An ongoing experiment...
Last updated July 29, 2024.
Pinsa Romana has a crisp edge and a soft interior. It is more digestible than plain pizza because of the long fermentation time (24 to 48+ hours) and high hydration. It also has fewer calories and fat than a typical pizza since the dough contains soy flour and rice flour.
In Italy, they sell a flour mix specifically for Pinsa Romana. The recipe below uses bread flour, rice flour and soy flour. The crust is extremely light and crispy. As I noted above, this is an ongoing experiment to create a crust that just might give results for the artisan home baker similar to that with the special flour.
While you can cook the Pinsa in a sheet pan, the intent is for it slid right onto a Baking Steel or stone in your oven. Even better if you have a brick oven.
The ingredients and method were cobbled together with a friend and other references.
Yield: Six (6) 330 gram Pinsas
Ingredients:
800 grams King Arthur bread flour (80%)
150 grams rice flour (15%)
50 grams soy flour (5%)
10 grams diastatic malt
800 ml/grams cold water (80%)
4-6 grams of active dry yeast (2/4/20: 4 1/2 tsp SAF Gold instant yeast [3/4 tsp instant = 1 tsp ADY)])
20 grams of salt (2%)
20 grams olive oil (2%)
Preparing the Dough (2nd iteration - December 21, 2019):
In the bowl of a stand mixer, blend the three flours and the yeast.
Add 80% (640g) of the total water. Mix for 4-5 minutes.
Let rest for 20 minutes.
Add the salt. Mix for another 4-5 minutes.
Let rest for 20 minutes.
Add oil. Mix for 4-5 minutes.
Let rest for 20 minutes.
Add the remaining water very slowly until all incorporated. May take 5-10-15 minutes.
Place the dough in a container, cover it and let rest at room temperature for two hours.
After the room temperature rest, place the container in the fridge for 24-48 hours.
Preparing the Dough (3rd iteration - February 4, 2020):
In the bowl of a stand mixer, blend the three flours
Add 640 grams of the total water. Mix for 4-5 minutes. (The remaining 160 grams of water will go in later.)
Let rest for two (2) hours. This autolyse should allow all of the flour to become wet even though this dough has a pretty high hydration.
Add the SAF Gold instant yeast. Mix for 4-5 minutes.
Let rest for 20 minutes.
Add the salt. Mix for 4-5 minutes.
Let rest for 20 minutes.
Add oil. Mix for 4-5 minutes.
Let rest for 20 minutes.
Add the remaining water very slowly until all incorporated. May take 5-10-15 minutes.
Place the dough in a container, cover it and let rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours, until it begins to get bubbly.
After the room temperature rest, place the container in the fridge for 24-48 hours.
Results were better than the first two test runs. The rest times allow the ingredients to settle in before the next addition. The 1-2 hour rest in Step 11 was right at 1 1/2 hours before it went into the fridge. Dividing, forming, and baking the Pinsa is shown below. A short clip, also below, shows the general process of forming the dough balls and then forming the Pinsa.
Preparing the Dough (4th iteration - July 25 & 26 2024):
What’s different in this iteration:
Uses 60 grams of sourdough starter/culture instead of active/instant yeast
Warm water instead of cold/iced water
Added diastatic malt - 10 grams for a full batch
All the dough work was done by hand. No stand mixer.
The Method:
This dough is very wet. When working with it, wet your hands to keep the dough from sticking to them.
Pour the warm water into a workbowl then add the sourdough starter culture. Mix in with a fork.
Add the olive oil and mix in.
Add the flour blend and mix in.
Cover then aside for about an hour (autolyse)
Sprinkle the salt on top of the dough then mix in by hand
Cover then set aside for 20 minutes
Using very rapid circular motion (video forthcoming), fold the dough on itself for a minute or so.
Cover then set aside for 20 minutes.
Repeat the rapid folding for another minute.
Cover then set aside for 45 minutes.
Repeat the rapid folding.
Cover then set aside for 3-4 hours.
Refrigerate overnight.
Dividing the Dough:
Remove the container from the fridge 3-4 hours before baking.
Divide the dough into six pieces.
Form into oval balls.
Place the dough balls onto a lightly floured sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and put back into the fridge. A bus tub or large Tupperware container is good, too.
Forming the Pinsa:
Remove the dough balls from the fridge about an hour before baking.
Using a lot of rice flour on the counter, shape into an oval pizza.
Baking the Pinsa:
Preheat oven and Baking Steel to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Use one of the following methods to bake:
Prebake Method:
Bake with only a sprinkle of olive oil on top for 3-4 minutes.
Let rest outside of the oven until all the other ones are prebaked.
Put any toppings and finish baking using the broiler if you’d like, another 8-12 minutes
Straight Bake Method:
With toppings already on the Pinsa, bake for 12-15 minutes max. Watch.
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