All posts by silviocicchi

SILVIO CICCHI:Male Age:54 A restaurant-trained Executive Pizza Chef, he is the author of upcoming book of pizza recepy: “PIZZA e FANTASIA“, you can download it for free registering on this site. He currently resides in Spinetoli (ITALY) with his cats and dogs. Specialized in Business start up – Pizza dove – Pizza courses – Art of pizza.
Marinara Pizza With Mortadella
Recipes

Marinara Pizza With Mortadella

Marinara Pizza With Mortadella. Those who constantly follow our posts, knows perfectly well that during the course of our practical courses at our school, every morning we prepare a pizza for breakfast.

This morning together with David from Portugal we prepared the most classic of breakfasts, a Marinara pizza with excellent mortadella cut into thin slices with pistachios.

Marinara Pizza With Mortadella

The preparation of this pizza for those who want to prepare it at home, it is very simple, suitable for everyone, even to those with little experience with pizza.

After drafting, David added tomato, finely chopped garlic, needles of rosemary and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Follow the video of the preparation

Baking more than 300 degrees our pizza took just over a minute to cook. After taking it out of the oven, we added the excellent quality mortadella.

Tips

You would like to learn the ancient art of the pizza maker? Take one of my practical courses, 46 years of experience with pizza, Sign up for one of my practical courses at my Italian pizza school, there are new courses every week. You will find all the information this link.

On this page you can find the calendar of the next practical courses scheduled in our school. Click this link.

Conclusions

On this page you will find further 300 pizza recipes to prepare at home. Click this link.

You have already downloaded my latest cookbook? Is called: NOT ONLY PIZZA-What should have all the pizzerias in your menu. You can find it at this link.

Greetings

If you want to discover new pizza recipes, visit my youtube channel, over three hundred video pizza recipes are available. Follow this link.

Appointment in a few days for other interesting news on the world of pizza.

See you soon

Silvio Cicchi

 

 

Focaccia with Onions and Cooked Ham
Recipes

Focaccia with Onions and Cooked Ham

Focaccia with Onions and Cooked Ham. This week our friend Juan joined our professional pizza course at our school.

Juan comes from Holland and for everyone who goes there often for a break, I have great news. Very soon it will open its own pizzeria. Excellent pizza chef and with a professional course of 5 days he learned quickly.

Focaccia with Onions and Cooked Ham

Just as the title says, we have prepared a delicious focaccia with a few simple ingredients, but quality.

Tropea red onion, high quality cooked ham and oil, salt and rosemary to season the most classic of focaccias.

The Preparation

After the quick draft we added extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of fine salt and fresh rosemary to give perfume to our focaccia. The cooked ham was added only after cooking, it was so good that we didn't want to alter the taste.

The cooking time was about two minutes.

Conclusions

If you are a pizza lover, I suggest you sign up for one of our professional practical courses to become a pizza chef. You will find all information at this link.

If you haven't already, I suggest you download my latest book of forgotten recipes of Italian cuisine, surprise yourself, you will find all the information at this link.

If you unfortunately do not have the time or resources to come to our school to take our practical course, no problem. Here on our site there is a fantastic "Online Pizzaiolo Course" that you can follow from the comfort of your home, all information is available at this link.

Greetings

Before saying goodbye, it is my duty to remind you to consult the next Calendar of Upcoming Practical Courses in Programming available at this link.

You plan to make pizza next weekend? I have just the thing for you: Here on my site you will find over 300 pizza recipes freely available. Add it to your favorites.

Prefer our video recipes? You just have to visit my youtube channel.

 

See you soon

Silvio Cicchi

Pizza With Anchovy Cherry Tomatoes and Sausage
Recipes

Pizza With Anchovy Cherry Tomatoes and Sausage

Pizza With Anchovy Cherry Tomatoes and Sausage. David from Portugal arrived in our Pizza School this week. David will open his own pizzeria very soon and he already has very clear ideas on what to do.

The best solution for him was that of an Individual professional course. After the break due to the pandemic, lessons have resumed full-time and students from all over the world are already arriving.

Pizza With Anchovy Cherry Tomatoes and Sausage

With the arrival of summer, cherry tomatoes appear on our tables. They are very tasty, desserts and are a delight to eat both in salads and on pizza.

