Sauce Talk: Creating the Ultimate Avocado Pizza

 

Follow along this episode of Sauce Talk with Andris of Baking Steel and Peter, founder of Avocado Goodness, to learn how to create the Ultimate Avocado Pizza. 

You'll learn how to make a "naked" pizza, all about Peter's magical avocado spread. Andris also provides tips for combining unique ingredients to elevate your pizza game as well as tricks to ripen your avocado's from Peter.

Follow along the transcript:

Preview

Andris: We're going to combine 24-hour fermented dough, bake it, and spread some of this magical spread on top. Well, taste it and tell me what you think.

Andris: I got to taste this. Alright, here we go.

Peter: Taste it. What do you think?

Andris: We have a special guest, fired up to have Peter Cimoroni here. Peter, what's up?

Peter: Oh man, what's going on? This is awesome! So fired up because we're talking avocados, we're talking pizza, and we're going to have a blast today, right?

Andris: I've got some dough ready. All right, you got some kind of magic thing going on here with this spread. Tasted it earlier, it blew my - it's amazing. It's really well done. Love the recipe, whatever it is. We're going to learn it.

Peter: You got it. And then I have an idea how we're going to incorporate that into some pizza.

Andris: I love that because that's the education that we want. The product is not just a chip that can go on your protein and go on your salads, go on your pizza, go on your toast everywhere because the product is so good. There's nothing in there but God-made... Is that a superfood?

Peter: It is. Avocado, you know, you got avocado, you got limes, you got scallions, you got cilantro. Come on, the good kind and the good kind of fats, right?

Andris: Yeah man, let's go. It's got - and you know what, now these have good fats, but it has fiber. People don't have a lot of fiber.

Peter: That's amazing. Exactly. Didn't know that. Exactly right. So what we got to do is we got to wash them, we got to cut them, scoop, we got to put them in here. And then we're going to squeeze some limes, we're going to chop some scallions, and then we're going to put it on your - oh, I can't wait to see this. And you guys pay close attention, take notes. This is going to be fun.

Andris: All right, we're going to wash this up. Now question, you're cleaning up the avocado with the skin on it?

Peter: Yep. Like I wouldn't even think you're going to cut into it. So you don't want any dirt getting into the flesh. So we got that. We do the same thing with the limes because we're going to squeeze the limes, right? The outside of the rind. Like one and one and a half limes to it. Scallions, we probably use one bunch and we only use the green tops.

Andris: Oh, interesting. Yeah, and why is that?

Peter: A subtle onion flavor. Everything stays green. You know when you eat avocado, right? "Oh my God, I got brown." Mine doesn't. Green and it's out, out there. This is what got balsamic in it. Okay, so it adds a color, adds the color. So there we go. What that is, that's my guacamole minus cilantro. Okay, and that's more of a ubiquitous product.

Andris: Okay, so you wouldn't call it guac?

Peter: No, we call this the all day spread. And here's all day spread. 5% of the population that has an aversion taste-wise in their DNA to cilantro tastes like soap.

Andris: Yes, I taste soap.

Peter: Okay, so we want that and then my - my, um, obviously my guacamole has a lot of cilantro in it. We're not going to make that. We're not going to make that today. We're going to make the spread.

Andris: Okay, great. And we're going to put that on your pizza, spread it out, baby. And everybody likes to cut avocados the long way.

Peter: Yeah, that's awesome. I cut it - I've not seen that before. I cut it this way. One day I woke up and I was this, I guess, world class guacamole maker. I have no effing idea why.

Andris: Yeah, right, right. But I - I have this talent. And what I knew that I had this talent, Andris, is when I went to parties, I brought this and they could care less if I was there. All they cared about was -

Peter: Isn't that funny? You can just drop it off and get the hell out of here.

Andris: You spoon it out. So we just spoon it out real nice. And we want to make sure that we don't get that little nib at the top.

Peter: Okay, okay. This little nib at the top that would not be good for taste buds or for your teeth. You don't want to crunch on something like that. But these are good avocados, aren't they? Good, are they good?

Andris: Yeah, yeah. You - these are - sometimes you go to the store and they have this bright green avocados, hard as a rock, right?

Peter: Exactly. Is there anything - any kind of - well, what I do is if I know that I'm making it, right, I'll buy it and I'll buy it so that I know that in two or three days it'll be right. And if you want - if you want to ripen it up even more, you put them with bananas.

Andris: Interesting. Yeah, in a bag or something or just right -

Peter: Right next to it and it ripens right up. And then I take - I do the pit like that with the knife.

