NYU Winter CSA, week #2 Pea tendril pesto pizza, with fresh tomatoes & Prosciutto - 01/21/21

Pea tendril pesto pizza, with fresh tomatoes & Prosciutto

N.Y.U. Winter CSA, Week 2 -  01/21/21

By, Will Falzon – The Brooklyn Maltese.

Ingredients/Procedure 

For the pizza skin

 Homemade or store brought Pizza dough. 900 Grams (32 0z.)

1. Stretch the dough to your desired shape and size.

For the pesto

 heaping ½ cup pistachios, chopped & toasted.

 a few big handfuls of pea tendrils (or any mild soft leafy green)

 zest & juice of 1 small lemon

 1 small garlic clove

 salt & pepper

 olive oil (a few tablespoons to ¼ cup)

 2 Tbs.  grated parmesan cheese 

1. In a food processor, pulse together everything except for the olive oil. Drizzle the oil in slowly while the blade is running. Add as much or little olive oil as you want. Less oil will make a chunkier pesto, more olive oil will make it smoother. 

2. Taste and adjust seasonings.

For the Toppings

 1 cup homemade pea tendril pesto, divided.

 16 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese thinly sliced or grated. 

 2 vine-ripened tomatoes

 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

 1/4 teaspoon salt

 Freshly ground black pepper

 ½ cup frozen baby peas

 ¼ lb. Prosciutto cut into pieces.

 1/4 cup gently packed fresh pea tendrils, torn.

Assembly

 Oil a 12X18 cookie sheet

 Stretch the dough to fit.

 Preheat the oven to 450 F.

 Allow the stretched dough to rest at room temperature for about 30-45 minutes until it is puffy.

 Dock the dough with your fingers. 

 Spread 2/3 cup of the pesto evenly over the pizza, leaving a 1-inch border.

 Bake the pizza skin in the preheated oven for  5 min.

 Spread the mozzarella cheese over the par-baked skin.

 Place the thinly sliced tomato over the cheese.

 Cover the tomatoes with Parmigiano.

 Sprinkle just a little salt and some pepper to taste.

 Spread the sill frozen baby peas over the pie.

 Bake the pie on the lowest rack, for 20-30 more minutes, until the cheese is bubbly, and the crust is brown.

 Remove the grandma-style pie from the oven.

 Drop dollops of the reserved pesto all over the pie.

 Use scissors to cut the prosciutto and drop evenly all over the pie

 Finally, arrange the fresh pea tendrils all over the pie.

 Cut into square slices and serve.

Notes:

My specialty is thin crust N.Y. style round pizza. That is the style I will be making. Since cooking an 18” round, thin-crust pie in a home oven, requires some specialized equipment, and skills, I tailored the recipe to a much more, home oven friendly version. Feel free to make and shape the pie you wish. 32 oz. of dough will make a perfect 18X12 cookie sheet, grandma pizza. Please contact me if you have any questions.

The dough: Homemade pizza dough is nice. However, it is not necessary. I hear tell, both Trader Joe’s and whole foods sell nice, refrigerated pizza dough.

Cordially,

Will F. 

Halloween Chicken Face Pie

Torta di patate

National pie day 2020 Sea Buckthorn berry pie.

The anatomy of a bake.

First, I drained all the juice from the sea buckthorn berries. I wanted to preserve the integrity of the sea buckthorn berries and also their nutritional profile as much as possible, so I did not cook them. I added the juice to the mixed berries and their juices. I cooked the mixed berries down with some sugar. Once off the heat, I immediately added my slurry of tapioca. When slightly cooled, I added 1Tbs of balsamic reduction and a 1/2 tsp of pure Madagascar vanilla extract. Once the thick mixed berry compote cooled completely, I gently folded in the sea buckthorn berries.

Next, I rolled out the bottom pastry and lined a 10" pie plate. After the pie shell was firmed up in the freezer, I loaded in the filling.

The filled shell was set aside in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, the pastry lid is rolled out and the rat motif is cut out. The pie is assembled, and the decorating completed.

While the oven pre-heats to 450F, the pie is kept chilled. Just before loading the pie into the oven, the decorated lid is washed with some egg white cut with a little milk.

It took 45 minutes in the pre-heated oven to achieve the golden brown color.

Happy National pie day 2020, from yours truly, The Roadside Pie King.

Delicata squash pie. The conclution.

Welcome back to The Roadside Pie Kings, strictly from scratch corner.

In our last installment, we made the base for a delicata squash custard, pie filling.

Without any delay let's bring this bake home!

Preheat your oven to 425 deg. F

1. After a nice long rest, the 2 eggs are added to the custard base. The eggs are thoroughly incorporated and the custard filling is set aside to chill.
2. meanwhile, the pastry is rolled out to a consistent 1/8 of an inch thickness. Then we cut out a perfect 6" radius circle.
3. The pastry is placed in the pie plate, filled and set aside to cool
4. We now prepare our cutouts, decorate the pie and bake until the filling is just set and still jiggly wiggly in the center. (About 40 minutes)

Roasted delicata squash Pie

Welcome to the strictly from scratch corner. With your host The Roadside Pie King.

For today's installment, we will be making roasted delicata squash custard for pie filling, the Roadside Pie King way.