Today David made a great pizza. In my opinion very tasty, tomato base, garlic, sliced ​​cherry tomatoes, anchovies and crumbled sausage. Finally a little rosemary for the scent.

Seasoning and Cooking

A couple of minutes in the oven until golden brown and ready to taste.

Below the video of the preparation of pizza.

Conclusions

If you are real pizza lovers, do not miss the opportunity to enroll in one of our Professional Practice Courses at our Italian pizza school. You will find all the information about ours practical courses at this link.

For the less fortunate who do not have the time or resources, I remember that here on my website there is a fantastic "Online Pizzaiolo Course" that you can download on your mobile phone and follow directly from the sofa at home.. You can find it here.

Greetings

Before saying goodbye, I wanted to remind you that it is already possible to download my latest recipe book called: Not only pizza. You will find all the information at this link.

A resent in a few days for more news about pizza.

Ciao

Silvio Cicchi

 

Freeze The Mozzarella
Ingredients

Freeze The Mozzarella

Freeze The Mozzarella. The best way to enjoy a good mozzarella is certainly to consume it at room temperature (not cold). But what to do if you have bought more than you should by mistake?

It is possible to freeze it? Better to freeze it than to see it end up in the garbage can. And if you really have to freeze it, here are some practical tips.

Freeze The Mozzarella

As in all things, also on mozzarella there are several schools of thought, freezing it is not difficult at all, less water will be present, the more thawing will bring the mozzarella back to its original organoleptic properties.

A very valid advice will be to freeze the mozzarella not in a single block, but already divided into portions, in this way you will be able to defrost only what is necessary.

What Types of Mozzarella to Freeze

As you have certainly guessed, the problem in freezing mozzarella is the water contained in it. So not all mozzarella will give the same result.

Buffalo mozzarella contains much more water than a mouthful of fiordilatte, not to mention the stracciatella mozzarella which is actually not mozzarella, given its large water content, after defrosting it will lose its texture and flavor.

Mozzarella for pizza

The mozzarella used in pizzerias has a low water content, so it is the one that lends itself best to being frozen.

I really wanted to get to this point, that is to suggest the best method to reuse mozzarella once frozen / thawed, that is to use it to fill a good pizza or succulent baked croutons. You will not notice the difference between fresh and frozen product.

Conclusions

Like all things, buy them a little at a time and always use fresh products. In our school of Italian pizza, we always make these recommendations, you are interested in our practical professional pizza chef courses? Find out more information, Click this link.

Tired of the usual recipes? Get inspired by my latest recipe book, it's called NOT ONLY PIZZA, You find all the information at this link.

Before moving on to greetings I wanted to remind you that for those who do not have the time or resources to come to our school and attend a practical course, a fantastic "Online Pizza Chef Course" is available on our site You will find all the information here.

If you are looking for inspiration on what to do with freshly thawed mozzarella, take a look at my youtube channel, you will find hundreds of video pizza recipes available

 

See you soon

Silvio Cicchi

 

 

How To Store Bread To Always Keep It Fresh
Actuality, Advice

How To Store Bread To Always Keep It Fresh

How To Store Bread To Always Keep It Fresh. Let it be homemade bread, panini, baguette or any type of bread, we know that it is delicious freshly made, still hot is a delight.

This is why the conservation of bread is very important, so that it is as fresh as possible when we go to consume it. This also applies to the classic rosemary focaccia.

Methods for conservation

The best method is certainly to wrap the bread in a cloth or in a paper bag. These measures will prevent the bread from drying out too much, losing its precious moisture.

Freeze the bread: it is certainly the way to keep it longer. We will have to slice it before freezing it and portion it in the appropriate freeze bags on the market. To defrost it properly, just take it out of the plastic bags and leave it at room temperature, no microwave.

What never to do

Never put the bread in the refrigerator, the low temperature will quickly make the bread stale.

The best suggestion is to always buy a little at a time.

Conclusion

As I have done for a long time in all my posts, I remind you that in our school of pizza chefs we organize weekly professional practical courses to become professional pizza chefs. If you wish to have more information about our courses follow this link.

For the calendar of our professional practical courses click here.

Greetings

For those who do not have the time or resources to come to our pizza school, I remember that here on our site there is a fantastic online pizza chef course that you can follow from the comfort of your home. You will find all the information here.

You have already downloaded my latest recipe book? Is called: NOT JUST PIZZA-What all pizzerias should have on their menu. Get it here.

