I love Mondays! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d say those words. But this semester I have been taking my Food Service class on Monday mornings. And yesterday was probably the best Monday yet. Our class took a fun field trip to Double Zero Italian Restaurant in Sandy Springs to learn how to make authentic Neapolitan pizza! Double Zero has been rated one of Atlanta’s top 100 restaurants for a few years now.
Double Zero obtained its name from the type of flour they use to make their authentic Neapolitan pizza. Doppio Zero (Italian for Double Zero) is the most highly refined, powder soft, traditional flour used in Italy. Executive Chef Edwin Molina told my class that the goal of the restaurant is to make the pizza as authentic as the first pizza ever created in Naples, Italy. With this goal in mind, Double Zero imported top of the line brick ovens from Italy. These magnificent ovens are handmade in Naples by the most famous Italian oven designer, Stefano Ferrara. Stefano mastered the art of brick oven design and now makes ovens all over the world.
My class was fortunate enough to be taught by the executive Chef himself, Edwin Molina. Chef Edwin taught us each how to properly make and use pizza dough. He of course made it look very easy but when it was our turn we quickly realized how much work goes into making the perfect pizza.
I apologize for the bad quality of the pictures but can you tell I’m having a good time? Once we finished making our dough, Chef let us pick what toppings we wanted to add to our pizza. I went with:
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella
Caramelized Onions
Arugula
Sopressata
The tomato sauce we used was made from fresh tomatoes blended with olive oil and garlic.
Sopressata is similar to salami and pepperoni but even better because it’s made only from the pork’s shoulder. Once our pizza’s were all set, Chef put 5 at a time in the oven. Since the oven gets up to 850° F they were ready in less then 5 minutes!
My pizza came out perfectly! The arugula was added at the end which gave it a fresh, crisp taste. The sopressata was tender and delectable. Best pizza I’ve ever made!
These fun, hands-on pizza making classes are offered on a weekly basis at Double Zero. For only $39 you get the class, your own pizza, and a glass of wine. Check out their website to sign up!
