Italians have either invented, discovered or perfected many things that have spread worldwide: pasta, pizza, tomatoes, motor scooters and of course, coffee. In this case, although latte art became widespread in American coffee shops in the 1980s, it was the Italians who first created either artistic imagery or custom writing using micro-foamed milk on top of their brews. There are now latte artist-baristi all over the world, from Italy to America to Scandanavia and even in the Orient. Some of the best compete in world competitions. Here are a few examples.

                                                                                                                                                   on AMAZON

If you'd like to try your hand at this fun craft, check out these Youtube videos...

Ciao!

--Jerry Finzi

To have a little fun making caprese, take some mozzarella bocconcini and cap them off with heirloom cherry tomatoes to make little mushrooms. The tomatoes I used were Olivette Juane (yellow, egg shaped), Fuzzy Peach (a pale yellow tomato that actually has peach fuzz) and a Burgundy Roma. 

Slice a bit off the bottom of the bocconcini to help them stand up. Then sliced tomatoes in half (or a bit less) and cut out the middle membrane so they sit on top of the bocconcini.  Carefully place them on fresh basil leaves from the garden and made a little stream of aged balsamic running through the middle. (Our bottle was brought back from Pienza,Tuscany). A sprinkle of oregano and some course sea salt sprinkled over the top of the tomatoes made them look a bit spotted. 

My favorite way to eat these is simply dig into the whole mushroom then mop up some of the balsamic... then pop the whole thing right in my mouth.....

When tasting something exceptional, my father used to pinch his fingers together, hold them up to the corner of his mouth, and while twisting his fingers let out a little kiss--Molto bouno!

Boun appetito! .


--Jerry Finzi

My son, Lucas loves the animated film Ratatouille, and so do Lisa and I. It's a wonderful jaunt through a vintage Parisian kitchen through the eyes of "Little Chef", a rodent who loves to cook. After seeing the film, Lucas wanted to make ratatouille, so we set out to do a rustic, delicious version and have made it many times since.

But ever since re-discovering our Italian roots during our Grand Voyage of Italy, we have been concentrating more on Italian recipes. Well, this time we though we'd combine the best of both worlds--French country cuisine with the height of Italian culinary skills--in the making of a great risotto. I think we succeeded with our Ratatouille & Risotto. It's perfect for autumn or winter--a stick to your ribs supper. But this dish has two distinct personalities... the obvious simplicity of making the ratatouille--basically a vegetarian peasant stew--and the technically demanding risotto.

For the Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a very basic vegetable stew made in Provence and around Nice in southern France. It uses several basic ingredients: eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion and pepper. There are many variations on the recipe, but the one I use is fairly rustic and traditional. 

Ingredients:
1 large Vidalia (sweet) onion - diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 medium sized eggplant-skinned, cut into 3/4 -1" cubes,
(the larger the eggplant, the more seeds and more bitterness)
5-6 whole garlic cloves
3-4 young, slim zucchini - skin on, sliced once lengthwise, then into 3/4" half moon slices,
(smaller & younger are more sweet and less seedy)
1-16 ounce can of diced tomatoes (I use Del Monte, oregano & basil spiced, in summer use fresh heirloom paste tomatoes)
1 cup chicken (or vegetable) broth
1/4 cup port wine
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons oregano
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
3 bay leaves (remove after cooking!)
40 cracks of fresh pepper (from a pepper mill, fine grind)
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
Olive oil for sauteing

• Saute the onions until clear in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium hot sauce pot, then add the diced peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes on a medium-low flame. 
• Add the the eggplant and garlic cloves and saute for another few minutes.
• Then de-glaze the pan with the wine for a few minutes and then add the diced tomatoes and broth.
• Finally, add the zucchini and all the spices, stirring gently to incorporate the spices throughout the stew. 
• Cook for another 45 minutes to an hour of until all the veggies are tender. Turn off the flame and set aside while you prepare the risotto. (Please remove the bay leaves before serving!)

