A geeky dive into Pizza in Teglia Romana

Mastering the Art of Pizza in Teglia Romana: Techniques, Tips, and Toppings

Key Points:

Perfecting the Dough: Achieving the ideal Pizza in Teglia Romana crust involves a balance of long fermentation, high hydration (up to 85%), and precise mixing techniques like the Autolisi Method and L’aqua di Bassinage to strengthen gluten and enhance structure.

Topping and Baking Excellence: Roman pizzas are topped with a maximum of three fresh, vibrant ingredients, often including local cheeses, proteins, and unique flavor foils. Baking in an electric deck oven at 260-350°C ensures the perfect combination of lightness, crispiness, and visual appeal.

In June 2013, I spent the day at the iconic Pizzerium Bonci, founded by Gabriel Bonci in Rome. Bonci’s chefs, Federico and Matteo, taught me how they produced the most beautiful pizzas I had ever seen. These wonders were based on 60×40-centimeter pans, par-cooked as a “Bianca” or with tomato sauce as a “Rosa.” But that was just the beginning.

Some pizzas were then topped with local aged cheeses and baked again. All were then finessed with many fresh toppings that never exceeded three. The front counter, where the line started and snaked down the street, was an explosion of electric color and a kaleidoscope of culinary delight. The customers, let into the small lobby three at a time, ordered their choices “by the cut” showing the chefs the amount of pizza they desired before the selections were scissored and weighed. As I left and made my way through the clogged street, I realized that Bonci had created not just a pizzeria, but a celebration of food, sustenance and life.

Many professional chefs of Pizza in Teglia Romana are passionate and have dedicated their lives to this discipline. The technical expertise and attention to detail used in creating these pizzas is paramount. Massimiliano Saeivo, founder of Roman Pizza Lab, says that true Roman pizza is not just about high hydration, it is the balance between long fermentation, dough structure and baking management.

The goal is to achieve a crust that is extremely light, highly alveolated and crispy on the outside while still having a delicate chew that melts in your mouth. Saeivo has been on the forefront of using a direct-method, cold-fermented dough with 85% hydration to create the perfect Pizza in Teglia Romana crust. Here are some other secrets involved in mixing direct-method Roman Pizza dough.

Mixing Secrets for High Hydration Doughs | Mixed Emotions

Some pizza chefs are fermenting Pizza in Teglia Romana using a 44% hydrated Biga pre-ferment, rested for 17 hours in refrigeration with the last three hours at room temperature. This is added to the mix at 50% of the final dough. Whether using either a biga or not, here are some tried and true mixing secrets to maximize gluten strength in high-hydration doughs:

Autolisi Method: This technique strengthens the gluten net during the oven-spring. This is just a rough mix using only flour and up to 70% of the water and letting it sit in the mixing bowl for 30 to 60 minutes. Because this dough is stiffer, gluten forms more readily and efficiently than adding the water all at once.

L’aqua di Bassinage: This “bathing” method of mixing adds the 30% water (left from the above autolyze) a little at a time while the mixer is continuing at a medium or high speed. This eventually absorbs all the water and enhances the structure of high-hydration doughs.

Fermentazione a Freddo: This is a similar method of cold-mixing and cold-holding dough like the Pain l’ Ancianne. This method allows enzymes to break down the starches into simple sugars, allowing a more flavorful and digestible pizza crust.

Steely Pan

Folding and rolling dough balls strengthens the gluten scaffolding and makes the walls strong enough to hold the gases in. Roman pizza makers can hold their dough under cold refrigeration from 36 to 72 hours.

Some pizzaioli just grab the cold, bulk-fermented dough from the tub using their hands, put it onto a floured scale and pinch off what they don’t need. Others use a dough knife as the dough sits on the dough table dusted with flour (60×20-centimeter pan = 400-600 grams), (60×40-centimeter pan = 1,200 grams).

Once the dough ball is weighed, it can be folded much like a sourdough bread. The key is to make it as strong as possible. One of these methods is the “envelope method” of folding. Then, you take the dough ball and roll into a football shape, cinching at the top tightly, then placing two 1,200-gram balls into a pizza dough box at a time or more for smaller dough balls.

Steps to create a more even alveoli environment throughout the pizza | Preserving Air

After the cold fermentation of the dough balls, they are turned out onto a table (usually dusted with flour, semolina or a mixture of both). The rule of thumb here is to touch the dough as little as possible. The next step is to displace the carbon dioxide bubbles – or, as some Roman pizza makers say, “preserving air.” Remember: You are not smashing the bubbles down but creating a more even alveoli environment throughout the pizza.

1. Place the dough ball on the floured table. Dust the top with flour. Splay fingers on both hands like you are signaling “10” to someone far away. Starting at the outer side edge of the dough nearest to you, press your fingers (use only the top inch of your fingers, not the tips) into the dough gently, moving up to the top, then returning to the bottom. Move fingers to the center and repeat this process. After this, it is time to place your dough in the pan.
2. Each tray should have a light coating of extra virgin olive oil.
3. Lift the far right corner of the dough while outstretching your left forearm along the left side of the dough. Flip the corner over your forearm to reveal the bottom of the dough. Raise your left arm to lift the whole dough into the air and gently spank the dough with a flat vertical hand to release any excess flour. Place dough bottom-side up on the tray, trying to cover much of the vertical shape as possible.
4. Inspect the dough in the pan. Pull  the top of the dough gently to “kiss” the top of the pan. Using your left hand, gently hold that dough down in the center as you pull the dough to the right of your hand into the corner of the pan. Continue down the right side of the pan, holding and pulling, holding and pulling until done. Repeat down the left side of the pan.
5. Now that your dough is stretched in the pan, it is time to dimple it one last time. This is called “the signature” by Roman pizza makers.
6. When your dough is panned, it is ready to top and place in the oven.

There are many ways to bake Pizza in Teglia Romana, but most include an electric deck oven set to 260-350 C, (500-660 F). Like all Roman-style pizza, temperature and bake time vary based on many factors.

In Pizza in Teglia, flavors, textures and color are all factors when selling slices because eyes truly eat first. Savory mushroom puddings, soft cheeses, flavorful sauces and roasted sweet squash purees work well. Then, proteins such as speck, crudos of sturgeon, salmon and tuna, and fatty flavor bombs like guanciale can be added in ribbon-like forests up and down the pizzas. Intermingled with these are textural and flavor “foils,” such as crunchy baby bok choy, crumbled Amaretto cookies, salmon roe, nuts and finishing cheeses.

As chef Bonci told me, “We believe in the land – the great mother, source of every food resource – and in farmers, the real heroes of our time.”

JOHN GUTEKANST owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.