pizza dough

This recipe is a long time coming.  Last year I became slightly obsessed with pizza and made it my mission to make the perfect dough.  By ‘perfect’ I mean not bread-like, which I found most recipes to be.  I wanted something chewy, and, well, pizza-like.  You know what I mean, right?

I found there to be a huge discrepancy between what I was served in restaurants (light, a chewy bite, blistery in some spots) versus what was coming out of my oven (heavy, dense, bready), and I wasn’t pleased.  So, every Friday night (for months), I kneaded and waited and rolled, had happy moments and ugly moments alike, and right when I was getting close … I gave up.

To be honest, I didn’t give up — it was more like I got distracted by other things and by the time I thought about pizza again summer had arrived and it was too hot to turn on the oven.  This time, however, I’m on to something, and I feel confident in saying: This Is It.  This is The One.  After much trial and error I’ve combined all of the things I’ve learned to create the desired result.  So, let’s talk pizza today.

One of the main issues I had with other recipes for pizza dough was they have you mix the water/yeast/flour all together at once with salt.  Now, yeast and salt don’t get along (salt kills yeast).  I can’t tell you how many doughs I’ve made that didn’t rise (or rose a bit and then yielded a tough pizza).  However, yeast feeds on sugar, which in turn promotes it’s activation and growth.  So, one of the first things I did when developing my own recipe was proof the yeast with water and a bit of sugar first and let them sit together for a while, to give the yeast a head start.  This also ensures that the yeast is active and working.  Then I mixed it with the flour and salt.  At that point, the salt in the flour won’t bother the yeast.

Speaking of flour, the type you use does make a difference.  Regular all-purpose flour is technically fine, the recipe will work, but for even better results, bread flour is the way to go (and if you’re thinking of replacing some of it with wheat flour, please don’t.  I say: understand that pizza is a splurge and make it with the ‘bad’ flour — it’s worth the indulgence once in a while.  Then again, if you insist, who’s gonna stop you?).  Bread flour has a higher gluten content, which promotes a heartier, chewier crust (which is exactly why you wouldn’t use it to bake a cake).   Because gluten forms long strands of protein in the dough, and kneading helps those strings grow, the resultant dough is very elastic.   We could get further into this scientifically, but let’s just leave it at this: bread flour is our friend when making pizza.

Importantly, once the dough has come together and you’ve got it resting in a warm spot, it is important to leave the dough alone for a good two hours. Sure, if you’re pinched for time, an hour will do.  But leaving it that extra hour helps to develop the flavors and really gives the yeast time to do it’s thing.

When the dough is finally spread out and the toppings are on, the next place it goes (obviously) is the oven.  To get straight to the point: you need to get your oven up as high as it will go.  Mine tops out at 500º, so that’s the temperature I use.  A high temperature is important — but make sure your oven is clean!

Finally, pizza making needn’t make a disaster out of your kitchen.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that pizza is a convenient food to make given the fact that I don’t even get a counter dirty.  Yup, the whole process can be done in one bowl and no messy counters. How’s that for efficiency?

Now that we’ve worked it all out, let’s make some dough, shall we?

Pizza Dough

One more thing: I don’t think pizza dough should be viewed a huge undertaking just because yeast is involved.  You’ll need to plan ahead a bit due to the rising times, but there is very little hands-on prep time to worry about.  This is a great thing to make ahead when you’re having guests, and then let everyone roll out and top their own dough.  The pizza pictured in this post was from a dough I mixed in the morning and then made for lunch on a day Jade came home early on a minimum school day.  I’m telling you: it’s easy.

Ingredients:

1 tsp active-dry yeast (not instant)
¾ cup + 2 tbsp warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 cups flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Cornmeal for dusting (optional)

Directions:

Place water in a small bowl and sprinkle on the yeast and sugar.  Lightly stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.  Let stand 15 minutes until yeast dissolves and foams.

Whisk the two cups of flour and salt in a medium sized wide, shallow bowl.  Add the water-yeast mixture and olive oil.  Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir until a rough dough forms (it will not be cohesive and will be quite floury).  Using your hands, knead dough in the bowl until it comes together cohesively.  Once it comes together, sprinkle on more flour as needed to prevent it from sticking to the bowl or your hands.  After a few minutes it should be elastic and stretchy—only slightly sticky, if sticky at all.  Overall, it will be a soft, pliable dough.

Once the dough is smooth, form it into a ball, and lifting it with one hand, drizzle some olive oil into the bowl with the other, using your fingers to coat the bowl in the oil (by the way, the bowl will have some flour stuck to the upper sides, but not the bottom).  Return the dough to the bowl, turn it over so the oil is on all sides, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm spot to rise for two hours.

* * *

Preheat oven to 500ºF.

The dough should now be nice and puffy.  Using a lightly floured hand, gently press on the dough to deflate.  Sprinkle on flour if necessary so it doesn’t stick to you or the bowl, and gently knead right in the bowl, just a couple times, and form back into a ball.  Cover again with the plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes.

On a baking sheet (lined with foil, if you like) sprinkle on some flour and cornmeal, if using.  Using both hands, press dough into desired thickness and shape.  Sometimes it helps to lift the dough and rotate it in your hands to stretch it out.  The dough really will puff in the oven so if you leave it thick when you’re forming it, it will be a very thick crust.

If you like, once the dough is rolled out you can brush the surface with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.  I particularly like to do this on the edges of the crust.

Add sauce and your favorite toppings, and bake in pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes.  Please note that if you use a different temperature setting you will need to adjust baking time accordingly.

Makes 1 medium sized pizza; eight slices.

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