For the Risotto
We mainly use Arborio rice when we make risotto, but even better is if you can find Canaroli rice--it makes an even creamier risotto and is a bit more forgiving.  The trick with making risotto is patience. It can take the better part of an hour or more--constantly adding broth and stirring--until the starchy exterior of the rice breaks down enough to make a creamy risotto, while still keeping a pasta-like "tooth" in the cooked rice. You don't want any crunch, there shouldn't be any mushy rice, and the texture when finished should be loose, glistening and creamy. While there are some tricks for making risotto faster, but there's no substitute for a strong arm and standing at the stove top for up to an hour...

Ingredients:
2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 medium sweet onion (or half a large Vidalia)-diced finely
1 cup dry white wine (Frascati or Pinot Grigio, or one of your choice)
6 cups of chick or vegetable broth, heated in a saucepan (for ladling into the rice)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1-1/4 cups of finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (plus additional for topping off the dish)

• Start by heating the broth in a small saucepan until barely simmering. Maintain this level of heat all the way through the cooking of the rice.
• Using a 12-14" saute pan, heat the olive oil on medium heat, then add the diced onion. Cook until the onions are translucent.
• Add the rice, stirring to coat the rice. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the rice is well coated and the outer surface of the rice looks translucent. You can add the salt at this point.
• Next, turn the heat down to medium low and add the wine. Stir until the wine is absorbed by the rice.
• The following step will be repeated until the rice is tender with barely an al dente bite... Take a ladle of hot broth and stir it into the rice. Keep stirring (preferably with a flat wooden spoon) until it is absorbed. Repeat, constantly stirring the rice all the way through the cooking. In case you've run out of broth, you can quickly heat up some water and use that to finish off the risotto until you reach the right texture. 

Toward the end, you will notice the starch in the rice being released to make a creamy consistency. Occasionally, taste the rice to make sure it is cooked through while still having a little bit of "tooth". You do not want it mushy, but you don't want crunch on individual grains. You will also know when the rice is nearing completion when you experience a sort of "wave" when you stir the rice, making a circular motion with the flat edge of your spoon around the bottom of the pan. Italian chef's call this the all'onda (wavy) effect. When your spoons passes and the rice behind it slides back in a slow motion like a silky wave, the risotto is at the right texture.

• The last step is to add the butter and stir more vigorously (like a whipping motion) until it's melted and incorporated.
• Finally, add the cheese and mix thoroughly.

Some recipes say that this will take only 30-35 minutes, but I have found it takes me 45-65 minutes until the rice is cooked and getting creamy. Risotto should be served immediately when completed, so timing is key. But in the event you have to let your risotto sit for a bit, just leave covered, unheated... then before serving, revitalize it by heating it with a little bit more hot water on a medium low flame until the water is incorporated and it has reached the "wave" stage once again.

To service, place a portion of the risotto on your plates and add some ratatouille on top, toward one side (let the creamy risotto show itself off too). You decide to have a hearty Italian Chianti or a nice French Bordeaux with the dish... after all, it does have a split-personality. 

I'd also like to add that the risotto recipes used in this dish is a basic risotto recipe. Once you learn how to make this, you can experience with adding all sorts of other things into the risotto... mushrooms, saffron, peas, shrimp, etc. And the ratatouille recipe is great topping a pizza, with pasta or even as a filling for a stuffed baked potato!

Buon appetito!

--Jerry Finzi

Ricotta forte is a traditional Apulian cheese, typically made at home under the kitchen sink or in a dark cantina (cellar), although can be found in supermarkets in Italy. Found in both Puglia and Basilicata, it might also be called Ricotta scanta, 'scante, scanta, ascuante, or "ashquant" in local dialects.  Initially, it is made in the same way as ricotta, but using a strong flavored milk such as goat or sheep. The texture is similar to cream cheese, usually with an off-white color. It's definitely a cheese that spreads easily. The aroma coming from this cheese is not for the faint-at-heart, as we can attest to when confronted with ricotta forte one morning at a trullo bed & breakfast near Alberobello.

