Anna’s Wood Fired Oven Blog

I have a lot of fun planning for the holiday meals, from the table decor to the food!  I get inspired walking through the farmer’s market, taking in the colors and the fresh smells of the produce, the fall harvest of pumpkins, pomegranates, persimmons…  Often, just as I sample a good cheese, a great meal takes shape in my mind and I can’t wait to share it with my family and friends.  I start mixing and pairing flavors in my imagination wondering if they are as good in reality.

For Thanksgiving this year I thought of offering small pumpkin pizzas as appetizers to start off the meal.  I did a test run in the wood fired oven and I loved the results, I hope you and your guests will too.

After making the pumpkin appetizer pizzas, I had extra dough and wanted to try something our customers Elisa and Jay Arne of Penn Valley, CA mentioned in an email to me:  their children garnished a pizza with Nutella, among other ingredients, as dessert. And the way life is, a few days later the chef at Urbano Pizza Bar had us taste a small pizza dessert with hazelnut spread.  Visions of chocolatey pizza lingered and I did my own version, couldn’t resist…

Pumpkin Pizza with Sage, Caramelized Onions and Ricotta Cheese

1/2 medium-small organic Kabocha squash or pumpkin, cut in 1″ cubes, about 2 cups

1 red onion, sliced

1 handful of fresh sage leaves

1/2  small basket of fresh ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon red balsamic vinegar

Sea salt to taste

Optional:  prosciutto slices to garnish

Click here for Pizza Dough recipe  and How-to-video

 

Prepare your pizza dough, divide in small  3-ounce balls,  and let it rise.

Clean and cut the Kabocha squash or pumpkin in 1″ cubes.

Ahead of time:  I love the option of preparing garnishes ahead, so that I can spend more time with my guests.  Steam the cubed pumpkin for 10 minutes until soft.  Add salt to taste.  Add two tablespoons of olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon red balsamic vinegar mixing well, mashing the cubes a little bit with the fork, and set aside.  In a skillet slowly saute the sliced onion with a tablespoon of olive oil until slightly browned.  Salt to taste. Set aside.

At the oven:If you prefer to stay by the oven and bake everything in it, then use a cast iron skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the cubed pumpkin, salt to taste. Place on the hot oven floor, taking care to keep it closer to the opening for a cooler spot to avoid burning.  Place some foil on top of skillet if needed.  Bake until soft and then mash the cubes a bit with a fork.  In another skillet slowly cook the sliced onion until it has slightly browned.  Salt to taste.

Flatten a pizza ball  with your hands and shape.  Place on wooden peel.  Brush surface with olive oil and garnish with pumpkin, ricotta cheese, and onion.  Lastly place 3 leaves of sage after having dipped them in olive oil.

Note:  Don’t get any food or oil spills on the wooden peel!  This will make your life difficult when you try to slide the pizza in the oven…  the pie might stick.

Slide the pizza in your oven, bake, and serve!  If you like prosciutto, then add a slice of it after the pizza is out of the oven.

 

 

Next, I made the dessert pizzas.  Same pizza dough recipe, same 3 ounce pizza balls, but garnishing first with a lovely plum jam, spread evenly over the pie.  Then a glob of hazelnut spread (like Nutella) in the middle, with strategically placed ricotta around it and two slices of fresh figs.  You want to keep the chocolate from “running” off the pie, so that’s where the ricotta comes in handy.  Do not bite into this pizza right away since the sugar in the ingredients will be super hot.  Wait for it to cool down!

I posted a lot more photos of the whole process on our FaceBook page, check them out under the Pizza and the holidays album.  Isn’t it fun to have a wood fired oven?  I love showing it off during the holidays,  love the pleasantly surprised exclamations of my guests when they discover we cook the whole meal in the oven…

Here at Los Angeles Ovenworks we wish you a wonderful holiday season, one in which you will experiment, have fun, and bake good food.  Buon appetito!

