Pork Belly Pizza
- Level: Advanced
- Yield: 7 servings
- Total: 3 days 14 hr 25 min (includes chilling time)
- Active: 2 hr 15 min
Ingredients
Pork Belly:
5 1/3 cups kosher salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
One 2- to 3-pound piece pork belly
Roasted Garlic:
1 1/2 cups garlic cloves, peeled
Olive oil, for roasting
Roasted Garlic Crème Fraîche:
1 1/2 cups crème fraîche
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Zest of 1 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
Poolish:
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon bread flour
Pinch instant dry yeast
Pizza Dough:
2 3/4 cups cold water
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
8 3/4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Pork Belly Pizza:
1 3/4 pounds finely chopped pancetta or bacon, cooked until crisp, fat drained and cooled to room temperature
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch cubes Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1 3/4 cups thinly sliced red onion
Finely chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Directions
Special equipment:
a vacuum sealer and bag; an immersion circulator; a wood-fired pizza oven or pizza stone- For the pork belly: Dissolve the salt and sugar in 8 quarts water. Chill the brine. Add the pork belly, fully submerge and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Remove the belly from the brine and pat dry. Vacuum seal the belly in a bag. Heat a water bath with an immersion circulator to 165 degrees F and cook the pork belly for 24 hours. Chill the belly in the bag in an ice bath and refrigerate overnight.
- Dice the belly into 1/2-inch pieces. Reserve.
- For the roasted garlic: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Put the garlic cloves in an ovenproof dish. Just barely cover with oil. Roast until the garlic is golden and tender, about 1 hour. Let cool.
- For the roasted garlic crème fraîche: Combine the crème fraiche, 1 cup roasted garlic cloves, 1/4 oil from the roasted garlic, the rosemary, salt, zest and black pepper to taste in a food processor and process until smooth.
- For the poolish: Mix the bread flour, yeast and 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water in a bowl until well combined. Cover and let stand for 12 to 18 hours at room temperature (65 to 75 degrees F).
- For the pizza dough: Add to the bowl of a stand mixer in this order: the cold water, all of the poolish, the yeast, bread flour, whole wheat flour and salt. Mix with the dough hook on speed 1 for 15 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed to ensure even mixing.
- Portion the dough into 10-ounce balls and roll into smooth, round balls. Place the dough balls on a lightly oiled sheet tray (not touching). (You may need to use 2 trays.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight and up to 3 days.
- For the pork belly pizza: Heat a wood-fired pizza oven to 700 degrees F or a home conventional oven to its hottest setting with a pizza stone on the bottom.
- Stretch out a pizza dough and put on a well-floured wooden peel. Spread 1/2 cup roasted garlic crème fraîche evenly across the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons crisped pancetta over the sauce. Add 3/4 cup pork belly cubes and 1/2 cup Gruyere (do not over-top the pizza or it won’t bake well). Sprinkle on 1/4 cup sliced red onions and bake pizza, about 4 minutes for wood-fired or 8 to 10 minutes in the oven. Cut the pizza and sprinkle with the chives before serving. Repeat to make 6 more pizzas. (Save remaining dough for another use.)
Cook’s Note
Pizza dough can be frozen on a tray, then individually wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months. To defrost, unwrap a frozen dough ball, then place on a tray and defrost in the refrigerator, covered, overnight. The dough will stick to tightly wrapped plastic, but also shouldn't be allowed to dry out while defrosting, hence the unwrapping and then covering.