One sniff snapped our heads back, but we spread it on our toast anyway, our host drizzling some honey on top, then we tasted...  To be honest, it reminded me of when I was a kid and out bread developed mold, but that was bland compared to this stuff. The flavor is sharp as a Neapolitan criminal's stiletto, pungent, sour, bitter, with an intensity that burns your nostrils. This cheese is a total assault on your palette. Our eyes snapped open and then teared up. I got some on a sweet pastry sitting on my plate and later on when I bit into it, the whole sweet taste was ruined. It took literally an hour or two for our taste buds to relax back to normal. 

Many Pugliese still make this cheese today, a remnant from the days when shepherds came up with this devilish bastardization of the ricotta we all know and love. They placed the freshly made ricotta into small ceramic or glass jars, sprinkled with sea salt, then placed it under their sink or other dark place. A few times each week the lid is removed and stirred in a process that lasts for 3 months. As it matures it grows a fungus which gives this a flavor with more kick than any blue cheese you've ever tasted.

It's a regional specialty that locals enjoy spreading on warm crostini, either plain or drizzled with honey or balsamic. In my opinion, it contrasts too much with sweet things like figs or grapes, but tomatoes and other savory items like anchovies are a better match.

Watch the following video to learn how Ricotta Forte is made. It's in Italian with Italian text, but if you remember the words giorno (day) and mesi (months) you'll figure out how to make it and the time period intervals involved.

In case you'd like to try it yourself, here is one place you can buy a jar.

Enjoy!

--Jerry Finzi

Focaccia is one of the world's oldest flatbreads with roots in ancient Greece and with the Etruscans, even before the Roman Empire reared its head. The Romans called it panis focacius (bread of the hearth) in Latin. In its basic form, it is a leavened bread, very similar to pizza but without all that cheese.  There have been versions of focaccia all through the Mediterranean coastline in Europe and northern Africa. In ancient Roman days, it looked like a very simple, flat round of pull-apart bread. It was a meal to be carried by shepherds and fishermen and meant to be eaten later.  In regions of neighboring France it's called fougasse. In Argentina and Brazil--both with large Italian immigrant populations--its name is fugazza and they can be either topped with stringy cheese or even double-crusted and stuffed.

The common modern form of focaccia is dimpled with fingertips to make little wells that can hold savory items like olives, cherry tomatoes, peppers, red onion, sliced potatoes, garlic or even sweet things like figs, pear slices, blueberries, walnuts, dates, honey, anise seeds, bulbing fennel (finnocchio), orange zest or grapes. The top is usually brushed or drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary, sea salt, pepper or other spices. Of course, you can sprinkle a bit of cheese (usually grated), but go to far and you've crossed the line between focaccia and pizza. The variations are endless.

In Italy, most pasticceria (pastry shops), panetteria (bread bakery) and even bars will have slices of focaccia often sliced and priced by weight. (Note: A "bar" in Italy is a family friendly place to get cappuccino and pastry in the morning and panini for lunch.)

Focaccia is usually baked in 1" deep, dark steel pans. The texture is usually bready and for that reason a high protein "strong" flour (bread flour here in the U.S.) is used. The thickness also has the benefit of being used to make panini, slicing through the middle and stuffing with provolone, mozzarella, prosciutto or thing slices of salami.

Ingredients
Yeast mixture:
1-3/4 cups warm water (110-115F)
1-1/5 tablespoons fast acting yeast
1 tablespoon honey

For the dough:
1 cup King Arthur all-purpose flour
2-3 cups King Arthur bread flour (plus extra bench flour)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil for the pan

Toppings:
Extra virgin olive oil (for brushing)
Cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup grated cheese (using 1/4 holes/box grater), provolone, asiago, or caciocavallo
(cheese is optional)
Dried thyme, rosemary, oregano, fresh ground pepper, sea salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 435F with a pizza stone or steel on the center shelf.

