Chef Janice Tiefenbach’s Signature Margherita Pizza Recipe

If you realize the Camille Types staff, you realize: we’re pizza-obsessed. From candy toppings (we love our peaches) to savory bites (move the prosciutto pizza, please), there’s one thing for everybody in terms of this widely-loved dish. And though I’ve made many pizzas myself, I’ve by no means been in a position to replicate the pies from my favourite neighborhood joint. However all that’s modified, as a result of I’ve insider tips about methods to craft the right pizza from Chef Janice Tiefenbach herself.

Montreal is one in every of my favourite cities, and each time I go to, I schedule out time in my itinerary for a meal at Janice’s restaurant, Elena. Along with her new cookbook, Salad Pizza Wine, Janice and the Elena staff share their treasured assortment of the restaurant’s well-loved dishes. Alongside pizza and pasta, the guide highlights creative salads, a mortadella sandwich that defines chef’s kiss, and desserts you’ll wish to save room for.

1 of 9

Janice Tiefenbach Shares the Secret to Excellent Pizza

However past the recipes, Salad Pizza Wine supplies an in depth however comprehensible method to elevating your pizza at residence. From selecting the most effective components to tips about stretching your dough for a cracker-like crust, take into account this your one-stop store for perfecting your pizza. And as we speak, you’re getting the behind-the-scenes scoop from Janice Tiefenbach herself. Hold studying to get all the main points on making her stellar Neopolitan Margherita pizza at residence.

“My desire is for a pure method to cooking. Instinctive, with respect for traditions however a need for freshness and a contemporary sensibility.”

2 of 9

How would you describe your cooking and meals philosophy? How has it influenced the menu at your restaurant, Elena?

My desire is for a pure method to cooking. Instinctive, with respect for traditions however a need for freshness and a contemporary sensibility. I attempt to comply with a rule of simplicity and performance. Each ingredient in a dish ought to be there for a cause, and to serve the aim of permitting the featured ingredient to shine as a lot as potential. At Elena, we attempt to discover a steadiness between respecting Italian culinary custom however utilizing the most effective components we discover nearer to residence.

What makes the Elena Margherita pizza particular?

Our Margherita makes use of the most effective components we may discover as domestically as potential. We use domestically milled flour (not Italian imported), California natural tomatoes (Bianco di Napoli!), and Quebec Buffalo Mozzarella from an unimaginable native producer (Macioccia). The basil is from a neighborhood vegetable grower or our personal backyard and the olive oil is from our associates at Pacina.

One other factor that makes our pizza distinctive is the truth that it’s 100% naturally leavened. In addition to the integrity of all the opposite components, the truth that it’s a pure fermentation makes the dough rather a lot tastier and far simpler to digest. 

3 of 9

What makes this recipe your go-to?

Margherita pizza is a straight-up basic. For many individuals, I believe it’s the platonic supreme of what a pizza ought to be. It satisfies in a really elementary approach. The mixture of the tangy/candy sauce, the creamy and salty cheese, and the vary of textures within the dough from tender and moist to crispy and charred makes it utterly irresistible. It’s a kind of meals that after I eat it my mind form of shuts down for a second and I don’t have to suppose in any respect. I simply take pleasure in each chew.

What kitchen device do you advocate for making this pizza?

I extremely advocate investing in a conveyable pizza oven. My desire is the ooni for its unimaginable design and relative affordability. In the event you love Neapolitan-style pizza, you’ll by no means remorse shopping for one in every of these. It’s very straightforward to make use of and produces an impressive pizza. 

However for those who aren’t able to spend money on an ooni and nonetheless wish to attempt your hand at home made Neapolitan pizza, I like to recommend investing in a pizza stone. It’s laborious to copy what we do on the restaurant in our wooden oven in a traditional oven, so I usually recommend beginning with al taglio pizza. It lends itself far more to a house oven set-up. 

A pizza peel can also be fairly important and isn’t costly in any respect. One of many steps that always journeys up newbie pizza makers is transferring the uncooked pizza to the oven. Studying methods to use a pizza peel will change the sport.

4 of 9

Margherita pizza requires only a handful of components. What makes this recipe particular? 

In relation to pizza, much less is totally extra. Slightly restraint pays off and permits a couple of components to work together in a extra direct approach with surprisingly efficient outcomes. Sauce, cheese, oil, and basil are good on their very own. However collectively, they resonate and grow to be far more than the sum of their elements. Investing a bit of additional in good-quality tomatoes and cheese is value it. 

What suggestions and methods are you able to share for making restaurant-quality pizza?

I recommend freshmen double the dough recipe the primary couple occasions you make pizza. That approach, you don’t must stress a lot for those who mess up. The actual secret to creating good pizza is apply.  Skilled pizza makers have spent actually 1000’s of hours studying methods to good tiny actions when dealing with the dough. However mainly it’s only a pile of dough with some sauce on prime, so don’t be so intimidated! 

A few issues to bear in mind:

• Hold the dough lined till you’re prepared to make use of it. Publicity to the air creates a pores and skin on the floor of the dough which isn’t fascinating.
• Mud your surfaces, dough, and fingers with a bit of flour. This makes it so the dough isn’t too sticky and is much less more likely to stick with the peel or the counter. 
• Let the dough mood a bit earlier than you attempt to work with it. Chilly dough is extra more likely to tear. The extra relaxed and heat the dough is the looser it turns into. After that, you don’t actually must do a lot to stretch it out. 

5 of 9

What recommendation would you give to somebody who may be intimidated by making pizza at residence?

1. Double the batch so you’ve some to fiddle with. That takes a number of the stress away.
2. Begin with the al taglio dough. It’s a a lot wetter dough that yields approach higher leads to a house oven. Everybody like to start out with a win!
3. Don’t overload your pizza with components. Too many toppings will overwhelm the dough, resulting in issues like holes within the dough or undercooked dough.

What do you hope individuals be taught once they make your recipes?

I actually love cooking for individuals and making individuals glad by way of meals. My hope is that individuals get to share in a little bit of what we do at Elena and it brings them the identical pleasure and happiness at residence. I hope individuals use this guide as a information and it helps to present them instruments to prepare dinner the meals that makes them glad. 

Comply with Elena and Espresso Pizza Wine on Instagram and maintain studying to get Janice Tiefenbach‘s recipe for this Margherita pizza.

Print

Excerpted from Salad Pizza Wine by Janice Tiefenbach, Stephanie Mercier Voyer, Ryan Grey and Marley Sniatowsky. Copyright 2023 Janice Tiefenbach, Stephanie Mercier Voyer, Ryan Grey and Marley Sniatowsky. Pictures by Dominque Lafond. Revealed by Urge for food by Random Home, a division of Penguin Random Home Canada Restricted. Reproduced by association with the Writer. All rights reserved.