Classic “Nonno Pizza”
Benno’s pizza is fire! [Photo Credit: Alex Paternostro]
Recipe by Seth Paternostro
Introduction by Alex Paternostro
December 13, 2021
Benno was making his famous “Nonno Pizza.” His friends used to call it “Benno’s Tires,” but then he retired, and on top of that, he pulled a Nonno-style. What does that mean? He had sat down in his leather recliner and fallen asleep…with the pizza in the oven. It smoked up like hell, and the browned tomato sauce and burnt bottom could not be saved…hence “Nonno Pizza.” To Benno’s credit, the name is not totally deserved. He now sets a timer.
And so, here was Benno skipping church to prepare one of Nonna Rossa’s favorite Sunday meals. No wafers and wine for him, he chuckled to himself, just wine, with pizza for him. As he kneaded the dough, folding it into the floured kitchen table, he was proud of his work. He always liked to give it a little something after the dough hook.
Benno plopped the ball into a bowl, covered it with olive oil, and put a towel over it. The dough, like him, needed some rest, so he sat down in his chair. He had kept on his apron emblazoned with the logo of his favorite budget speedcar, a dancing donkey. His wife was sitting next to him, rereading Dante.
“Any place I fit in?” Benno smiled.
“Not yet, but I’ll keep you posted,” Nonna Rossa replied.
The sunlight was arcing through the room over the window’s potted flowers, the bookcases in walnut and intarsia against the walls, and their caffè table, on which was set a bolgia overflowing with hazelnuts. The room was so warm, his chair so comfortable that Benno fell asleep. He had forgotten to set his timer, so Nonna Rossa kept an eye on the clock for him. She got up and set the oven to the appropriate temperature before returning to her book. She was thinking about Dante’s intertwining of historical figures and the imagination, along with how writers do that now, when she checked the time and got up again. She poked the dough, saw that it sprung back half-way, and walked over to her husband.
“Hey, Benno! The pizza’s on fire!” she cried, fanning her arms at him.
“No, No! My pizza!” Benno shouted, jumping out of his chair.
“Wait,” he said, “I didn’t even put it in the oven. What are you talking about?” and he started laughing and pointing, “O, you trickster, you!”
He stepped over to the table packed with fresh forest goods and market vegetables and started forming his rounds. He flattened them, spread the olive oil, placed the tomatoes, scattered the salami that Nonna Rossa had been slicing, testing a piece here and there for quality assurance, then the cheese, and olives until it looked delicious already. He popped it in the oven with Zing! and Zip! then stood in front of the tiny glass window, like a statue, intently watching the pizza bake until it was done.
Makes 4 pizzas
Total time
3 hours
Equipment:
cutting board, chef’s knife or cleaver, cast-iron or other heavy metal baking sheet, large and small mixing bowls, whisk, digital scale, digital thermometer, measuring cups and spoons, stand mixer if desired, silicone spatula, plastic wrap, clean kitchen towels, can opener, fine mesh strainer, scissors, rolling pin, tasting spoon, large metal spatula or pizza peel, kitchen tongs, wire drying rack, oven mitts
Tableware:
hands
Ingredients
For the dough:
4 cups bread flour (620 grams)
1½ cups water, at about 90°F
1 tsp sugar (or about 4 grams)
1 tsp fine sea salt (or about 7 grams)
2½ tsps instant yeast
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil, plus as needed
For the toppings:
2 x 28 oz cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 small log Genoa salami
1 small wedge aged asiago
1 small wedge sharp provolone
1 cup kalamata olives
2 sprigs Italian parsley
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
Medium-course ground black pepper, as needed
Kosher salt, as needed
Instructions
Set out the dough ingredients and the equipment.
Whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in one bowl.
Combine the water and the extra virgin olive oil in another large bowl or in a stand mixer.
Pour the flour mixture on top of the liquids, and mix until homogeneous.
Let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, clean the other mixing bowl, and coat lightly with olive oil.
After resting, knead the dough until soft, smooth, and elastic, or for about 15 minutes. Shape into a ball.
Place in the oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover with plastic wrap and a clean towel.
Let proof in a warm place for 1½ hours, or until the dough has doubled in volume and springs back halfway when pressed.
Fold the dough into thirds, return to the bowl with the crease down, and proof until it, again, springs back halfway.
While waiting for the dough to proof, prepare the toppings, and preheat the oven to 525°F with a heavy baking sheet on a rack in the middle.
Open the tomato cans, pour them into a strainer set over a mixing bowl, then split each fruit in half with scissors, and squeeze out the seeds.
Place the de-seeded flesh into the mixing bowl, and tap the strainer on the bowl so that any remaining juices flow through.
Taste, and adjust the tomatoes with salt if necessary.
Halve the kalamata olives, thinly slice the salami, grate the cheeses, and mince the parsley leaves.
When the dough is ready, lightly oil a work surface, and divide the dough into 4 pieces.
Roll 1 piece of dough out to ¼-inch thick in a shape of your choosing, then let it rest for about 10 minutes.
Carefully lay the dough onto the preheated baking sheet, evenly spread a few teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil, then layer the salami, tomatoes, cheeses, olives, and a sprinkling of black pepper, in that order.
Bake for about 8 minutes, rolling out the next pizza in the meantime.
Remove the finished pizza to the wire drying rack, and sprinkle with parsley.
Grasp a wet kitchen towel with tongs, wipe any leftover cheese or toppings off the baking sheet before reheating it for a minute, then repeat the cooking process as needed.
Sneak a slice here and there, and serve the rest to whomever you desire.
Notes: The temperature of the room will affect the rate at which the yeast functions, so dough proofed in a hot summer swell will typically be ready faster than the same recipe at a New Year’s day bake-off. If using a stand mixer, operate at speed 2 or according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and periodically flip the dough over to ensure even kneading. The dough will be relatively dry, so do not add more flour when kneading. A crisp crust requires either a cast-iron baking sheet, heavy baking steel, comal, or other thick material that conducts heat well. Tomato and cheese run-off can smoke up a few minutes before the pizza is finished, so good ventilation is helpful. Using only the tomatoes and saving their juices for another use can alleviate this problem to a certain degree. Depending on the size of your baking sheet, it is also possible to cook in fewer batches.
NUTRITION FACTS:
Calories 427 Total Fat 14.2g (18%) Saturated Fat 5.9g (30%) Cholesterol 27mg (9%) Sodium 1408mg (61%) Total Carbohydrate 64.2g (23%) Dietary Fiber 5.3g (19%) Total Sugars 10.8g Protein 21g Vitamin D 0mcg (0%) Calcium 414mg (32%) Iron 4mg (20%) Potassium 40mg (1%) - Note: Please read our Nutrition Disclaimer.
Seth Paternostro is a writer and recipe developer based in Chicago. He is a co-founder of Our American Cuisine and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in East Asian Studies. You can learn more about him here.
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