1. Liberally oil a dark half sheet pan with the olive oil and set aside.
2. Place the water in a small bowl and whisk in the yeast and honey until dissolved. Let sit until foamy, about 15 minutes.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached, place 1 cup of all-purpose flour, sugar and salt, then mix until blended for a few seconds.
4. Once the yeast is foamy, pour it into the mixing bowl and turn the speed to a low setting.
5. Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides as you are adding flour.
6. Little by little, add 1/3 cup of bread flour, each time waiting until it blends into the dough mass. Keep adding flour, a bit at a time until it begins to come together in a wet, loose mass.
7. Turn up the mixer speed to medium high and let the dough mass slap against the sides of the bowl until you see strands of gluten sticking to the sides. You might need to occasionally dust a little bit (tablespoon) of flour into the mass, as you work, but don't add too much. You do NOT want a dry dough ball.
8. Once you see strands have developed and your mass is no longer wet but still sticky, slow the mixer's speed down, then dust with a small amount of flour just to help turning it out onto the work surface. Use the spatula to help release it from the dough hook and bowl.
9. Prepare a medium sized bowl by liberally coating it with olive oil. Flour the work surface.
10. Turn out the dough mass onto your floured surface. Flour your hands.
11. Dust the top of the dough with a little bit of flour, then start kneading, folding the close end over the rear edge, while pushing it with your palm in a downwards, rolling motion. Turn the dough--1/4 turn, then repeat for 2-3 minutes.
12. With your cupped hands, form the dough into a round ball.
13. Place the ball into the oiled bowl and turn over to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.
14. Once the dough has risen, without punching it down, roll it out onto the center of your baking pan. The dough should feel very fluffy with a coating of oil.
15. Using the fingertips of both hands, starting in the center, gently press and slide the dough out to fill to the edges of the pan. The dough might be stretchy and slide on your oiled pan, so you will need to let it rest for 5 minutes before you can nudge it to fill the corners of your pan.
16. After five minutes, adjust your dough so it fills the pan to both the edges and corners. Set aside in a warm place to rise in the pan for about 30 minutes before topping.
17. Prepare any toppings: cutting cherry tomatoes in half, grating cheese, mixing spices together, etc.
18. Next, press cherry tomato halves into the dough about 1-1/2" to 2" apart. Placing the tomatoes before the dough rises in the dough will help embed them as the dough rises.
19. Once the dough has puffed up to about 1" thick, first drizzle and then brush very lightly the whole surface with extra virgin olive oil. Be delicate. If you brush too firmly, you might deflate the risen dough. If any large bubbles show up, you can pop them gently with a pointy skewer. 
20. Sprinkle your spices and salt evenly across the top of the focaccia. Pay attention to the tomatoes--they will taste better with a sprinkle or salt and dried oregano.
21. Bake in the 435F oven for about 15 minutes, or until both bottom and top are lightly browned (check underneath with a metal spatula). The sides should separate from the pan.
22. Slice into 3"x5" strips or 5" rectangular pieces and serve hot, or let cool and serve at room temperature.
23. Keep in a Tupperware in the fridge or wrap in foil (stored at room temp) for eating within 3 days.

You can reheat in a microwave by wrapping with a damp paper towel, then heating for 30 seconds (time depends on the power of your unit). To kick it up a notch, try a fresh drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (we really recommend unfiltered) or an aged balsamic. For a quick lunch, top with a draping of prosciutto. You can also slice focaccia in half and use to make a panino (sandwich) filled with thin sliced colt cuts and cheese or even cooked ingredients like grilled eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella or roasted vegetables.

Now that you know the basics of making focaccia, consider getting creative, as these examples illustrate. Look for color contrasts, textures and interesting shapes with your choice of toppings. Consider unusual things like asparagus, cauliflower, beets, basil, cilantro, kale, mushrooms, berries, capers, chives, colored course sea salt, and various seeds. Depending on your ingredients, you might have to partially bake your focaccia first with ingredients that can cook during the entire bake time and need to be pressed into the dough. For other things that might burn, like seeds or tender leaves like basil, position on top during later stages of baking.

Be creative and make a masterpiece for a special occasion, or simply make simple focaccia for every day snacks and meals...