If you still have them 5 free minutes, visit my youtube channel, Hundreds of video pizza recipes are available, prepared by the pizza chef students who attend our professional practical courses. Sign up.

 

Appointment in a few days for more news about pizza.

Ciao

Silvio Cicchi

 

 

Aromatic Plants To Grow At Home
Herbs

Aromatic Plants To Grow At Home

Aromatic Plants To Grow At Home. Everyone has aromatic plants at home. We often use them in the kitchen for their scent and unique taste that enriches the dishes we prepare in our kitchen.

It is also possible to grow them in pots on the balcony of the house for those who do not have a vegetable garden, today I propose three aromatic plants to grow indoors that require no care or maintenance, as well as being scented, they are also real ornamental plants.

Aromatic Plants To Grow At Home

I suggest you grow rosemary, mint and oregano.

Rosemary it grows well both indoors and out on the balcony, very little care, little water only in summer during the dry season. It has no problems during the winter, avoid water stagnation, always use the part that grows at the top, you will see that the plant will strengthen. Excellent for roasts and focaccia.

 Other plants

Mint. It does not require direct sun, occasionally remember to water it during the summer, which is the season in which it develops the most. Fantastic in summer cocktails and excellent on some types of pizza. To learn more, read our previous article: Mint and Pizza.

For a pizza lover for sure the most important plant is oregano. Among the plants that you can grow at home, it is certainly the least demanding, it requires a lot of sun and no stagnation of water. In addition to pizza, oregano is used in all tomato-based sauces, on the caprese and on many other dishes that are the basis of Mediterranean cuisine.

Their Properties

These three plants to grow indoors are some of the easiest to grow, and their benefits are known to all, already the ancient Romans used them to cure some physical ailments. I often use them preparing excellent infusions.

In the pizzeria there is never a shortage of aromatic herbs. If you are real pizza lovers, I suggest you sign up for one of our professional practical courses that we organize weekly in our pizza school. You will find all the information here.

Conclusions

It is possible to consult the calendar of the next practical courses in programming at this link.

For those without the time or resources, I remember that here on our site there is a fantastic "Pizzaiolo Online Course" available for everyone that you can download on your mobile phone or on your PC and follow from the comfort of your home sofa. All the information course online here.

Greetings

Before leaving, as I do in all my posts, I invite you to download my latest recipe book called: NOT ONLY PIZZA. You will find many illustrated recipes that are monuments of Italian culture. Follow this link to find out.

If you want some suggestions for the next time you prepare pizza at home, visit and maybe subscribe to my youtube channel, you will find hundreds of video pizza recipes prepared by the students who attend our courses weekly.

 

Appointment in a few days for more news about pizza.

Ciao

Silvio Cicchi

 

Conservare le Fragole Tutto l'anno
Actuality, Advice

Storing Strawberries All year round

Storing Strawberries All year round. In spring among the many colors offered by the awakening nature, we find a fruit that everyone likes, adults and children. We are talking about the strawberries, gustosissime, they contain many nutrients including the very useful antioxidants.

Very rich in vitamin C, calcium and magnesium. Today we will see how to store them in order to be able to enjoy them all year round. Here are some very simple tricks or methods if you prefer for perfect conservation.

Storing Strawberries All year round

The most popular method is certainly to prepare the classic strawberry jam with this delicious fruit. The internet is full of recipes, so I don't waste any more time.

My favorite way to store strawberries is to freeze them. To prevent them from absorbing so much water we will first have to place them on a tray in the freezer, once frozen they will be wrapped. In this way the strawberries will also keep for six months.

Other Methods of Preservation of Strawberries

Another widely used method is that of extracting the juice. Fill the ice cubes and once frozen place them in an envelope. This summer with the scorching heat they will come in handy.

Strawberry chips: Cut them into thin slices and dry them. Once dehydrated, place them in a container with an airtight lid. Dehydrated strawberries keep for a long time and are perfect for garnishing your desserts or for a light snack..

Conclusions

As I always do in my posts, I remind you that in our Italian pizza school, we organize weekly “Professional Practical Courses To Become Pizza Makers. You will find all the information about ours courses at this link.

For those who do not have the time or resources to come to our pizza school, I remember that a fantastic one is available here on my site Of Pizzaiolo Online Course that you can follow from the comfort of your home. Just download the course on your PC or mobile phone and you can follow it comfortably seated from the sofa of your home during your free time. Available at this link.