Andris: Oh, interesting. Pop it out, pop it out. Do we - are we buying like organic avocados? Does it matter?

Peter: It really doesn't matter that way because it's - it's got this, the rind on it. If you - if you bought, okay, like a peach, yes, 'cause you're biting, you know, an apple you're biting, banana, no, an orange, no. This is protecting it. It's protecting it. So doesn't make - doesn't make - save your money, guys.

Andris: Yeah. Some people will disagree with me, but I'm going to tell you, I think - but it won't hurt to go organic.

Peter: No, not at all. Not at all. And the pricing is okay today. So here's where I don't like the waste. I just - I just add that a little bit, right? That's a lot. But I don't use the pointy, the sharp knife. I use -

Andris: Oh, interesting. Just kind of brush it.

Peter: Yeah, just brush it. And I'm going to chop up with knife. I'm going to chop up to just get a head start on it. We like to use some chunk in it. Our - our product that's going on the market in May is 25% chunk. And how do you know it's 25% chunk? 'Cause we make sure it is.

Andris: That's fascinating. Okay.

Peter: We make sure it is. And that's what our manufacturer does for us because the competition, yeah, is pretty not chunky.

Andris: Oh, interesting. So you got a little - we just put it that way out of value. They're out of value. So now we got a good - yes, see what we got here. Sure.

Peter: You know, we got some chunk, but we also got some - so good. Wash these bad boys. You wash these. Take almost to the - okay, it's just still a little bit of grit. And we're going to chop this up nice and small. And what you're going to get is that good green look, that good green color. Right? I can smell it right once you start cutting.

Andris: Yeah. And you're going to get a nice aroma. Yeah. You're going to get a good, um, oniony flavor, but it's not overwhelming. And that's what I tasted when I tasted your spread. It, like, it was not overpowering. It was subtle.

Peter: Yep. Had just a really great flavor to it. Thank you. Thank you. Maybe you want to dip a couple of times, not just once. There you go. Eat it, eat it, eat it with a spoon. Well, at the end of the day, one of the things that I couldn't stand, and a lot of these people that make guac, they put that red onion in.

Andris: Overpowering red onion.

Peter: It is. I agree. It's awful. Your breath for, you know, for days. And you walk around like you feel like you got, you know, Frankenstein breath. Well, with this, you don't. And it metabolizes really nice. You don't get a lot of the burps, all that, you know, whatever. And look at the - look at how pretty that is. It's gorgeous. The color is amazing, isn't it?

Andris: So we're going to just mix it in, mix that in a little bit, because I want to then put in the lime. Ah, and what's the lime do? The lime -

Peter: Softens it up and is a natural preservative.

Andris: Okay, interesting. Because it stops the oxidization.

Peter: And it also softens up both the avocado, the scallion, and also takes a little bit of the bite of the scallion up. So it's - I didn't know I was a food scientist, but I am.

Andris: Little food science. I am a food science, you know? So smells amazing, right? Doesn't it? I can't wait to see what we do with this.

Peter: Yeah. So all right, so that's our spread. And we're going to add some herbs and spices to this.

Andris: Yeah, we're going to. But we're first going to add some lime, some lime. Squeeze this. Oh, nice. Usually I have a squeezer.

Peter: Okay, yep. We're going old school here. Muscle. Oh, I just missed. Oh, that's all right. We got another one. We'll get another one. And lime's the same thing. You just - you just kind of - and that's going to help prevent oxidation.

Andris: Yeah, it's also going to, um, give the softness to the avocado. And it's going to take a little bit of the bite out of the onion. Well, it's not really a bite. Let's just put - it's just going to mellow it out. Got - going to blend it. And I - that's what I tasted. I was like, that tasted like onion. I wasn't sure what it was.

Peter: Yep, that's how you do it. That's the magic. Yep, that's how we do it. Smells so good. That's - now we - do you season this too?

Andris: Oh, yeah. I got - I got my spices. Got some magic coming. Got it. I got it. I got my boys right over there. I like it. They make me very happy. Okay, those spices - we're going to find out what that is. You going to stay tuned for that, right?

Peter: Exactly. Right. Take some notes. Yeah, you're going to have to pay a lot of - do you eat avocado nonstop? Do - are you, Connolly?

Andris: I eat - I eat avocado probably - I eat my product probably two or three times a week.

Peter: Okay, good enough. Good enough. Um, that - we'll be bringing out, Dennis, right? Bacon and goat cheese.

Andris: Goat cheese. Ooh, inside. Great idea.

