il Lazzarone: What to expect

 

Now that the restaurant announcement has been made, here’s some things you can expect from an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria and more specifically, what to expect from il Lazzarone!

Oven
At il Lazzarone, our wood fired oven is an Acunto Mario, made on the main street of Naples, Italy by a fifth generation oven builder. Why this oven? For true Neapolitan pizza you must have a wood fired oven capable of achieving over 800 degrees constant temperatures. The mouth of the oven and the oven dome height must all be constructed within specific ratios to achieve a true pizza Napoletana. Our oven is constructed of all hand laid brick made from the soils of the Campania region of Italy. In our opinion, there is absolutely no oven in the world capable of producing a better product. We are very lucky to have received the first one imported into America.

Size
Neapolitan pies are traditionally 11 inches round. For an average appetite, you'll likely want one pie per person.

Cook Time
Due to the extreme temperatures and the craftsmanship of the oven, the pizza will cook between 50-90 seconds.

Ingredients
Less is more. A good Neapolitan pie is minimally topped with the freshest natural ingredients to strike the perfect ratio of flavor.

• Dough: the dough is made simply of water, flour, yeast and salt with no added preservatives or additives
• Sauce: San Marzano tomatoes are a very rare tomato native to Italy. At il Lazzarone, we use only DOP certified San Marzano tomatoes which insures the tomatoes have been grown in a specific historical region outside of Naples. The magic of the San Marzano comes from the soil which they are grown in. These specific tomatoes are considered the richest and sweetest in the world and are grown around the base of Mt. Vesuvius in a soil extremely rich in minerals. This very soil is where the material for the oven is harvested and made into bricks for our oven’s hearth and dome, creating a symbiotic relationship between ingredient and oven.
• Flour: Our flour is a 00 flour which holds an 11.2% protein ratio. This 00 flour refers to the size of the mill. 00 is the finest mill on earth and creates a soft silky crust. 00 grade flour is also a requirement for true Neapolitan pizza.
• Cheese: For our cheese, we hold true to Neapolitan standards as well using only fior de late (fresh mozzarella) or mozzarella de bufala. All of or cheese hold true to the artisan roots of old and are completely hormone free.

 

Charring
Also due to the high temperature cook time, the crust has a slight charring on bottom and edges characteristic to Neapolitan pizza giving it another depth of flavor and texture.

  

Wet or Soupy
Unlike typical American pizza, a delicious pool of flavor forms in the middle of a Neapolitan pie during its short time in the oven making it  what one might call wet or "soupy".

Knife and Fork
As to not disrupt the "soupy" middle (thereby making the crust soggy on the way to the table) these pies are meant to be served whole, uncut, and eaten with a knife and fork.

Organic/All Natural
At il Lazzarone, we're passionate about authentic real food therefore our ingredients are organic and all natural incorporating both local ingredients with special authentic Italian imported items. Our cheese is always rBgh free and our meats are antibiotic and hormone free.

Dante Ristorante Pizzeria

Okay, so it seems the only thing I can blog about when I actually am able to blog is pizza … but I suppose that’s nothing all that new, now, is it??

Amidst all the craziness of everything going on in life right now, we decided to drive up to Omaha for a day just for fun.

But mostly to eat Neapolitan pizza.



It’s been nearly a year now since we took our road trip up the west coast, thus a year since a “Great Neapolitan Pizza Quest” post has been seen. Check the above link in case you’re new here or have forgotten about our delicious Neapolitan pizza adventures!

Since then, we’ve been wanting to try Dante’s in Omaha, one of the very few authentic Neapolitan pizzerias in the Midwest (also VPN certified).

 

True to form, the margherita pizza is always a must …yum! And of course we can’t go to a Neapolitan pizzeria without sitting as close to the oven as possible and timing how long it was in the oven.  These pizzas came out in approximately 100 seconds.

(See my Pinterest album for comparison pics!)



We also tried Dante’s Bianco pizza which included: “papa’s sausage, olive, chili, garlic, basil & mozzarella”. 

It was very good as well, but I ended up wishing we would have just gotten two margherita pizzas because we love them that much that nothing else compares!



The Quick Stats (Erik’s notes)

Oven: Mugnaini

Cook Time: Approximately 100 seconds.

Dough: The dough is made in a spiral mixer, put into a cooler for 24 hours, balled into 9 ounce dough balls and put back in for 48 hours.  To my surprise, the pizzaioli stated that they were using a 00 ConAgra flour blend.  I must say whatever flour they’re using, the crust was top notch in flavor and consistency.

Taste: Immediately, the flavors brought us back to that unforgettable Neapolitan pizza taste that once one has, one never forgets. Sauce was spot on, the crust was spot on and the fior di latte (made using local, hormone and antibiotic free milk) complemented the pizza very well.  My only complaint would be a slight lack of sauce and the fact that our pizzas sat on the counter finished -- about three feet away from us -- for at least 5 minutes and were getting cold when we received them.

 

We will definitely return to Dante’s next time we’re in the Omaha area!

 

Pizza Party

Hey everyone who is still there!

Thanks for being patience with us during our blog hiatus. (See previous post). Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Our house is coming along nicely (though not quiiiiite as fast as I would like) and the more I see done, the more I can’t wait to be able to move in and hopefully get a few things settled before the baby arrives in just 3 more months.

This past week, Erik brought his pizza oven over to the house so we decided to try it out this weekend! He got this Renato wood fired oven at auction months and months ago and hadn’t had a chance to even use it yet.  His plan is to build a nice home for it in our new backyard, but for now it’s just sitting there amongst the mess, as you will see.  Here’s some pictures along the way:



That is our work in progress in the background.  Luckily, the outside of the house looks MUCH better than the inside does right now, ha.

