MEET THE SOUS CHEF
JESSICA CARNEY, SOUS CHEF, GT FISH & OYSTER, CHICAGO, IL
When Jessica Carney was a kid, her mom ran a pizzeria in the Carneys’ hometown of Grass Valley, California. The sous chef at Chicago’s GT Fish & Oyster says, “We ate pizza every day for an entire year. I’m not joking.”
And though you’d expect that early exposure would have dampened her enthusiasm for the dish, Carney still adores it, both making it at home and unearthing the best Chicago has to offer. For Sous Chef Series, she shared her tips for making chewy-crusted pies at home, using a dough she makes herself and a superheated pizza stone. If you’re so inclined, the end result is good enough to eat every day.
TRACK THIS CHEF
DAY IN THE LIFE
A Two Chef Family
Carney and her boyfriend, Boka chef de cuisine Carl Shelton, are both chefs, so late-night meals often consist of bowls of cereal or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "It's terrible--the task of making "dinner" usually falls to the person who worked a shorter day. But when you're talking about the difference between 14 and 13 hours, it's a wash."
TIPS & TECHNIQUES
Do-Ahead Dough
To make homemade pizza a midweek meal, Carney suggests making the dough the night before you want to use it. “Rest it in the fridge overnight and it’ll develop more flavor. Let it come to room temperature, then roll it and top it.”
The Power of Preheating
In order to replicate the high heat of a wood-burning pizza oven, Carney cranks up her home oven and preheats her pizza stone. For a chewier, softer dough, she tops her pizza dough before putting it in the oven, but if you prefer a crisper crust, parcook the dough on the stone first until just cooked through, then remove it from the oven, add the toppings and return it to the oven until browned.
YIELD
Two 12-inch pizzas
INGREDIENTS
Pickled Chiles
Mild red chiles such as Fresno, 4 (sliced into thin rings)
Garlic cloves, 2 (thinly sliced)
Shallot, 1 (sliced crosswise into thin rings)
Granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon
Kosher salt, 1 tablespoon
Distilled white vinegar, ½ cup
Dough
Bread flour: 1½ cups plus an additional 1 tablespoon and extra for kneading
Garlic powder, ½ teaspoon
Warm water, ½ cup
Active-dry yeast, 1½ teaspoons
Honey, ½ teaspoon
Kosher salt, ½ teaspoon
Extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon
Pizza
Semolina flour or cornmeal, for the baking stone
Extra-virgin olive oil, ¼ cup
Canned clams, one 10-ounce can (drained and chopped)
Garlic cloves, 4 (very finely chopped)
Fresh mozzarella cheese, 1 cup (grated)
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1½ cups (finely grated)
Watercress, 1 bunch
EQUIPMENT
, 2 (or a cutting board plus a pizza peel or a baking sheet)
Airtight container
(with the dough hook attachment)
Plastic wrap
Kitchen towel
Pizza stone
Can opener
Large platter
DIRECTIONS
1. Make the pickled chiles: In an airtight container, add the
- Red chile rings
- Sliced garlic
- Shallot rings
- Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- Distilled white vinegar
Cover, shake to combine and refrigerate for several hours or up to 1 week.
2. Make the pizza dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together
- 1½ cups bread flour
- Garlic powder
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the
- Warm water
- Active-dry yeast
- Honey
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 5 minutes. Uncover the bowl, add the bread flour mixture and, using the dough hook, set the mixer to low speed and knead the ingredients together until they form a smooth dough. Use the rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and add
- 1 tablespoon bread flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and knead for 5 minutes, then increase the speed to high and knead until the dough has an elastic, stretchy consistency, about 5 minutes more.
Lightly coat a large bowl or airtight container with
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Use the rubber spatula to transfer the dough to the oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (or a lid) and set aside at room temperature until the dough doubles in size, anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on how warm the room is--dough will rise faster in a warmer room); you can also refrigerate the dough overnight to develop more flavor. If doing this, let it sit on a counter for 45 minutes to 1 hour to come up to room temperature before rolling.
3. Sprinkle the cutting board with
- Bread flour
Transfer the dough to the floured board and use a sharp knife to divide the dough in half. Lightly knead each half into a round and loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Make the pizza: Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°. Let the pizza stone warm in the hot oven for 30 minutes before making the pizza.
Set one dough round aside and, on a lightly floured surface, roll the other piece of dough into a 12-inch circle. Drain the pickled peppers through a fine-mesh sieve (save the pickling liquid for vinaigrettes). Dust another cutting board (or a pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet) with
- Semolina flour or cornmeal
Gently lift the rolled pizza dough off of the cutting board and onto the semolina-dusted surface. Drizzle with
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
And then sprinkle with
- Half of the chopped clams
- Half of the chopped garlic
- Half of the drained pickled peppers
- Half of the grated mozzarella cheese
- Half of the finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone and bake until golden-brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Use the large metal spatula to transfer the pizza to a clean cutting board or large platter and rest for 1 minute before topping with
- Half of the watercress
Slice and serve while making the other pizza with the remaining dough and toppings.
GET OUTFITTED FOR THIS RECIPE
Need help with this week's recipe? Get advice and tips from our Tasting Table Test Kitchen about this week's recipe.