Peter: Wow. Be the - it'll be the, um, guacamole with bacon and goat cheese.

Andris: Oh, that sounds amazing.

Peter: It is. That would be a great spread.

Andris: Wow, it is. But the problem with us, because we manufacture in Mexico, okay, is that to get that approval, that FDA approval, costs a lot of money. And so we're going through that.

Peter: Yeah, we're going through that process because right now to get protein in this is very difficult. So you're saying to add - do you need FDA approval for this too?

Andris: No, no. Well, we already have it.

This recipe was made with a Baking Steel. 

 

 

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Peter: Oh, you have - so you do have to apply for it. So the facility already has FDA, all types of vegetables. Got - so they're clean, you're good.

Andris: I got you. Okay, I got you. But when you add protein, you know, whether it's cheese -

Peter: Oh, interesting. Yeah, they got a whole different certification.

Andris: Yeah, exactly. Right. That's fast. So is that every - every food product on the market that we - you know, I - I - I don't know. United States, it's easy.

Peter: Okay. Easier, easier, you know? But it's not - in Mexico, it's a little bit different. So we're going to mix this up. Okay, look at that. This is the - the limes in it. So you can feel already it started to pulp up a little bit. Look at that. Gorgeous colors too. I made this in Mexico City for my Mexican guacamole manufacturer.

Andris: That's gorgeous.

Peter: And they said it's better than ours.

Andris: Wow, that's a - that's a moment in time.

Peter: Sure is. And it wasn't - it wasn't just him saying it. It was their son saying it. It was the daughter. It was incredible. And we're going to make pizza today. We're going to combine a 24-hour fermented dough, we're going to bake it, and we're going to spread some of this magical spread on top. Well, taste it. Tell me what you think. I got to taste this. All right, here we go. Taste it. What do you think?

Andris: My goodness, this knocks - wow, right?

Peter: Unbelievable.

Andris: Yeah, that's the spread. Put cilantro in there, forget about it.

Peter: No way. You don't want that on there. This is unbelievable. Let's grab some pizza dough, let's stretch it out and somehow let's merge the two and see what happens. A greater talent, let's see what happens. Let's see what happens.

[Andris stretches out the fermented pizza dough, creates a well in the center, and bakes it naked with some ice cubes in the middle to keep the center from puffing up. Once crispy, he spreads the avocado mixture generously on top.]

Andris: All right, so I've got this incredible dough. I made this, like, two days ago. It's been fermenting. It's - we make our 72-hour dough. This is like a 36-hour version of that. It's phenomenal. Flour, salt, water, yeast. Like you, it's very simple. Like, not a lot of ingredients. We mix it together. I let it sit out overnight. We make our dough balls about three or four hours before. And now we're just going to shape it. And you can see, this dough is like super soft and supple.

Peter: Yes, almost like you can see the bubbles. And I think it's going to make a beautiful canvas for what - what you created.

Andris: Okay. And I'm going to stretch - I'm - I'm probably going to knock these bubbles out. I don't always do that. But aren't they beautiful? This is about a 150-gram dough ball, so it's going to be on the thinner side, because I thought, really show the flavor of your avocado. And this will be like the canvas beneath it. It'll be nice texture to it. Two artists are creating something.

Peter: That's it. And you know, I got my baking steel in the oven preheating at 450 degrees. That's what's going to allow this thing to really crisp up. I'm knocking my air bubbles out, okay, gently. But sometimes I'll keep them in. They add a lot of character to it. And this is like a gravity stretch. Just kind of stretch a little thin. I love that. Is that nice?

Peter: So where did you learn this?

Andris: You know, from doing it thousands of times. When I - when I launched the Baking Steel ten years ago, I wanted to share an amazing recipe with people because I thought if they could use my steel and use an incredible dough recipe, you have the formula for success. And so I contacted a bunch of chefs. I was in the food world myself personally. I met this guy, Jim Lahey, out of New York, who came up with this no-knead pizza dough recipe. Okay, very famous in the New York Times in like 2006. Okay, made this 

guy super famous. His book, My Pizza, it's called - this is a - this is basically his recipe. We just kind of tweaked it a little bit, okay, to add some fermentation times to it.

Andris: Nice. Um, this is a bread flour, so it's got a little bit more, um, protein in it, a little more strength.

Peter: You can see - is that awesome? Gorgeous. So I'm going to flatten it, okay? Okay. We're not going to touch your spread until we bake this.

