Dessert after Easter Sunday dinner was always special for us because of the Italian specialties that we only had at Easter time. But some traditions fade as the years, and our older relatives that had more knowledge of the old world, pass on. For the younger generations, holidays become more American over time, and sometimes more generic in what we eat and how we celebrate.

Ah, but enough grieving, because Easter is also the time to resurrect traditional recipes to bring new life and hope to your festive Easter dinner table!

This recipe for Neapolitan Easter Pie looks wonderful. If you haven’t enjoyed this in a number of years, you should make it, and get your kids and grandchildren building memories of this and other fantastic traditional holiday foods.

What are your favorite foods that originated in the old world? Do you have a favorite food that you miss?

Working with a wood fired oven, you can easily get it over 900°F. Slide the pizza in, a minute and a half later, you can slide out a perfectly done, thin crust, Neapolitan masterpiece.

If you’re stuck with a conventional oven that tops out at 500-550°F, you might think you can’t come close to a wood fired oven.

The trick to get a surface to be even hotter so you can get closer to the results of a wood-fired oven is to use a cast iron pan, which is preheated on the stove, and using the broiler to hit the top of the pie.

Clever and worth a try.

My friend Gary tipped me off to this technique which he saw in this article at Lifehacker . Thanks Gary!

Dad (Gary) made a whole wheat loaf the other day. He and Mom were pretty pleased with it. Very moist and delicious. I think they managed to polish the whole thing off between the two of them in little more than a day.

On baking it a second time, he modified the recipe slightly and here are his notes that he sent to me to post.

Notes:

I slightly increased the flour, increased the gluten, salt sugar, molasses, and honey. Also the seeds and grains. It can still be a little sweeter or maybe less molasses.

I also increased the baking time by 5 minutes. It was still a little soft. The gluten increases the open crumb which weakens the structure so
that may be why the need for a longer time in the oven.

Whole Wheat Bread

Starter:

225 grams whole wheat
75 grams KA Special
½ t yeast
240 grams water

Soaker:

240 grams whole wheat
240 grams water

20 hours on counter

Balance:

200 grams whole wheat
150 grams KA Special


2 t diastatic malt
3 ½  T vital wheat gluten
4 t salt – 24 grams
4 t sugar
3 t yeast
3 T honey
3 T molasses
3/4 cup water +/- 180 grams
about 1 cup grains and seeds

Knead in mixer for 12 minutes on #2

Rise for one hour (double fold at 30 minutes)
Single fold and shape
Oven at 400
Rise for one hour.

Egg wash and oatmeal - slit
Oven at 375 for 50  minutes (200 degrees interior)
Water spray before putting in and every 3 minutes for first 10

This is a simple recipe from A16: Food + Wine. I will paraphrase it here.

One 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt

Pour the can of tomatoes into a bowl and break the whole tomatoes apart into
small pieces with your hands. Do not use a food processor as it will mix too
much air into the mixture.  Season with salt. This will make enough sauce for
nine small pizzas, or three large.

Now I haven’t been to A16, the restaurant in San Francisco, to try their pizza, and as much as I’d love to, a trip to San Fran isn’t going to happy any time soon.

However, this recipe seems a little flat to me. I usually add some olive oil, a little red pepper, maybe a little basil. I sometimes put garlic in the sauce as well, although it’s just as easy to toss that onto the top of the pie where it can brown.

What’s your favorite sauce recipe?