Buon appetito!

--Jerry Finzi

Now that you've gathered together a basic pizza making toolkit, let's start actually making one... ​

My "Measure Water First" Method

First, I'd like to explain my basic concept that I've developed over the years. Most pizza dough recipes will give you precise measurements for flour in either cups (in the U.S.) or by weight (Europe). I don't really measure flour. Instead, I focus on measuring the water, depending on the type of pizza, style or size that I'm making, and then judging the look and feel of the dough as more flour is added while mixing or kneading. You can and should learn what a good dough for a particular type of pizza should look like. Making any type of dough for bread, pizza or even pasta is not precise like pastry or cake recipes. It's all about the look and feel.

There are many advanced pizzaiolo's recipes as ratios by weight of all ingredients, especially the ratio of flour to flour. They talk in terms of "60% hydration", sometimes more, sometimes less. This is true, but it's a complex, fussy method for beginners who just want to learn how to make great pizzas easily.

Still, they are correct in that the hydration of a particular dough gives each type of pizza its unique characteristics. Hydration also governs how light and airy a crust can be--or how dense. Of course, as you get more advanced you'll learn that other things also contribute to each type of crust: mixing types of flour; using honey versus sugar; using salt or not; olive oil or not; and how long and how many rises the dough is given. Often a subtle change makes a big difference in texture, taste and structure.

Water & Yeast

The first thing I do is place warm water (110-115 F) into a glass measuring cup, and ensure the measurement is correct for the size and type of pizza I'm making. For example:

1 - 1/4 cups water for a 12"-14", basic pizza, baked on parchment, on stone or steel.
1 - 1/2 cups water for a 14-16" basic pizza, either on stone or in large pan.
1 - 3/4 cups water for half sheet pan focaccia or "Grandma's Pizza", or 2-4 personal pizzas.

For now all you have to learn is how your dough should look in the mixing bowl. Some basic things to look for in the bowl of a stand mixer after adding the first 1 -1/2 cups of flour and pouring in the water/yeast mixture:

• At a low speed, add a bit of flour 1/4 cup at a time...
• Look for the dough to start getting thicker like a slurry...
• This is the time to add olive oil or salt...
• After adding a bit more flour, mix and watch the dough develop...
• If it's still watery or loose, add a little bit more flour...
• Scrape down any bits from the side of bowl as needed...
• After the dough starts to develop into a sticky mass, add a little bit more flour...
• Then turn the speed up to medium high and watch...
• You will see gluten develop as stringiness sticking to the sides of the bowl...
• This is developing both structure and texture...
• As the dough starts to clump around the dough hook, dust lightly with a bit more flour just to help release the stickiness from the bowl...
• When you touch the dough it should still feel sticky and a bit wet...
• This is when you can turn your dough out onto a well floured work surface...
• Next you can dust lightly and try to form, knead and turn, then knead again and repeat until you have a much smoother ball shape. The dough should not bounce back when you insert a finger.

So, if you understand my method, the water measurement is critical for the type/size pizza being made, but the amount of flour added will always vary depending on if it's a rainy day, if it's in the middle of a hot humid, summer's day, or if it's the middle of a dry winter with your heat drying out the air in your house.

Remember, you can't remove flour if you add too much. Add flour slowly and use your eyes to see when it's getting thick like a pliant, damp, sticky putty... but NOT as dry as a child's Play Dough. If you add too much flour, your pizza will be dense and heavy. When a dough is dense, it makes it difficult for the yeast's gasses to lift and rise the dough--in other words, if there are no air spaces, all you have is a dense bread.

​
Ingredients for Three Types of Pizza Dough
Proofing the Yeast​ For a 12-14" pizza...
1 - 1/4 cups warm water (about 115 degrees F)
1  packet "instant" yeast (or 1 tablespoon packaged/dry yeast)
1  tablespoon honey or sugar
Use 1 to 1-1/2 cups All-Purpose flour to start, then use Bread Flour for the rest.