 

 

 

Once you master the basics of pizza making you will most likely start the quest for the perfect flour.  It’s just the way it is.  New vistas open up beyond the realm of King Arthur’s Flour… and the chef in you heeds the call for new culinary adventures. Throughout the years of cooking in our wood fired oven we have tried a lot of really good flour, and we are so grateful that there are still mills out there making a great product.

Here are some that stand out:

Presently, we buy our favorite flour from  CentralMilling.com  in Utah, a water-powered mill nestled by the Logan River and the Rocky Mountains.  The company also carries its own seeds (nothing is genetically modified here, thank you).  They have a long list of products for every taste and baking need… their Type “OO Normal” Flour is very close to the Italian Caputo Flour and is designed to take the high temperature of a pizza oven.  Did I mention that it is organic?  It comes to us fresh and fragrant (California is not that far) but keep in mind that the minimum order is 50 lbs. and the shipping costs are … high.  Is it worth it?  Yes!  But if you can only buy small bags, know that Central Milling also produces the Whole Food’s 365 Organic Unbleached All Purpose Flour.

Another great product is made in Naples:  Antimo Caputo Chef’s Flour,  the famous type “OO” flour from Italy. Particularly if you don’t want to store a 50 lbs bag, since you can find this product on Amazon.com or via some local stores in a convenient 2.2 lbs bag, (shipping cost will average $7.25).  This flour is a favorite among pizzaioli both in Italy and in the US because it is specifically created for high temperatures such as you get in a pizza oven.  Don’t try it in your regular gas oven, it won’t brown properly.  The low gluten content makes it ideal for a Neapolitan pizza and the pizza pies stretch nicely without breaking.  Note for those who like buying large quantities:  The  ”OO” Pizzeria Flour in 55 lbs (blue) bag is the same flour that is in the Antimo Caputo “OO” Chef’s Flour 2.2 lbs (red) bag.  Molinocaputo.it

We also like the Hudson Cream Flour, from a mill in Kansas — one of the last independent flour mills in the US — that has produced “short patent” flour  for over 100 years.  During the milling process their wheat is ground more times and sifted with finer-meshed sieves than usual.  We love the sweet fragrance of this “creamy” flour,  and I use it when baking bread and desserts.  Check them out at Hudsoncream.com, they do sell locally in many states.  They will send you 1-5 lbs for  a shipping cost of $7.75,  6-10 lbs for a shipping cost of $11.55, so you get an idea.

We prefer flour that is organic, unbleached, and when making pizza, with a low gluten content for that nice stretch.  Would love to hear about what flour you like and why.  How does it perform in your wood fired oven?

Happy cooking and buon appetito from Los Angeles Ovenworks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remember well the first time I had wood fired pizza.  I was 7 years old and my family had recently moved to the island of Capri and been blessed with an existing pizza oven to cook in.  One of the workers who was helping with the home renovation turned out to be a skilled pizzaiolo and was promptly hired to produce amazing pie after amazing pie.  And to top it off, another worker was part of a small group that loved playing traditional neapolitan music, so our parties had a fabulous sound track as well, filled with O Sole Mio and  Funiculi Funicula‘ to a very romantic guitar and mandolin accompaniment.

At the time, I had no idea how lucky I was growing up on the island amidst rugged rock and breathtaking views; the blue, crystal clear sea below covering the ancient remains of an emperor’s villa. The blue water was so inviting that come summertime I would run down the centuries-old stairs carved in the mountain, all the way from the top of Anacapri to the sea below, all 777 mythical steps and a few more miles to the Bagni di Tiberio or the baths of the emperor Tiberius. I would make my way back home by taking a boat and a bus, my skin tan and crusted with salt.

