Little Carl's Head Pizzas

(carl) #1

##Carl’s Head Pizza Refinement
In an effort to find the holy grail of pizza, I’ve been experimenting with Carl’s Head pizza. One of the goals was to come up with a recipe we could serve at KetoFest, or in a restaurant scenario. Making the crust takes a lot of prep, too much for your typical restaurant. Also, the standard size is too big to handle without plates. I wanted to make a smaller version that was enough for one person. Making the crusts ahead-of-time would be necessary as well. So, I came up with a few improvements and set out to experiment. What I stumbled on was pretty awesome.

The first improvement came by using low-moisture mozzarella and NOT using the microwave, but instead combined all the ingredients in a food processor.

I also made sure there was cream cheese in it, as my recent experiments omitting cream cheese didn’t produce good results.

I added Xanthan gum but I’m not sure it did anything.

In my first experiment I made a small batch and rolled the dough in to two small rounds, roughly 7 inches in diameter. I froze one and refrigerated the other. The frozen one came out to too soggy, but the chilled one was almost perfect. It was crispy on the edges, perfect on top, but just a little too flexible in the middle.

In my second experiment I changed the shape so that there is more surface area, and therefore you’ll be able to hold every piece, and every bite will be perfect. I made two long strips, each about 3" x 9" and about 1/4" thick. I also cooked the longer one for an extra minute.

I also crimped up the edges a bit to keep the good stuff from spilling out and creating more of a traditional crust.

This is the result of experiment 2. Experiment 1 wasn’t good enough to share:

LittleCarlsHeadRound.jpg800×800 289 KB

Here’s the result of experiment 3. I was able to cut it in half and hold each piece in my hand. Every bite was crispy on the bottom and melty on the top.

LittleCarlsHead2.jpg800×800 188 KB

LittleCarlsHead1.jpg800×800 208 KB

Here’s the recipe for experiment 3:

Preheat oven to 500 F with a pizza stone or cookie sheet in it.

In a food processor, combine the following and process until it starts to clump up like bread dough:

  • 4 oz low-moisture mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 2 oz cream cheese
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum (not sure if this is necessary)
  • pinch of salt

The food processor naturally warms up the cheese and makes it the perfect temp for rolling out.

Separate into two equal portions and roll each portion in your hands, making an eight or nine inch baguette shaped roll.

Flatten between two sheets of parchment paper. You can cut the paper so it’s small, but the cheese will spread in the oven, so give yourself a few inches of margin on each side.

Refrigerate both portions for at least 30 minutes. When ready to use, crimp up the edges a little to make an edge crust.

Add toppings cold. Don’t over-top

Bake on parchment paper for 13 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Remove and enjoy.

What did you Keto today?
(Larry Lustig) #2

Was this before or after baking?

Does this just mean regular Polly-O style “pizza cheese” as opposed to fresh mozzarella, or is it a different product. FYI, when I buy cheese on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx I can get fresh moz, semi-dry, dry, and smoked (scamorza).

(carl) #3

Before. Baking was the last step

I got it as a solid 16 oz piece, because shredded cheese often has starch in it. It was low-moisture part-skim mozzarella.

(Meeping up the Science!) #4

I was going to get rid of my food processor to downscale, but I may have to give this a try after my next non-ZC week.

Is there a difference using almond meal vs flour?

(carl) #5

Meal includes the skin and is more coarse. Flour is finer and lighter in color.

#6

I usually make 4 out of 1 batch. I either keep it in the fridge or freeze and then just warm it up a bit in the microwave to make it pliable. It keeps a treat this way for me.

#7

Oh man, those pictures are great.

(Meeping up the Science!) #8

Woops, sorry, I meant, with baking it? I usually only buy meal :slight_smile: I’ll give it a shot next week, maybe.

(matt ) #9

Awesome Carl…I wanted smaller pies as well! Thanks!

(carl) #10

I’m going to try tomorrow with a little more almond flour and omitting the xanthan gum.

(carl) #11

So I’m trying again with no xanthan gum. Anyone else try this variant?

(carl) #12

I don’t think they were as good without Xanthan gum. Also, they came out much better when I cooked the crust first for 5 minutes, topped, and then put back in - just like your typical fat head. However, I’m not sure if that’s because of the xanthan gum omission or something about how I cooked them this time. Also, I didn’t chill them very long in the fridge.

I think the Xanthan gum helped them retain their shape better. Tonight’s pies spread out into a circle.

Next time, I think I’ll put the Xanthan gum back in, chill for 2 hours, then pre-cook the crust for 7 or 8 minutes, then chill again (one batch in the fridge and one in the freezer), then try it again.

(Stephanie Hanson) #13

I’m looking forward to trying this tomorrow

(matt ) #14

Better pizza through science.

(Pat Dugar) #15

Looks delicious.

(carl) #16

OK, here’s the latest recipe:

  • 4 oz low-moisture mozzarella
  • 2 oz cream cheese
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • ½ tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp vital wheat gluten
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until it forms a ball (30-45 seconds).
Separate into two equal parts. For each part:
Roll out on parchment into a 8 or 9 inch log. It may fall apart. Don’t sweat it.
Cover with second piece of parchment and either flatten it with your hands or roll it to make an oblong crust.
Preheat oven to 500 F with a hot pizza stone or cookie sheet in the middle position.
Chill for at least 30 minutes while oven is preheating.
Cook the crust(s) for 5 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Remove, top, put back in for a few minutes until melty, and enjoy.

Not sure what is making this recipe so good, the gluten or the additional almond flour.

Next I will try freezing the crusts after cooking (before topping) to see what happens when thawed and topped.

(Larry Lustig) #17

Good thing you’re the boss or I’d worry about you getting drummed out for adding rather than subtracting gluten. But I do expect that’s where the benefit is coming from in terms of crustiness.

(Scott Shillady) #18

GLUTEN, that’s not KETO, you may as well have added baby corn :zornface:

(carl) #19

Yes, I’m aware. My first goal is to make a tasty low carb crust. I couldn’t get away with gluten in the real world. In my house, however…

(Scott Shillady) #20

I’ve never heard of vital wheat gluten. Very interesting, just googled it

http://www.thekitchn.com/vital-wheat-gluten-what-is-it-84612

I wonder what a pinch of this would do to a mug bread