Daniele Uditi is the owner and head chef at Neapolitan nirvana restaurant Pizzana in Los Angeles. There, he uses his family’s 60+-year-old starter to create masterpieces with mozzarella and hand-crushed tomatoes. But since we all can’t have the perfect starter, a Stefano Ferrara oven, or the inside track to the best farmers, Uditi was nice enough to share some at-home tips to get your pizza as close to the real thing as possible. Here are his thoughts – please repay him by ordering takeout from his restaurant.
What kind of flour should you use at home?
I use bread flour. I try to stay as less refined as possible. If you have a whole wheat bread flour, to me that’s the best choice because there’s more flavor in that.
Would you recommend using a starter or yeast?
Always use a starter over regular yeast. But if you use yeast, I would recommend using a very small amount.
How much starter to flour would you use if you’re making pizza at home?
I always go 10-15% because I do a longer fermentation. And I like the flavor development you have in a longer fermentation. If you have a whole wheat flour, a 24-hour fermentation is really good.
When you do fermentation, do you do it in the fridge or just at room temperature?
I grew up doing it outside of the refrigerator. But the refrigerator at home can be a huge help, especially in Los Angeles where the temperature changes so fast between morning and night. If you want to do a fermentation without a refrigerator, use a smaller amount of starter or yeast. For one kilo of flour, I probably use one or two grams of starter at most.
Cacio e Pepe pizza, Pizzana
When you’re kneading your dough at home, how long do you do it for?
15-20 minutes max to develop some gluten. And then I bulk ferment for an hour, then I shape into a ball and then proof all day.
Also, for the fermentation process, make sure the dough is sealed so it’s not affected by air. Keep it closed as much as possible.
When you’re done proofing and ready to stretch and shape your dough before you top it, how much flour do you use?
It really depends on the hydration. If you use a low hydration dough, like 55-60% water to flour, you don’t need that much flour to stretch because it’s less sticky. But if you have a dough that’s like 75-80%, it’s going to be almost impossible for you to stretch it with a small amount of flour. What I tell people at home, don’t use straight white flour, use something that is going to give flavor to the dough. I use semolina, because it’s going to attach to the crust and it’s going to give you an extra layer of crunchiness.
For people with regular ovens at home, what do you recommend they do for baking the pizza?
I always recommend that you put a pizza stone in the oven and heat the stone for at least one to two hours so it gets really hot and then before cooking the pizza on the stone, turn on the broiler and let it go for 20 minutes to get extra heat on the stone. So, then the pizza will really bake underneath.
Pizzana
Do you put semolina or anything on the stone before you cook?
No, I would put semolina on the pizza peel, then dress your pizza on the pizza peel and slide it onto the stone. Otherwise use parchment paper.
Have you ever made pizza with a cast iron skillet?
Yes, many times. If you have a large non-stick pan, I like to build the pizza in the pan. You put olive oil in the pan and then stretch the dough thinly if you don’t want a pan pizza. And then you put your toppings and bake it in the oven. The olive oil is going to fry the bottom of your pizza and it’s going to be so good. I do this with a cold pan.
One other tip: don’t put the cheese on the pizza right away when you’re cooking. A home oven at 500 degrees will cook your pizza in six to eight minutes, and the cheese will become oily. So, if you want the texture of your pizza like a wood-burning oven, just two minutes before the pizza is ready, take it out, put on the cheese, and put it back in.
Do you ever broil your pizza at the end?
If you have a good broiler, then yes so you can have the charred crust. Cook your pizza for four to five minutes and then the last couple minutes with the broiler.
Any tips for types of cheese?
If you have a fresh mozzarella, slice it and put it on paper towel and then in the fridge for three to four hours. This will help dry it out a little bit and prevent your pizza from becoming too soggy.
When you make your tomato sauce, do you make it raw or cook it down?
Every tomato is steamed, so I wouldn’t say it’s raw. So, I don’t reduce it down. For a regular margherita pizza, a red sauce is just steamed tomatoes, almost raw, you peel off the skin and then crush it by hand with a little bit of salt. You can add garlic for a marinara pizza. But if you put garlic in the sauce that you’re making, it’ll spoil faster, so use it right away for a couple of days.
Do you have any final thoughts or tips?
Make sure you’re buying really good ingredients. Most of the time, the ingredients are what makes a good pizza. Buy good flour. Buy good cheese. Buy good tomatoes. Everyone is obsessed with San Marzano. But what you get here is not 100% San Marzano. Go to the farmers market, talk to the farmers, buy the best tomatoes you can, and make your own sauce at home. The best tomatoes in a can to buy in the store is Carmelina ‘e San Marzano, but it’s not actually San Marzano. La Valle is also really good. But I go to the farmers market and buy fresh tomatoes.