We have probably all had some form of shop bought pizza, stuffed crust (who does that?), Chicago style (what’s that about) or just stone baked, even though it’s not baked!!!! However, last week Chris, who by the way is a certified Pizza Maker having been on a coarse whilst in Rome, made pizza the proper way and baked it in a Gozney Roccbox Pizza Oven.
Apparently the dough needs to be made at least two days in advance and left to do whatever dough does (no, I haven’t done a pizza making course, I just eat them) I think it so that the dough is given time to release the gluten and have the correct amount of elasticity, something like that. Once this happens it is easier to form the base without it tearing or shrinking back to a smaller size.
The Roccbox is them brought up to temperature and the base stone allowed to also get to temperature, this takes around 15 to 20 minutes using propane gas.
I believe Chris then turns the gas on the Roccbox down whilst cooking the pizza so that it is not so fast and furious, nobody needs a pizza cooking in under a minute and you get a bit more of an even cook. Once the pizza is cooked in two to two and a half minutes he turns the gas up again to put heat back into the stone as well as the oven.
As far as toppings are concerned well the world is your oyster, fill your boots with your favourite mix of foods, that’s the beauty of pizza. I prefer a barbecue sauce base to a tomato sauce base and I prefer pulled pork, beef or poultry to chorizo or salami. I use mozzarella cheese as well as sharp cheddar and go easy on the peppers, a small amount goes a long way.
Serve with an ice cold Italian Pilsner and some nachos and you have Pizza Done Properly!