Eating the Past: Battle of the Crusts

Cook's note:

These recipes are still under copyright so please seek out a copy of Mark Grant's Roman Cookery: Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens in order to prepare the staititai or the placenta. 

Cook's note:

Complete the dough preparation 3 hours before cooking the pizza. Note that you probably won’t use all of the sauce; but refrigerate the rest and save it to dress some pasta the next day. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients for the crust: 

1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½  teaspoons active dry yeast
1 ½  teaspoons sugar
1 cup warm water – room temperature
¾  teaspoon salt
10-12 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese (broken into small pieces)
Tomato sauce (recipe below)

Directions:

1. Spray 13” x 9” nonstick baking pan with cooking spray. Brush bottom and sides of pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

2. Stand mixer with dough hook: mix flour, yeast, sugar on low speed for 10 seconds. With mixer running at low speed, slowly add the warm water and mix until dough forms and no dry flour remains, scraping bowl as needed, about 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Add salt to the mixing bowl and knead with dough hook on medium speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 7-8 minutes. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead. Transfer to the prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

4. Press dough into corners of pan (spray olive oil lightly on top of dough and on your finger tips). Cover pan with plastic wrap. Let dough rest until doubled in size, about 2-3 hours.

5. Preheat oven to 500℉.

6. Remove plastic wrap from pan. Sprinkle cheese over dough evenly to the sides of the pan.

7. Spoon sauce over cheese.

8. Oven: place on low rack.  Bake until cheese is melted and starting to brown, about 15 minutes.

9. Grate pecorino romano or parmesan Reggiano cheese over the pizza. Chiffonade a few leaves of basil, and toss over the pizza. Let pizza cool in pan on a rack for a few minutes.

10. Run a knife around edges of pan. Use large spatulas to loosen the whole pizza from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares with a bread knife and serve.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients: 

1 can whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes
1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs chopped fresh basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano + pinch of nutmeg
½  teaspoon sugar
½  teaspoon salt
½  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Pour contents of tomato can into a bowl. Crush tomatoes by hand or with a potato masher. Stir in other ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap  . . . or store in fridge up to a day in advance.

Alex Bullock Reese, graduate student from the USU Ancient Languages and Cultures program, and her mentor Mark Damen were inspired by Marcus Cato's De Agri Cultura, bound inside Scriptores Rei Rusticae  (ASL 630.2 L616)

Daniel J. McInerney, Emeritus Professor of History, prepared a modified version of San Vito Pizza, from our copy of Italian Regional Cooking (PRESTINI TX 723 .B5413 1969).