Test firing news from the Westchester Community Oven

Last night a small team tried cooking food in The Westchester Community Oven.

The pizza was superb!  Dana, Linda and Kathy came up with wonderful, gourmet toppings. Like: caramelized onion, jalapeño, mozzarella & Parmesan.  Kalamata olives, arugula, and the cheese combo.  Homemade pizza sauce & caramelized onions.  Roasted red peppers.  A drizzle from the oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes.

Erik’s secret is to go scant on toppings, and to keep 1/2″ space around the edges clear of toppings so that it can puff up. And of course, a sensational sourdough pizza dough recipe that rests overnight!  (You can learn this pizza dough recipe at Erik’s pizza dough workshop next weekend)

The bread, however, seems to have a much steeper learning curve and will need more experimentation to get it right. The huge community-size oven is a unique tool, and temperatures seem to be not-what-we-thought-they-would-be. At times way too hot and other times too cool.

Some of the loaves were thoroughly roasted on the outside, but still goopey in the middle.  So we definitely have some more discovery & learning to do with this Oven.

Join us for the pizza dough workshop next Saturday (RSVP, space is limited). To keep up to date on new events at the Oven, join our mailing list.