Schedule
9:00 am to 4:30 pm for three (3) consecutive days. March 22nd – 24th
INSTRUCTOR: Chef Felice Colucci
Introduction
This 3-day intensive hands-on class is designed to guide aspiring pizzaioli to cultivate the absolute best pizza-making practices. This course focuses on both the theoretical techniques and practical hands-on methods necessary to create the ideal dough, a sublime sauce, an airy crust, and to identify the best ingredients to produce the best results.
With our program, you will learn the math and science behind the dough making process. You will also acquire the knowledge to work with baker’s percentage and learn how to build your own recipe to keep the products consistent.
This course is ideal for those who would like to concentrate on pizza-making in a professional setting. It offers solutions for many work-place issues such as dough’s consistency and handling large volumes of pizza.
You will receive:
- Pizza University Certificate
- Apron
- Chef’s Jacket
- Swag Bag
The class will consist of both theory and hands-on guide practice.
Theory
The theoretical portion of the class aims to provide students with:
- Fundamentals of creating artisanal pizza.
- The essential knowledge of the ingredients to make pizza.
- The skills to choose the flour based on the protein’s content.
- The characteristics and reactions of key ingredients in a pizza dough recipe (water, yeast, salt, oil, malt, sugar).
- Dough chemistry.
- The skills to develop a recipe using baker’s percentages.
- The differences between fresh and dry yeast and its uses.
- The Leavening of the dough
- provide students with the skills to build a recipe from scratch and to be able to change it based on the product you wish to obtain.
- The difference between the different types of tomatoes (whole peeled, puree) and cheeses (fresh mozzarella, low moisture).
Hands-on
This part is dedicated to hands-on experience. Students can expect to learn
- Mixing the dough, understanding the perfect timing to add each ingredient
- Cutting and shaping the dough, forming dough balls
- Stretching the dough using the proper technique.
- Preparing the ingredients (learn how mozzarella should be cut and how to make tomato sauce)
- Organizing the workbench
- Bringing the oven to the proper temperature and maintaining it during baking, resulting in a consistent final product
- Cooking and managing the pizza in the oven
- Managing multiple pizzas in the oven simultaneously
Bio:
Like many Italian children, Chef Felice grew up “playing with flour” while his mother made pasta and bread in his home region of Puglia. However, it wasn’t until he was much older that he knew baking was the right career choice for him. After getting certified as a Pizza Master in Italy, he decided to move to the United States, Miami, where he also worked with Jim Lahey at Sullivan Street bakery. His passion and dedication have brought him to Marra Forni, where he currently is the Culinary Director, and Pizza University, where Chef Felice gets to share his knowledge of pizza from A-Z.