Andris: Yes. So we're going to call this a naked bake. Okay, in other words, nothing on top. And so I love it. Grab my pizza peel. I put a little flour on. Flour acts like my ball bearings.

Peter: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, right. And now I just take my dough, place it on top. Now, there's going to be a secret here, okay, because I don't want this dough to puff up like pita bread, which is what would happen. So I'm going to put a little weight on it. But also, I figured we do an avocado.

Andris: Yeah, that's beautiful. I want to have a nice, creamy center here for that. And for that to happen, I'm going to use a magic ingredient - ice cubes.

Peter: Right. You're a scientist, a scientist, right?

Andris: I'm going to take some ice and I'm going to put the ice cube - just like probably two cubes, maybe three. Okay. Yeah, place them right in the center here. Yeah. And what I'll do is I'm - I'm going to blast my oven on broil, okay? And my baking steel is on top, preheating about 500 degrees for the last hour. Okay, I'm going to - the first, like, minute or two, I'm going to use the broiler. These ice cubes are going to melt, creating a creamy center here. The edges might blow up a little bit, which is okay, 'cause we want an artisan pizza.

Peter: Be beautiful. Okay, yep. Ready to launch. Back of my peel goes to the back of the steel. There it is. There it is. The baking steel, like a smiley face.

Andris: Beautiful. Right. There it is. Broiler's on. I'll probably dump some of that extra, like, moisture on out. Right, right. And then we'll finish baking for about two or three minutes until everything's super crispy. And then we're going to take your magical avocado spread. Okay. And what's the name of this? Do you have a name?

Peter: This is the All Day Spread. The All Day Spread. And where's it going to be available? Like, where can I get this?

Andris: We're going to be all over the Great Lakes.

Peter: Amazing. So right around here.

Andris: Oh, yeah, yeah. We just met with Carmela in Detroit.

Peter: Oh, wow. That's amazing. They've got Meijer's, they've got Kroger, they got all the specialty stores.

Andris: Oh, you're kidding. And the name of my company is Avocado Goodness. Avocado Goodness. Goodness. And this is the All Day Spread. We're going to have the guacamole and then we're going to have signature blocks coming behind it, like the one you tasted.

Peter: Oh, that's amazing. Oh, that's a great idea. So we have a variety of these things. What's the shelf life? This is - we're going to have a - we're going to be selling this with a pressure-packed seal that will give us a 60-day shelf life. And two years frozen. Two years. Two years frozen.

Andris: Wow, that's amazing.

[A few moments later]

Peter: Oh, we got a nice crisp. We're good. That - that pretty - pretty simple, pretty simple, right? But now we've got - we've laid the - we like a canvas here. And your spread is going to just shine. That's going to be the star.

Andris: Beautiful. Right. No right or wrong answer here. This is your world, Peter. This is it. This is my world. I've never - never done this. So this is brand new.

Peter: Same. It's a new invention. And by the way, this is - I would consider this a pretty healthy little snack.

Andris: Oh, God, right? Yeah, absolutely. We got an organic flour in the bread. It's been fermenting for a day or two. And we got the spread that looks just gorgeous. Look at that. Oh, my goodness. Look at that. Get that. That's - see, is that awesome?

Peter: That's amazing. Beautiful. That's gorgeous.

Andris: Put - yeah, let's do it. Put some here, put some there. Oh, we got to - you know what? Let's - let's - let's do it. We got to load it up. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Look at this spread to your satisfaction.

Peter: That's good by me, man. Whatever - what you think? All right, that's good. Look at the color on that, right? And underneath, we - our crust cooked beautifully. All right, let's slice this bad boy. Let's eat it. You ready to eat it?

Andris: Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Slicing sound]

Peter: Oh, I can hear that crisp. I slice like pizza. How's that? I like it.

Andris: Oh, man. Is that gorgeous? Come on, let's do it. Cheers.

Peter: Cheers, babe. Let's do it.

[Eating sounds]

Peter: Wow, that's good, man.

Andris: Unbelievable. The flavor - we knocked it out of the park. So Peter, where can we find - what can we tell people to find you? So you have a website?

Peter gives cell phone details.

Andris: Oh, God, it's been an amazing afternoon with you. This has been so great. Thank you for having - coming. Cheers again.

Peter: Cheers, man. Fantastic. Fantastic. Cheers.

Andris: Another episode of Sauce Talk with Andris. Wonderful.

Want a delicious and healthy Avocado Pizza like Peter and Andris made? Subscribe to the Baking Steel channel to see every Sauce Talk and pick up your own Baking Steel for perfectly crispy crust.