After days like that, no wonder the pizza tasted like food from the gods and that later in life I would try and try to recreate that flavor.  There’s no potable water on Capri, and rain is collected in large cisterns or water is brought in via ship, so this precious resource was used sparingly when growing vegetables, consequently tomatoes used in the pizza sauce were super sweet.  To replicate this pizza tomato sauce from my childhood memories, I grow my own San Marzano and heirloom cherry tomatoes, or alternatively I add sugar to the store bought crushed tomatoes, sometimes adding a little tomato paste as well. Note that pizza sauce you must be cooked longer and slowly to to make a thicker sauce and avoid moisture getting into the pizza dough.  (Try combining a home-made, extra-sweet tomato sauce on a pizza with small dollops of fresh burrata or of really good, soft mozzarella cheese, taking care to add the cheese after you slide the pizza out of the oven, garnish with fresh arugula.)  It makes a for a nice juxtaposition of flavors with the warm, sweet tomato and the cool, textured mozzarella.)

Here are some favorite photos of this dreamy, mediterranean island by photographer Raffaelle Mastroianni.  Perhaps they will make you want to visit soon…

Buon appetito!

 

You have become addicted to the crowd-pleasing status of being a pizzaiolo (pizza maker)… Yes, and you want new recipes that will amaze your friends even more… I understand.  I am there with you.  It’s easy when you have a wood fired oven.

You will appreciate serving the pizzarollis at your parties because you can conveniently use some of the pizza dough you already prepared.  And lots of garlic and olive oil and…  Well, try them out and see for yourself and let me know if you are able to stop after just one or if you are like the rest of us and eat as many as you can get your hands on while they are still piping hot.

First, “steal” some pizza dough from the stack ready to be shaped into pizza pies. Click here for the pizza dough recipe. Flatten out the dough a little on a lightly flour surface, cut small strips of dough and roll between your palms into 4″-5″ long pieces.

Then make a small “knot” (see drawing).

Place the pizzarollis on a metal baking sheet and slide in oven.  They can take the higher to medium temperatures of the oven.  Since I usually serve them as an appetizer along with the pizza I bake them at a hot 600 degrees F.  At this temperature they bake quickly so keep an eye on them and remove when they have browned.

In a bowl mix good-quality olive il, two or more crushed garlic cloves (to taste),  fresh or dry oregano leaves ( or alternatively thyme or rosemary), salt to taste,and a small amount of grated parmesan cheese.

Once the pizzarollis are done baking, toss them in the bowl with the olive oil mix while they are still hot. Serve alone or with other appetizers such as thin slices of prosciutto. But have a few first, since they tend to disappear very fast!

Buon appetito and Happy Memorial Day weekend from us all here at Los Angeles Ovenworks!

We started the year stumbling upon a great pizza…  Peter wanted to try a new dough recipe and invited his buddy Chris over for a taste.  As it often happens, Chris brought a garnish to experiment with and we had one of our own (which actually was the extra stuffing that was left over from the ravioli Peter had made earlier).  Try them both and decide which one you like best.

The Dough

Is an easy variation of our Neapolitan Pizza Dough and it makes for a crispier pie that holds up nicely  to heavier garnishes.  The variation is this:  Add 1 cup of flour to the recipe, so 5 1/2 cups of flour instead of just 4 1/2 cups.

Fennel, Mozzarella, and Fontina Garnish

We used the dish Chris brought and made this white pizza… loved it!

3 heads of fennel, quartered

1 clove of garlic, sliced thin

1 cup of vermouth or white wine

1/4 stick of butter

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Put fennel, garlic, vermouth, and butter in a metal pan and place in the oven.  Once the butter is melted, take the pan out to baste the fennel, then back in the oven to bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until fennel is tender.  Let the dish cool.

Prepare the pizza pie and garnish with some of the baked fennel, sprinkling cut mozzarella and fontina cheeses on top.  Slide pizza in the wood fired oven, bake for one and one half minute, rotate, and finish baking.

Slide pizza out of the oven and before serving, add some finely chopped parsley, grated parmesan cheese and optional, a little olive oil.

Potato,  Gruyere, and Truffle Butter Garnish

Boil 3 medium potatoes in salted water.

Discard the water and pass the boiled potatoes through a ricer while still hot or mash them well. Add 1 tablespoon of truffle butter and 1/3 cup shredded gruyere cheese to the mashed potatoes and stir until melted.