1. The delicata squash was scrubbed and roasted whole at 450 deg. Fahrenheit for 1hr then rested in the tuned off oven until cooled.
2. The seeds are removed, the pulp and skin are processed until smooth.
3. To the processed pulp we add, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 3Tbs. tapioca and 1/2 tsp. of each, Cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger. Pulse to combine.
4. Add 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1 cup whole milk or heavy cream. Mix very well to combine.
5. Using your judgment add up to a 1/2 cup more milk or cream. I added 1/4 cup. Process this mixture for a good 2 minutes until completely blended.
6. rest the custard base covered for at least one hr. This will let the squash pulp absorb as much liquid as possible. At that point, we will add two large eggs and combine very well. Please join me for the next installment, when we will be preparing the pastry and finishing the project.

(Cut to pie king thyme song and closing clips)

Maltese savory Pumpkin pie.

A fall classic from the middle of the Mediterranean ocean to you.
Recipe notes: The first time I made this pie, it was way too much rice for my liking. I cut the rice to 1/2 cup. I increased the squash to about 500 Grams. I increased the tuna to 3 cans @ 124 grams (5oz.) each. I did not have fresh mint so I used fresh basil. Whole leaves wilted with the squash and some chopped with the tuna. Onion I used two medium sweet, Anchovies I used the whole can, drained. I hit the sweet spot on this formulation. Time to update the recipe and lock it down to this winning version. 

Sourdough Pie Pastry toutoral

Hello, friends.
  The video below, is my method of making a large batch of wild yeast pie pastry.

The Ultimate, Serindipitus Peach Pie

By: The Roadside Pie King. The original plan called for candied ginger and candied rosemary. Well don't you know I 
brought basil by mistake? Thinking to myself that this could be a fortunate stroke of 
serendipity, I decided to go with the flow. Please mind your eye on photos one through three, 
candied basil. The pie turned out so delicious, the first thing you notice is the bright not overly sweet
 fresh peach flavor. Then you are taken by the subtle underlying flavor of the spice mixture, 
herbs, and extracts. The resulting background flavor never overpowers this pie. Instead, the 
combination perfectly complements the fresh peaches. The candied basil/ginger add an 
interesting crunchy flavor to the pastry.

  

Norm Berg's, Memories of Brooklyn Onion Rolls

This is my humble interpretation of Mr. Bergs formula. As shared by him, the creator himself 

at The Fresh Loaf web site. I had no dried onion, so instead, I used one small raw Vidalia onion. 

 I hear tell the substitution of finely diced fresh will not taste the same. However, I can attest

 that these smell out of this world! I can also guarantee this will not be the last time I make 

these quick easy rolls! Follow the link for his the original formula. I present this great formula, 

With thanks for the generosity of Norm, may he rest in peace. Truly a baker with a big heart!

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/8903/norm039s-ny-style-onion-rollsomg-great?fbclid=IwAR1_V6lSzxVlF8KdYElefiwfcNBeFHHKpBbTiWZ7SGRTk6WcQbB1lIyzvbQ

Topping: 

1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes
 1Tbs. poppy seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1Tbs. Canola/ vegetable oil

Procedure:

The Topping:

1. Steep the dehydrated onions in boiling water until they absorb as much liquid as possible.
2. Drain the re-hydrated onions well and save the steeping water
3. Add the poppy seeds, salt and oil to the onions mix well to combine.
4. Set aside till needed

The dough:

1. Combine the onion water and any additional water needed to equal 16 oz. with 1 beaten Lg. egg, the malt syrup, and the oil.
2. Mix very well until a homogeneous mixture is achieved.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, and yeast in your mixer bowl. Mix well on low speed till well combined (or by hand)
4. While the mixer is still running on low add the salt and mix for about 30 seconds or so until well distributed.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the mixer bowl continue to stir on low until all the dry ingredients are well hydrated about a minute. (or by hand)
6. Turn up the mixer speed to #2 and knead for about seven to ten minutes, until a very smooth elastic dough forms. This low hydration dough is stiff and will give your mixer/arms a good workout.
7. Place the smooth elastic dough ball in a clear bulk fermenting container, preferably with volume markers. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled.
8. Turn the risen dough out on to your workbench. ( No additional flour is needed) Punch down the dough to degas.
9. Separate the dough into 10 equal pieces of about 153 grams each and form them into tight little balls.
10. Place the shaped balls on to a tray that was lightly dusted with cornmeal.
11. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. This will relax the gluten for the next step. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
12. Spread out the previously prepared onion topping in a shallow plate.
13. Line a baking pan/cookie sheet with parchment paper.
14. Place each ball one at a time, top side down into the topping mixture. Press down on the dough ball firmly till it is about a 1/2" thick.
15. Arrange the topped flattened buns on to the baking dish. Leave enough room between them, so they don't touch.
16. Proof covered at room temperature until doubled. About 45 minutes to 1 hour.
17. Bake with a steam source at 450 degrees F. for Ten minutes.
18. Remove the steam source and vent the oven. Rotate the baking pan 180 degrees. Continue to bake for an additional ten minutes until the rolls are golden brown.
19. cool on a rack for at least 1 hour. (If you can resist eating them while still warm!)