Leftover Pizza Dough? Make Bread 🥖
Plus: A Podcast, A Dinner, & More
Oh Pizza Friends, Hello!
It’s been too long. Two weeks ago before leaving for the road, I envisioned popping in here every Friday morning to share some snaps from my travels. Alas, this did not happen, but in the weeks ahead, it will: think snap pea salad with walnuts, mint and pecorino (so springy!) and olive oil gelato drizzled with aged balsamic (heaven!).
While on the West Coast, I visited some of the pizzerias I’ve heard about for years, namely Apollonia’s and Flour + Water, and I discovered some new places, too. One of my favorites, Rose Pizzeria, which made three pizzas from Pizza Night for an event, left me feeling so inspired by the little flourishes they added to each pizza: roasted garlic confit to the asparagus pizza and pickled cherries to the White Pizza with Pistachios, Honey, and Arugula:
Pickled cherries are high on my list of pizza ingredients to tackle, and I, of course, will report back here when I do.
But today I want to talk about something else: bread made with leftover pizza dough. I am not claiming to have invented this; only to have just personally discovered it.
Let’s start from the top. On Wednesday, I taught a virtual pizza class* with Baking Steel’s Andris Lagsdin. I made Neapolitanish pizza dough and two pizzas, the white pizza mentioned above from Pizza Night and this pizza Genovese I wrote about recently. As is the nature of these classes, by the end of it, I was swimming in dough: I had enough on hand to yield 10 more pizzas.
This is not a bad problem to have, but, dare I say it: There is only so much pizza one can eat!
So, on Wednesday evening, rather than split my pizza dough into four portions, I divided it in half, shaped each half into a log, and transferred them to my DoughMate, each log on a narrow strip of parchment paper. Into the fridge went the vessel until the following morning.
Roughly two hours after removing the dough from the fridge, I sprinkled each with semolina flour, then baked off each loaf. The first I baked on a sheet pan (pictured on the right below). The second I baked in my preheated Challenger Bread Pan (pictured on the left below).
The different vessels and methods yielded different results: the one baked in the Challenger was wider, flatter, and resembled ciabatta; the one baked on a sheet pan emerged looking like what might be generically labeled as “French” bread at the grocery store. Each had a nice, soft, slightly open crumb:
I can imagine using the taller loaf for garlic bread and the shorter loaf for giant slab sandwiches or for… homemade Stouffer’s French Bread Pizzas:
These were a massive hit with my children:
I’ve shared the recipe below for the leftover pizza dough bread, and I will share the homemade French bread pizza recipe if there is interest.
Friends, I cannot believe it is May 3rd. With outdoor cooking season upon us, high on my topics-to-cover list is reviewing my Gozney Dome, which I’ve been meaning to do for months. And on pizza-adjacent weeks, I hope to share recipes for this spring salad with snap peas, walnuts, and pecorino…
… and this olive oil gelato with aged balsamic vinegar. Both were served at Che Fico.
What am I forgetting? Oh Friends, it’s good to be back.
*The recording for this class will be available soon, and I’ll update this post when it is.
Taste Podcast with Matt Rodbard
A few weeks ago I had the chance to speak with Matt Rodbard on the Taste Podcast. Matt is one of the most knowledgeable food people out there, and it was such an honor to chat with him. Also, his new book Koreaworld is out, and it’s a beauty! Listen to our conversation here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Philly Friends
On Tuesday, I’ll be at High Street Philadelphia for a Pizza Night party. High Street will be serving 3 pizzas and 3 salads from Pizza Night as well as some snacks and dessert. It has been so much fun meeting many of you in person these past few weeks, and I’d love to see you in Philly, too!
Reservations here: High Street + Pizza Night. One of the pizzas they’re making is the spanakopita-inspired pizza with spinach, feta, and egg… can’t wait!
The Recipe: Leftover Pizza Dough Bread
Any topic you’d like covered? Please let me know. See you next Friday 🍕🍕
I'd love to see the French bread pizza recipe! My nephews would go crazy for it. One of my hesitations about making pizza dough is what to do with leftovers, and this bread solution is perfect.
Could you share (or re-share) advice and guidance on handling the dough before baking? I always end up having to use a rolling pin to get the dough sufficiently thin/spread out, which eliminates most of the big bubbles. Thanks!