven) if you're going to go this route at all.
Whatever recipe you use, if it says to bake at 375° F or something, it is wrong. Get that oven as hot as you can! 500° is our oven's max, and hotter would be great if we could have it.
American Pie by Peter Reinhart is the book we've been working from and I recommend it.

And a couple videos. This one shows the peel in action (and inspires me to make a better one, because she makes it look hard, but it still gives you an idea) and this one has a couple other handy tips.

Ugh, we obviously need to devote a couple posts to this topic, if that's "quick thoughts"!

Update:

Here are our posts on dough. The baking part is coming soon!

We owe our readers (all 13 of you!) an apology. NO ANCHOVIES...

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:04:00 -0400

springtime pie

sea of love

We owe our readers (all 13 of you!) an apology. NO ANCHOVIES took an unplanned break as A settled into District life and L’s schedule got just a tiny bit busier. It’s been a happy time, all but for the pizza famine.

But now we’re right in the thick of April, with May hot on its heels, and soon our little garden will begin to yield fresh tomatoes, peppers and herbs. If things go as planned, soon we’ll be eating (and photographing) pizza in the light of day, maybe even grilling a few pies(!) and exploring all the beautiful ingredients this growing season brings.

- - - - -

springtime pie toppings:

spicy tomato sauce, daiya vegan mozz, asparagus, yellow bell pepper, red onion

Note the Grolsch bottle. It contains A’s homemade hot sauce, AKA twelve habaneros and two mangos. It was a great complement to this pie, both bright and warming.

- - - - -

sea of love pie toppings:

spicy tomato sauce, daiya vegan mozz, and lots of the following: sautéed button mushroom, olives, artichoke heart, red onion

So much toppings you could drown in there!

crust recipe: neo-neapolitan, American Pie

Zeke's Ve-gastronomy

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Zeke's Ve-gastronomy:

This fella hasn’t updated since 2008(!) but his guide to making your own vegan croissants(!!!!!) alone makes the visit worthwhile.