09-14-2005, 05:05 AM
Doc,Sep 13 2005, 11:56 PM Wrote:Pizza is technically a savoury pie. By definition of course.
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HOT DAMN!
The first thing you will need is a nice dough ball. I won't give you a recipe for good dough, but you will want something yeasty and heavy for this dish. Dough that will make a nice italian loaf will be perfect.
The second thing you will need is a batch of alfredo sauce. Google around a bit. Be sure to avoid the instant crap. Butter, cream, garlic, cracked black pepper, and grated cheese is the only true way to a good alfredo.
For the seafood part I recommend scallop, shrimp, crab, and lobster. Other seafoods are certainly welcome.
Preparation:
Preheat an oven to something really hot. Choose the temperature just below broil.
Grease a deep-sided round baking dish. I have a corningware dish I use for this purpose. Rectangular or square dishes don't work all that well because the corners will get burned.
Work the yeasty dough into the round deep dish pan. Push out all of the air bubbles. You want to create a dense crust. Brush the crust with vegegable oil to prevent burning at the edges. Sprinkle with shredded cheese or thin slices of provolone and insert into the oven for about 8 minutes. You want to half-cook the crust to get it ready for the rest of the toppings. A layer of melted cheese at the bottom of the dough before the upcoming additions is mandatory.
Let the half-cooked crust rest for a few minutes before the next step. Cool it to room temperature if possible.
Pour in the alfredo sauce. Assuming you have the vertical space, I'd recommend about 1/4 inch or so. You want enough alfredo sauce to crawl up to about a third of the way to the top of the deep dish.
Now is the time for the toppings. Be sure that your seafood is bite sized. I also like thinly sliced mushrooms and some diced onions in my seafood alfredo, but you can go without. The toppings are going to poach in the alfredo sauce, so be sure that they are cut thinly enough to get fully cooked.
Top the whole damn thing with a million pounds of shredded mozzeralla. The theme of this recipe is "cheese cheese and more cheese". If it doesn't obstruct your bowels, you've done something wrong.
The dish is done when the cheese reaches a temperature just shy of lava. I usually take it out of the oven when the top layer of cheese is a nice shade of tan brown, with little bits of bubbling alfredo sneaking through. Insert a food thermometer if you are antsy. Anything over 150° is great.
Let the pie stand after you take it out of the oven. If possible, let it stand for a half hour. It will stay hot. Melted mozzeralla cheese has an insulation factor of about 3 billion. You do not want to cut into this bad boy right away because the alfredo will be all runny and goopy. You want to allow it to set up.