Levain pizza dough calzones


I had some levain (sourdough) I wanted to use and had been wanting to try it in a pizza dough recipe for a while.  I prefer to use the word "levain" (though I need to learn how to pronounce it!) rather than "sourdough" because, at least in the States and, especially, California,   "sourdough" makes people think very much of San Franciscan Sourdough -- which is very SOUR.   European-style sourdoughs provide just a hint of that sourness. A lot of times, you wouldn't even know you are eating sourdough -- especially when it is made into a calzone and stuffed with deliciousness:



The levain pizza dough recipe came from Ken Forkish's  "Elements of Pizza" -- made with just a little sourdough starter, flour, water and salt  (no commercial yeast added).  There is a very slight tang which adds a nice flavor to the dough.  I wanted something different the "normal" calzones I usually make (sausage, pepper, onions, etc...) , so I simply roasted some broccoli with salt,pepper, olive oil  and then added it to a mixture of ricotta, low moisture whole milk mozzarella, Parmesan, fresh basil, garlic, some lemon and red pepper flakes.

I decided to serve it with some left over basic tomato sauce I had that was previously for a Neapolitan style pizza I had made a week earlier on my BIG GREEN EGG (pictures below) -- the sauce was too bland for this (basically just blended san marzano tomatoes and salt) so, if I wanted a red sauce, I would probably add spices and sweetness.  But what went really well with this, at my wife's suggestion, was some quality basil-infused olive oil!  Delizioso!!
Previous weeks "AVPN"  Neopolitan pizza on the BIG GREEN EGG (got it to 800F):





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