Greetings

If the pizza is often prepared at home, I suggest you subscribe to my Youtube channel, you will find there a collection of over 300 video pizza recipes prepared by the pizza chef students who attend our practical courses every week.

 

Before saying goodbye, I remind you that my latest recipe book is already available for download, is called NOT ONLY PIZZA - What should have all the pizzerias in your menu. You can find it here.

See you soon

Silvio Cicchi

 

 

How to Clean the Hearthstone
Actuality, Advice

How to Clean the Hearthstone

How to Clean the Hearthstone. Today we will talk about maintenance in the kitchen and in the pizzeria. In a previous article you find here, we have already talked about how to use the refractory stone to obtain a perfect pizza even in the home oven.

Today given the many questions that have come to me from the followers of my site, we will address a common problem, that is how to clean the refractory stone once used, since it gets dirty easily with oil residues, of mozzarella or tomato.

How to Clean the Hearthstone

I suppose anyone who works in a pizzeria already knows the simple method to clean the refractory base gas or electric oven, but at home which is the best and fastest way? Let's discover these simple tricks to make a refractory base return to its perfect splendor after having used it to cook pizzas at home..

Let's first see what never to do: Never pass a veil of oil!! This absolutely wrong remedy would unleash a stench of hell when our refractory base will heat up again in your oven the next time you use it to cook pizza and would leave an unpleasant smell.

The right method to clean the refractory stone

I saw someone who uses corn starch. Not bad, disinfects and cleans the stone without problems and without leaving bad odors. But there is an even better method that does not involve any physical work, let's find out which one.

Leave the baking stone in your oven at maximum temperature without doing anything about it 15 minutes after you have finished cooking your pizzas. The heat generated by the oven as if by magic will make any residue of dirt previously formed on your stone disappear.

Infallible pizza chef trick

When the refractory base of the oven gets dirty, the professional pizza chef is waiting 15 minutes and the same heat of the oven will clean the dirt that had formed previously. These tricks are learned while performing the Our professional practical courses that we carry out weekly in our pizza school.

Have you ever thought of subscribing to one of our professional practical courses? At this link You find all the information, and here you will find the calendar of our practical courses in programming pizza makers in our school.

Conclusions

If you haven't already, I remind you that it is already possible to download my latest recipe book called: NOT ONLY PIZZA - What should have all the pizzerias in your menu. It is a collection of classic recipes that are now monuments of Italian cuisine. find it out, you can find it at this link.

Before you move on to greetings, if you still have 5 free minutes, I invite you to visit my youtube channel, you will find a collection of more than 300 video recipes, sign up and save it among your favorite sites, it could be useful to inspire you the next time you prepare pizza at home.

 
Greetings

As I have been doing for some time now in all my posts, I remind you that here on my website there is a fantastic online pizza chef course dedicated to all those who do not have the time or resources to personally come here to school. You can download it on your PC or mobile phone and follow it comfortably seated from the sofa of your home. For more information click this link.

Appointment in a few days for more news about pizza.

Ciao

Silvio Cicchi

 

If you stick potatoes to the pan, use these remedies
Actuality, Cooking

If you stick potatoes to the pan, use these remedies

If you stick potatoes to the pan, use these remedies. A self-respecting Sunday lunch always has baked potatoes as a side dish. The potatoes baked in the oven make this our consolidated habit special.

Problems come after lunch, when we have to wash our pots and pans. Immediately we realize that a layer has formed on the bottom of the pan due to the cooking of the potatoes which is really difficult to remove, and to think that in my opinion that is the best part.

If you stick potatoes to the pan, use these remedies

Today we will see how to avoid this inconvenience, and you will find that it is really easy. Let's start with the choice of potatoes. And, you will have understood that they are not all the same. The culprit that causes potatoes to stick to the baking sheet is starch, potatoes are very rich in starch.

Which Potatoes To Choose

 There are two types on the market, those with white paste that are very rich in starch and therefore perfect for mashed potatoes or gnocchi, and those with yellow flesh that contain less starch and therefore lend themselves better to being baked.

Now we have to pay attention to the next phase: Once peeled and cut into cubes or slices, our potatoes should be left to soak in a bowl for about an hour in cold water. You will see that the starch will settle on the bottom of the bowl. Rinse them to remove all the starch.

