If you live in Rome or if you have been there for a few days on vacation or for work, you will have certainly had the opportunity to taste one of the capital's street food delicacies: the Roman style pan pizza. Tasting it in one of the countless pizzerias in Rome is undoubtedly the ideal way to try it, but pan pizza can also be prepared at home, in an electric oven, with excellent results, provided that some basic rules are respected.
The perfect Roman style pan pizza
The online forum about bread, pizza, and leavened products La Confraternita della Pizza has drawn up a kind of description for the preparation of the "Authentic Roman style pan pizza with high hydration" which identifies the common points of the different recipes and the limits of possible variables in the preparation.
Some main characteristics listed in the document include: Roman pizza is prepared in a rectangular baking tin of 60×40 cm, it must have a thickness of between 15 and 30 mm, homogeneous over the entire surface, without any bulging at the rim and without areas of greater or lesser thickness or density. Roman style pan pizza is dry, not greasy at all, with slight hollows on the surface and a very light crust; the texture is light and crunchy underneath, soft and slightly moist on top.
This result is obtained with the dough having an elevated hydration. The quantity of water present must be between 75% and 100% of the weight of flour. So here are the detailed steps to follow when preparing Roman style pan pizza in accordance with the specifications of the web community.
How to make Roman style pan pizza: the recipe
Ingredients
For a 30x40cm pizza pan, you will need: 12 oz of specific flour for pizza 0 or 00 (or 10 oz of flour 0 or 00 and 2 oz of re-milled durum wheat semolina), 12 oz of water at 4° (therefore very cold), ½ oz of salt, ½ oz of extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon of fresh brewer's yeast.
Method
The preparation of the dough for Roman style pizza requires care and attention to detail. In a kneading machine (or in a big enough container for those who work by hand), pour the flour, crumbled brewer's yeast and then salt, and mix. Only at a second moment is it necessary to add 75% of water at 4° (equal to 7 oz) and start to knead the dough with care, until it is stringy.
The dough is "strung" when it detaches from the walls and the bottom of the mixer easily and when it is compact, smooth, and elastic. Only when the dough has these characteristics can the remaining water (always at 4°) be added little by little, waiting each time for the pizza dough to have completely absorbed the remaining quantity of water.
Leavening of Roman style pan pizza dough must take place in the refrigerator, in an airtight container with oiled walls for about 44 hours at a temperature of 4°. Before, however, it must be left to rest in the same container for a variable period of time at room temperature. Even in this case the timing is precise: half an hour if it will rise at a temperature between 24° and 26°, 1 hour if there are between 21° and 23°, 1 hour and a half for temperatures between 18° and 20°.
Once leavening is complete, the phase called molding starts. The dough is then poured (without touching it) on a floured baking pan and proceed to form buns by dividing the pizza dough into many parts. Shaping must be done with a series of folds of 3, the classic portfolio folds. Then proceed to the second leavening, called appretto.
Appretto is done at room temperature for a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 4 hours and must be done in a closed container.
Turn on the oven at maximum temperature, possibly without ventilation. Prepare the baking pan, spreading a thin layer of oil. Roll out the dough of the pizza in a Roman style baking pan on a well-floured work surface and make a rectangular shape with only help of the first few fingers which must be open and almost parallel to the dough.
During this delicate phase you must seal the perimeter of the pizza, pressing it without imposing too much force but distributing the air in the dough properly across the whole surface.
Then transfer the pizza dough onto the baking sheet and dress it with the ingredients you have chosen. Bake for 6 minutes at maximum temperature, placing the pan on the bottom of the oven, then lower to 230° and move the pan to the middle shelf of the oven, adding the mozzarella only at this point. Then complete the cooking process for another 10 minutes.
Finally, take the pizza out of the oven and put it to dry on a wire rack and let it cool for a moment to get rid of any moisture before enjoying it.