Knife and fork pizza

The Pizza

In 2015 I was in southern Italy and had this pizza at a restaurant in Ostuni, a lovely hill town in the heel of Italy's boot. I'm blogging about it in 2017 because this is the photo for the month of May on my 2017 Bread and Pizza calendar.

This pizza was as delicious as it looks but the reason I included it on my calendar and the reason I'm writing about it is that it represents a whole category of "pizze" (plural of pizza) that are common in Italy but quite different from most North American pizza. I call it "knife and fork pizza" because you can't pick up a slice and eat it without the topping falling off because the toppings aren't plastered to the crust with melted cheese. In this case, fresh toppings were added to the crust after it came out of the oven. This expands the range of what a pizza can be and I love it because it's different than the way I make pizza.

I've always made pizza that sticks together as opposed to pizza for a knife and fork because it's the original pizza of creation, I like to eat pizza by hand, and pizza that stays together is easy to keep and re-heat. It's hard to knock these advantages but having eaten pizza with a knife and fork at restaurants in Italy inspires me to try new ways.

If you want to use pizza crust as a base for a salad or other fresh topping, keep in mind that if you bake a crust with no topping it will probably puff up into a pita. If that happens you can simply press it flat while it's hot and apply the toppings. Another alternative is to make a "white pizza" for which there are many recipes online. For example, you could top it with ricotta and/or mozzarella and then dress it with fresh toppings when it comes out of the oven.

The Calendar

The back cover of my 2017 calendar has thumbnails of all the full-page images (photo below). Every bread or pizza pictured is mine except the "Pizza Italy" from Ostuni for the month of May. At the beginning of each month this year, I'm posting a story here about my calendar photo for that month. At least that's my plan. With this post I've blogged for 4 of the 5 months.

The back cover of my 2017 bread and pizza calendar

However you eat it, enjoy your pizza!

Travelling bread

Delicious and durable 

Food is so intertwined with travel that it's hard to think of one without the other. Even if we don't travel, our food does. It's been estimated that the ingredients in an average American meal have traveled 1500 miles from farm to plate (http://www.worldwatch.org/globetrotting-food-will-travel-farther-ever-thanksgiving). 

Average distance from farm to an American dinner plate

Fortunately, some of my favourite travel destinations are places that have excellent local food. In Italy, I can eat locally while enjoying some of the best food in the world. However, I still have some food-related challenges even when my destination has great local cuisine. My problem always seems to start within a day of departure regardless of whether I'm driving or flying and usually has to do with missing my homemade bread or cereal - things that can't be found away from home. Italy is famous for their food but not for their healthy or filling breakfasts. My solution is to travel with food and that's where this bread comes in.

If I have the time to plan ahead, one of my favourite travelling breads is a heavy, grainy, healthy loaf like this one. It's loaded with nuts, fruit, veggies and flavour. Much of its flavour and dark colour comes from ground cinnamon which you'll want to buy in bulk if possible. If this loaf is sliced and dried, it will keep for weeks. It's heavy enough to make a good breakfast and if thinly sliced and dried to a crisp, even satisfies the munchies.

I like making bread with a long, slow ferment but this recipe can be speeded up by starting with warm water and using up to a full packet of instant yeast.

With walnuts, raisins, apples, flax seed and carrots, this bread is almost a balanced meal. 

Two loaves or two large flats of fermented travelling bread

3 cups water
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups grated carrots, microwaved until steamed
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup flax seed
2 cups grated apples
2 cups chopped walnuts
1/3 cup cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
Unbleached flour as needed, approximately 6 cups

On the first day, add 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast and the whole wheat flour to cool water and mix. Cover and let sit overnight.

On day two, add all the other ingredients except the salt and unbleached flour. Cover and let sit overnight.

On day three, add the salt and start blending in the unbleached flour until the dough can be turned out. Keep dusting the outside of the dough and the work surface while kneading until most of the stickiness is gone. Cover and let sit at room temperature for about two hours. This dough will not double in bulk.


Divide dough in two. For loaves, roll them out into two log shapes, place them on a flour or cornmeal dusted sheet and bake at 500 F for 30 minutes or until interior reads about 85 C with an instant read thermometer. For flatbreads, roll one of them out to a little smaller size than your large cookie sheet, transfer it to the dusted sheet, and tease it out to full size. Optionally, brush top with yogurt or egg yolk and sprinkle with seeds (e.g. sesame, sunflower) and/or coarse salt. Bake at 500 F for 7-8 minutes or until it looks done.  Repeat with other half of dough.