(Note Erik’s last minute chopping of some wood in the background, ha. I love it.)

 

My pregnant self hangin’ out while we wait for the fire to heat up enough for pizza time. Again, don’t mind the messy yard. It’s a work in progress, remember?



When you don’t live in your house yet and there is no kitchen or sheet rock or running water, one has to improvise.  Insert: the pizza station, ha.



Ingredients for Pizza Napoletana:

 

Margherita pizza before:



And after:



Yum! Not too shabby for the first go around. We’re going to love this oven!!

Until next time …

Keste Pizzeria

Okay, it seems that durations between posts lately are getting further and further apart …. time for a post!

Things have been busy for us, hence the lack of posting. We’re kind of in a transitional period of life. In case you’re just catching up, Erik’s dad passed away a little over a month ago now, and we’ve been taking care of some of his things, as well as trying to sell our own house here in North KC. His dad lived with us the past few years during his illness, so when we moved to KC we bought a house in the ‘burbs so that Erik’s dad had his own living space with walkout basement, etcetera.  It worked well for us for the time we were there, but Erik and I have always wanted to be more in the city (nor do we love having a large mortgage payment) so that’s where we’re hoping to head next. For now … the house is on the market, and we’ll go from there when it sells.

All that to say, yes, busyness abounds. We’re hoping it will sell quickly and we can get straight on a plane or in the car after closing and go on a vacation!

But first … one last catch up post from New York. Some more authentic Neapolitan pizza from Keste Pizzeria!

Keste Pizzeria



Keste is located on 271 Bleeker Street in NYC, and they serve delicious, authentic Neapolitan style pizza. When we walked in Erik was quick to request the seat “closest to that beautiful pizza oven” …. of course.

But I must admit, it was fun to watch the pizza making process right  behind me. The cool thing about Neapolitan style pizza is that it cooks for literally only 90 seconds because the temperature of the oven (a wood fired oven) is so high.



Erik got the marinara pizza consisting of simply tomatoes, oregano, garlic and extra virgin olive oil.
 


I forgot which pizza Erik’s mom got, but doesn’t it look delicious?



And I got the vegetariana which had tomatoes, eggplant, mushrooms, artichoke, zucchini, and extra virgin olive oil.




We thought it was delicious!

And now … you guessed it …. I’m hungry for pizza!

Motorino Pizzeria Napoletana

Time for some New York pizza!

After our lunch at Angelica Kitchen, we stopped by Motorino Pizzeria Napoletana. Yes, we had just eaten. The idea was to get a pizza to go … Ha.

Motorino Pizzeria Napoletana



Motorino serves Neapolitan style pizza, which happens to be what Erik is so obsessed with.  Some days, all I hear about at home is wood fired pizza ovens, Caputo flour, San Marzano tomatoes, and bufala mozzarella. (No, we don’t even eat cheese, ha). He is completely enamored with everything that is authentic Neapolitan pizza.



Where all the magic happens.



We ordered the marina pizza to go.

We got about exactly one block down the street before Erik had to stop and try it. Probably not even that far.

There’s nothing like pizza fresh out of the oven, and especially since we were in NYC, it was an injustice to wait any longer. Plus, I’m positive there’s always room for some pizza in our stomachs!



Delicious pizza! Erik is turning me into an obsessed pizza lover too, slice by slice.



Motoronio used to be Uno Pizzeria Napoletana, started by Anthony Mangieri, who now has a pizzeria in California. Erik would have loved to try Mangieri’s pizza (and whenever we make a trip to CA, you know we will be there!) but Motorino still serves a great pizza.

I liked the quote on their menu board …

“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six”.

Ha, that’s about right for me every time!




Now I’m hungry for some pizza!

The tale of perfect pizza crust

Remember all that talk about awesome pizza?? Well, here is the official tale of Erik’s perfect pizza crust.

He’s always wanted to create a perfect NY style pizza crust but no matter how he tried, the crust was never quite right. Well, folks, the perfect crust has arrived! It was not without extreme measures, trust me, ha. Many of you have asked for the recipe, and I’ll do the best I can but let me just say, this is not for the faint of heart!

Tale of Perfect Pizza Crust

It all started with a homemade temperature controlled proofing box and Italian sourdough culture.

The activation of the yeast involved the book Classic Sourdoughs, multiple days under the proofing box, and multiple days outside of it.

Once the yeast was activated, he followed a recipe he’s been reading about for quite some time now. I kid you not when I saw the pizza recipe/instructions is 110 pages long! Yes, it’s crazy.

Erik went to some extreme measures for this perfect pizza! In fact, our oven no longer has a self cleaning lock. It’s true. In order to cook the perfect pizza, it’s thrown in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes at a really high temperature, which can only be achieved in a conventional oven by putting it on the self cleaner.

The secret to this perfect pizza, says Erik, is in the yeast culture. Basically, I’m a lucky gal because now awesome pizza abounds! I didn’t know I could enjoy pizza so much without the usual dairy cheese, but trust me, it’s been no problem.

See??

This pizza, which has been my favorite thus far has a thick easy cashew cheese as the base with some fresh garden tomatoes, fresh garden basil, garlic and sea salt.

Now allow me to post a thousand more pictures of various versions of pizza to get those mouths watering!

Look at that caramelized onion goodness!!

Pizza party at The Purple Carrot!!

I feel like I’ve asked this before, but it’s a very important question in life. If you had to pick one pizza topping, what would it be??