Baking in the oven

A good tip before starting cooking is to season the potatoes and the pan well with oil and salt and rosemary.. Someone blanch the potatoes for about ten minutes to speed up cooking, someone adds a pinch of baking soda during the boil to have a super crust on the potatoes.

Another trick could be to use parchment paper to prevent them from sticking to the bottom, but this method prevents the crust from forming, so I don't recommend it.

Conclusions

Baked potatoes are delicious, I leave you the method to use. Before saying goodbye I wanted to remind you that if you are a pizza lover, for sure you may be interested in our professional practical courses that we carry out weekly in our pizza school. Will find all the information here.

For those who do not have the time or resources to come personally to our school, I remember that here on our site there is a fantastic "Pizzaiolo Online Course". Download to your PC or mobile phone and follow it from your home in your free time. All information here.

My latest recipe book called. Is already available for download: NOT ONLY PIZZA. You can find it at this link.

Follow my youtube channel, you will find hundreds of video recipes for pizza. It will be useful the next time you prepare pizza at home.

 

See you soon

Silvio Cicchi

 

 

The Strength Of Flour Discover The Differences
Dough, Ingredients

The Strength Of Flour Discover The Differences

The Strength Of Flour Discover The Differences. As you may have noticed, flours are not all the same, they differ not only by the name of the manufacturer, nor just by the type which is clearly specified on the front of the bag: Type 0, Type 00, Integral etc..

The most important thing that is often not mentioned is the so-called "Strength of Flours" indicated by the symbol W. This symbol is certainly the most important thing to take into consideration when we are faced with the choice of which one to buy, this symbol represents the quantity of proteins contained in it.

The Strength Of Flour Discover The Differences

In a few simple words, the use and the same processing method that we are going to apply depends on this symbol. We can classify the various categories of flours in: Weak, Average, Strong and very strong. This classification makes us understand the water absorption capacity for each type of flour so that the best gluten mesh for each product is created.

The work of proteins

Glutenin and Gliadin are the two main ones protein contained in our flour. Glutenin helps us to make the elastic dough responsible for the gluten mesh. Gliadin helps us to preserve the gluten mesh during drafting, preventing it from being destroyed.

As usual, I'll give you an example regarding pizza: Using flour with a strength greater than w240, perfect for pizza and bakery we will have a dough with an excellent gluten mesh and the gliadin contained in it will ensure that the gluten mesh resists the strong stresses of the drafting.

The strength of the flour

Unfortunately, the symbol W is not indicated in all types of flour, so we just have to read the protein content on the bag.

Flour 00: it is the most used even if it is the weakest flour on the market. Its strength ranges from W90 to W180. Suitable for biscuits, breadsticks and shortcrust pastry that do not want long leavening.

Flour 0: It has an average strength with 10 the 12% protein. His W goes from 180 to 280. With a water absorption equal to 60% about its weight is suitable for medium leavening doughs, perfect for pizza bread, pasta and various bakery products.

Strong Flours

Flour 1: Come on, come on 180 to 300 and a percentage of protein that reaches up to 14, they absorb a lot of water and is suitable for doughs with long leavening and aging in the fridge that can reach up to 4-5 days. Not recommended for quick doughs at home. Perfect for bread, pizza and focaccia but with long maturations.

Flour 2: It is already noticeable from the darker color that it contains a lot of bran, has a strength W that can even reach 350. It absorbs a lot of water and is suitable for long leavening.

Other flours

Wholemeal flour: It has a very high strength and is suitable for long leavening. Wholemeal flour is difficult to rise so I suggest you mix it with a weaker type flour 0 the 00.

The strength of the flour is the basis of the pizza chef's work. During our professional practical courses to become professional pizza chefs, this topic is addressed on the first day of the course. If you are interested in becoming an excellent pizza chef follow this link.

Conclusions

If, on the other hand, you do not have the time or resources to attend the practical course in person, I remind you that here on our site there is a fantastic "Pizzaiolo Online Course" that you can download on your PC or mobile phone and follow from the comfort of your home during your free time. You'll find it here.

If you haven't already, download my latest book of delicious pizzeria recipes, is called: NOT ONLY PIZZA - What should have all the pizzerias in your menu. You'll find it here.

See you soon

Silvio Cicchi