Prepare the pizza pie and garnish with mozzarella cheese cut into cubes and then add a little bit of this potato mixture.  Slide pizza in the wood fired oven that has been pre-heated to 650F  bake for about one and a half minute, rotate pizza and finish baking.  This is another “white” pizza (without tomato sauce) that we really, really loved.  Great as an appetizer.

Buon appetito!

We’ve had such a spell of wonderful weather here in Los Angeles… the cool ocean breeze tempering the warm sun, plants blooming everywhere… enough to make one forget that earthquakes and traffic ever existed! Our peach tree yielded an abundant and welcomed harvest, and I kept making peach cobblers as fast as family and friends could eat them. Fruit desserts come out really nice in the wood fired oven and I love using up the lower temperatures, when the oven is starting to cool down (350 F).

I think that the charm of cooking in a wood burning oven is that life slows down, just like it does when you are on a vacation. I leisurely start the fire, right in the middle of the oven floor. Humming contentedly while I enjoy the beauty of the fire and its crackling sound, I gather all my ingredients and start preparing my dishes. In the meantime, the oven is absorbing a great deal of heat into its walls and floor, and this heat will be released slowly over a period of about 6 hours.

When the fire has died down to coal and embers, after about one hour, I sweep the embers with a long-handled ash stick to the right (or left) side of the oven, and then I wait 10 minutes before I use a natural bristle brush to sweep the remaining bit of ashes from the floor. The oven is now ready and usually registering about 750F. At this point I have a choice: I can either bake some pizza or focaccia or wait for the oven to cool down further.

Pizza is traditionally cooked by adding a small piece of wood onto the pile of embers. This way, the extra heat generated by the small flame will travel in a circular way from the side of the oven to the dome and down again onto the oven floor. Pizza will bake in 3 minutes, and it will absorb a little bit of heat from the floor, but by keeping that small flame you will replenish the heat balance immediately between pizzas and you could continue to bake forever until you drop or until your one hundred guests just cannot eat one more slice! Check out the pizza recipes and make your own dough from scratch.

For most dishes like roast meat, chicken, turkey, etc. I wait until the temperature is about 500F. If it is Thanksgiving and there’s a lot a lot of cooking happening, then I let the oven heat up a bit longer in the beginning by adding a little more wood and extending the firing up time to one hour and a half. This way I know there will be a lot of retained heat in the walls and floors.

I bake bread at 500F and in this case, I will scoop out all the embers and coals and will close the opening tight with the metal door for the 30 minutes or so it takes to bake. Mmm… you should always wait one hour before you break your freshly baked bread and eat it… but I overlook that rule so many times. The aroma wafts into my nostrils and overpowers my mind, what can I say. Baking bread in a neighborhood is like making popcorn in an office, everyone will know, and your friends will suddenly knock at your door, all smiles.

I bake pasta dishes, like lasagna, at 450F. Vegetable dishes come out fabulous too, with a nice smokey flavor. Fish and lobster can be grilled over the coals inside the oven or placed on a bakeware dish along with their condiments.

And lastly, at 350F the time comes for the desserts… as I mentioned, I have been doing a lot of peach cobblers and I am thinking of doing my famous cherry galette soon. The sugar in the fruit browns and bubbles to perfection in the wood-fired oven!

Well, actually there is still something I will put in the oven: a pot of beans to slowly, very slowly cook over 3 hours as the ovens gradually cools down from about 300F. See the recipe, click here.

Buon appetito!

At home, my husband Peter is the pizza maker, or as they say in Italy, the pizzaiolo. He loves firing up the oven and calling over a few friends. This spells holiday for me as we enjoy amazing pizza in the backyard.

Peter is often experimenting with different dough recipes, yet our favorite dough is still the Neapolitan, (click here for recipe). Growing up in Naples made me appreciate the consistency and the wider rim of this pizza.

