Pizza Blog from pizzatherapy.com

From our friends at Forno Bravo , here is an incredible method to make Ciabatta Bread . This bread has a good crust with lots of taste. The process is not that difficult. However as with most great breads, this one starts with a poolish. Ciabatta Italian Hearth Bread Poolish (the starter dough) By weight 300 g general purpose flour (Caputo Tipo 00 works well) 300 g room temperature water 1 g (pinch) yeast By volume 2 1/4 cups general purpose flour (Caputo Tipo 00 works well) 1 1/4 cups room temperature water 1/8 tsp yeast Mix to a pancake batter consistency, cover with plastic wrap and let ferment for 3-4 hours, or overnight. Refrigerate after 3-4 hours. The Finished Bread By weight, The poolish, plus: 700 g flour 20 g salt 9 g yeast 430 g water (73% final hydration) By volume, The poolish, plus: 2 7/8 cups flour 1 Tbs salt 1 1/4 tsp yeast 1/2 cup water Mix the dough until it is well hydrated (it is very sticky). Stretch and fold (like a letter) a...

If you have a garden, you may be wondering, what do I do with all of these zucchini? If you don't have a garden, you should be able to find zucchini plentiful at any farmer's market. From my old friend, Maria Gentile from her timeless recipes, The Italian Cook Book, The Art of Eating Well, here are some zucchini options. Ripe and Ready Zucchini from Pizza Therapy STUFFED ITALIAN SQUASH (Zucchini ripieni) To make the stuffed zucchini first cut them lengthwise in two halves and remove the interior pulp, leaving space enough for the filling. Take some lean veal (quantity in proportion to the squashes) cut it into pieces and place it on the fire in a saucepan with a hash of onion, parsley, celery, carrot, a little corned beef cut in little pieces, a little oil, salt and pepper. Stir it often with a spoon and when the meat is brown pour in a cup of water and then another after a while. Then rub the gravy through a sieve and put it aside. Chop the cooked meat fin...

  Slice , creator Adam Kuban, recently had a sit down interview with Albert Grande, of Pizza Therapy. Here's what happened: Pizza Therapy is probably the first pizza-obsessed website I saw on the web. It's like it was always there. But when did you start it? Pizza Therapy started in 1999 on a free hosting service. It ran that way for about a year. I purchased the domain in 2000. After I registered the domain, I moved the site to our own Internet server. It's been evolving ever since. Why did you start it? The site came about as a way to honor my dad. As we were growing up my dad would make pizza for me and my friends. This continued right through high school, college and beyond. He became known as quite a good pizza maker. (He was no pro, this was homemade pizza). He loved making pizza for me and my friends. Soon his pizza making became well known and it turned into a regular event. My friends and I would hang out while my dad made pizza. The conversations an...

The Iceman Cometh and the Ice Woman Cometh. When they do come, they are bringing with them Italian Ice and Gelato. It's hot out there. We need gelato and ice cream recipes to help beat the heat. The following recipes are from the legendary cookbook: The Italian Cook Book, The Art of Eating Well by Maria Gentile You will not find any preservatives or additives in any of these recipes. Just pure and wholesome ingredients. Isn't that the best way to enjoy food? There is a simplicity and elegance to all of the recipes contained here. Simple to make. Simple to create. And simply good. A cool refreshing glass of pure water with lemon, from pizzatherapy.com Italian Ices (Gelati) Although it is in America that there is a greater consumption of ice cream, it is in Italy that it was first made, and in various European capitals it is the Italian gelatiere who prepares the frozen delicacy. A few Italian recipes of gelati will then be acceptable, we bel...

I was recently contacted by Sky , who just returned from a year in Italy. She has beeen working on a series of short films about the spitituality of food. Here is what she explained: Dear Albert, My name is Sky and I'm a young filmmaker from New York. I recently returned from a year in Italy, where I made a feature-length film, divided into 12 short episodes, on the spirituality of food. The last episode, on la vera pizza napoletana and featuring Naples' most expert pizzaioli, is complete. I thought you'd be interested in seeing it and putting it on Pizza Therapy . Thanks. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think - Pizza love, Sky My response: Sky your film is fantastic.  I am very excited about sharing your incredble film. Thanks for this great film...you have showed us an nmatched passion and love for food. And a love for pizza "You've got to put your heart in it... we call that passion..." Here it is: If you are interested in mor...

Hybrid Pizza Box You can listen to an interview with Mike Sudia of DMS Innovation. Mike was frustrated with the billions of used pizza boxes thrown away each year. As a result, Mike invented the reusable pizza box. What is a reusable pizza box? Here is the answer from DMS Innovation: "The Hybrid Pizza Box, HPB, is used for take-out or delivery of pizza by customers. Not only reduce your carbon footprint -but get a better quality pizza? YES - A reusable box can eliminate over 125 pounds of one-time use cardboard over its life and 100% recyclable at "end-of-life". Our line of multi-use boxes are all made in the U.S.A. The Hybrid Pizza Box has similar heat retention qualities to a traditional cardboard box without the disposal hassle." Mike explains: •Why he invented the hybrid pizza box •The 7 steps that cardboard boxes go through leaving a large carbon footprint •Why card board pizza boxes cannot be rec...

Keste Pizzeria & Vino Photo by Eugene This exclusive review comes from Eugene, our man in New Jersey. Eugene reviews an incredible pizzeria, Keste's located on Bleeker Street, in New York City. Eugene shares the following: I recently took a Pizza Tour of my own making in NYC. I'm going to recap my experiences for you to add to your website. Having spent the last 45 years searching for excellent pizza the World over gives credence to my remarks IMO. Keste, Bleecker St, NYC I had made it my 'destination pizza place' on this trip in to NYC. As is my custom I like to be there when a place opens for the day to see how the place looks before it gets busy. I met Mr. Roberto Caprusioti , an owner and Pizzaiolo of Keste's , as he was dashing out to drop something off down the block. He quickly returned after I had been seated along with my friend at the head table for 2 closest to the Pizza making station. Roberto was kind enough to spend a few minu...