While we were in Washington we ate at 2 Amys Pizza. 2 Amys is one of the few DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) pizza restaurants in the US. What does that mean exactly? It means that 2 Amys makes pizza that meets the exacting standards for producing authentic Neopolitan Pizza. This involves a specific recipe, wood burning ovens, etc. The pizza is exceptional.
Sarah and I have been simulating this for years on a pizza stone in the charcoal grill. I think we have a cooking technique down, but still need to work on the recipe. Monday night we attempted to recreate the DOC style pizza with fresh tomatoes, basil, etc. Reproducing this pizza is my second summer goal.
I’ve come to three conclusions about our experiment. First we really do need to use soft wheat flour for the dough. This will be a new experience for us as we’ve always used bread flour. Second fresh mozzarella makes a big difference. The shredded stuff in the bag just tastes flat in comparison. Third we need to not make the crust so thin that it won’t poof at the edges.
One good note of the Monday experiments is that if you’re going to drizzle olive oil on your quick cooked pizza that the quality of the oil makes a huge difference. The first pizza we oiled we just used the oil we have in the oil can on the counter, the second pizza I used a very light, fruity extra virgin oil from Spain and it was outstanding.