Proofing the Yeast​ For a 14-16" focaccia or pan pizza...
1 - 3/4 cups warm water (about 115 degrees F)
1 heaping tablespoon packaged/dry yeast
1  tablespoon honey or sugar
Use only Bread flour.

Proofing the Yeast​ For a 3-4 individual, thin crust pizzas...
1 - 1/2 cups warm water (about 115 degrees F)
1/2 tablespoon dry yeast
1  tablespoon honey
Use only All-Purpose flour.

Proofing the Yeast​ 2 Neapolitan style, individual pizzas...
1 - 1/4 cups warm water (about 115 degrees F)
1/2 tablespoons packaged/dry yeast
1  tablespoon honey
Use only Italian style "00" Flour.

Mix the yeast and honey (or sugar) with the warm (115 degrees F) water in a medium size measuring cup. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to "proof" (foam up). If the yeast doesn't show "proof" that your yeast is alive and growing, you should shouldn't use it. Yeast should be alive.

To understand what's going on, the honey (or sugar) feeds the yeast and as it grows, it produces gasses that will lift the dough. After you make your dough, the yeast is still working during any successive rise periods and and will lift the dough (puff it up).

Pizza dough is a leavened crust (more akin to bread). A dough without yeast (or less yeast) makes more of an unleavened bread--like a cracker. If you want a bread-like dough (focaccia, sfincione or Grandma's style) use more yeast. If you want a thin, crusty pizza, use less.

After kneading, you can do a "window" test as in the above photo. Stretch the dough until it gets paper thin and translucent without tearing. If it tears easily, there isn't enough gluten development.

​
TIPS: You want to mix the dough until it separates from the bowl--but it should still be a bit sticky. Go slow with adding more flour. A dough that's too dry will make a tough, leathery crust. You want it soft and a bit sticky.  One more tip... I use mainly King Arthur's flours for my pizzas. I've done tests using others like Gold Medal or Pillsbury and never got good results. The protein level of King Arthur's is higher, resulting in better gluten development. For Neapolitan style, I'll use 00 type flour (doppio zero, double zero), either Caputo or Anna brand.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand. Flour both your hands and flour the top of the dough on the board. Fold the dough over toward you, push forward with the heel of your hand, then turn 1/4 turn and keep repeating until the dough looks smooth, soft and slowly bounces back when you stick it with your thumb.

Some say you must knead the dough for 5 or even 10 minutes or more, but I think this produces too much stringy gluten--the glue in dough--and can cause the dough to be tough. Gluten development happens even without much kneading. Besides, I'd rather be eating my pizza sooner rather than later.

Tuck in or pinch together the bottom of your dough round and shape into a flat, round   shape, then put it in the oiled bowl to rise. Oil both sides of the dough.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 45 minutes. On dry days, I usually help along the humidity a bit and lay a damp paper towel on top of the plastic wrap. You could even use a damp cotton chef's towel.

There are two ways to proceed now. One is the quick way--a single rise--the other is longer... a double rise. Typically, for our weekly, Saturday night pizza, I'll do a short, single rise, unless I'm trying something a bit different:

• 45 minutes at room temperature, then punch down the dough gently and start forming the pizza.

If I'm trying to make a special artisan pizza or focaccia recipe I'll do a double rise:

• 45 minutes at room temperature, then punch the dough down gently and let it rise a second time for 1-2 hours (or even overnight)  in the fridge. Take it out, let it rest on your workbench for 5 minutes or so (to relax the gluten... this makes it less springy and makes it easy to form it out to a pizza shape). Then you can form your pizza.
  
  

There is also another type of rise for deep dish and pan pizzas... where I do a first rise at room temp, then form the dough to fit into the deep dish pan and let it rise again in the pan at room temp.  More on that when I get to my pan pizza recipes.

The longer the rise, the more complex flavor develops in the crust... something I think is unnecessary for a quick "get dinner on the table" pizza. But if you  like to experiment, let your dough rise overnight before making pizza. A longer, cold rise will develop better flavor!

--Jerry Finzi