A word about flour and mozzarella cheese:

• Pizza dough made from good quality organic white flour has the best taste. You may also like the Hudson Cream flour, check it out.
• Bel Gioioso fresh mozzarella cheese is what I buy because it has the right firmness needed for cooking in the wood fired oven. You can usually find it at Costco for a great price. Cut it in small cubes, rather than shredding it, this will prevent it burning in the hot oven. The mozzarella balls in water are too “wet” I find for use as a pizza topping.

Truffle and Arugula Pizza — Peter’s Favorite

Neapolitan pizza dough

Topping, enough for garnishing one pizza pie:

4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut in cubes

4 slices of Italian fontina cheese

1-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, shredded

1 handful of fresh arugula leaves

Truffle oil

Optional: 3 slices of prosciutto

Garnish with the mozzarella and fontina cheeses and place in the 650 to 750 degrees oven. Give the pizza a quick turn with the pizza turner after about 1.5 minutes and then slide out of the oven when ready, about another minute and a half.

When the pizza comes out of the oven piping hot, sprinkle the parmesan cheese, add the truffle oil, and sprinkle a handful of fresh arugula on top. Optional: add prosciutto slices.

Red Onion and Bell Pepper Pizza — Anna’s Favorite

Generally speaking, pizzas are topped with crushed tomato sauce straight from the can, but in this instance, I like the sweeter taste of cooked tomato sauce coupled with red peppers and onions.

Neapolitan pizza dough

Topping, enough for garnishing two pizza pies:

1 can peeled San Marzano tomatoes

1 small red onion, sliced

1 small red bell pepper, sliced

1 teaspoon balsamic red vinegar

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut in cubes

5-6 fresh basil leaves

Brown onion and bell pepper with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. When the onion and pepper have softened, add the balsamic vinegar. Continue to cook, uncovered on low heat, for about another 10-15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Make your favorite tomato sauce. Here’s what I do for a simple tomato sauce. Fish out the peeled tomatoes from the can and reserve the juice for other use. Slice the tomatoes. In a saucepan add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and one clove of garlic. Add the sliced tomatoes, on low flame, let the sauce come together nice and thick, for about 15-20 minutes. Salt to taste.

Spoon tomato sauce on pizza with circular motion. Add the mozzarella cheese evenly. Add the cooked onions and bell peppers, but avoid the juice as this will wet the dough too much. Slide the pie in the oven and bake. Add the basil leaves to the piping hot pizza just out of the oven.

Buon appetito!

The Italian in me has the same attitude come good or bad times: let’s sit down to a well-prepared meal! It’s no wonder then that one of my resolutions is to cook up a storm of new recipes in my wood-fired oven. I will be saying “Buon appetito!” a lot.

Here’s a preview of what is coming up in the months ahead.

I am very excited about the pizza and bread recipes described by Charles Van Over in his classic book The Best Bread Ever. He breaks all the rules of bread baking and the result is incredible! He doesn’t proof the yeast, uses cold water instead of warm, and…get this… doesn’t knead the dough but uses the food processor. Genius.

I met Charles and his wife Priscilla last fall in Connecticut. They are both very accomplished chefs and are installing one of our Italian wood-burning ovens. I can’t wait to turn the spot light of my website to showcase their creative talent for your benefit.

When baking bread and pizza I have found that the taste is greatly enhanced by a wood fired oven. If you are considering installling a modular oven, the best ones are made of refractory clay.

What’s refractory clay you wonder? It’s high quality clay heated to very high temperatures and cooled after it forms into small balls with a hard crust and a porous center. It is in the tiny air bubbles within the center that the heat is trapped and slowly released. The exceptional thermal properties of clay can simply not be replicated within other materials, such as cement alumina.

This becomes apparent when you bake bread, because you will need to scoop out all the embers from the oven and use only the indirect heat accumulated within the walls and the hearth of the oven. If your modular oven is not well designed and isn’t made of refractory clay, you will find this process much harder.

In addition to featuring recipes by Charles Van Over, I will be sharing my own experimentations in the pizza oven. Lots of new recipes coming up, so stay tuned!

I wish you a very Happy New Year and may it be filled with “buon appetito!”