Region: Italy
Category: Bread Doughs, Short Doughs, and Batters
Season: Any
Difficulty: Labor Intensive
There are many ways you can make pizza, beyond the topping. They can be cooked at temperatures ranging from 350 degrees F in a home oven to 900 degrees F in a commercial wood-burning brick pizza oven. High heat gives the best results. I tend to make pizzas in three different ways. Sometimes I make pizza on a large 16-inch pizza pan, either solid or perforated, or directly on a baking stone. The dough is about a third of an inch thick, and I bake it at either 555 degrees F—the highest my home oven goes—for about 7 minutes or at 450 degrees F for a little longer. Or I make a thinner pizza, about 1/8 inch thick, which I cook for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees F. The best approach is to experiment, remembering that your first few efforts might be disappointing. I use two baking stones when I use my home oven for pizza or bread as it will improve your baking. The recipe below is for making pizza dough by hand; for instructions on making it in an electric mixer see “Variations.”
Yield: Makes 2 thin-crust 16-inch pizzas, 4 very thin 14-inch pizzas, or 4 slightly thick 12-inch pizzas, 1
Preparation Time: 6 hours
1 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 cup warm water (105 degrees F. to 115 degrees F.)
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose unbleached flour
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1. In a large metal bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then add the salt and shake gently.
2. Add the flour and olive oil and mix until you can knead it with your hands. The dough should stick a little bit for the first few minutes but will then form itself into a ball with more kneading and folding. Once it is formed into a ball, dump it onto a lightly floured surface and knead for exactly 10 minutes.
3. Once the ball of dough is smooth, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and let rise in a warm (80ºF) place, such as in a turned-off electric oven, for 2 to 3 hours.
4. Punch down the dough, cover, and let rise another 2 to 3 hours. Now it is ready for making into a pizza or frozen for future use. Choose your pizza recipe and continue.
Variation:
Basic Pizza Dough in an Electric Mixer
Read the instructions to your mixer. This recipe was tested on a KitchenAid mixer. Use the ingredients above. In the electric mixer bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then add the salt and shake gently. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour and the olive oil and attach the dough hook. Run according to the directions of the manufacturer, about 2 minutes, adding the remaining flour in 1/2-cup increments. Let the mixer run until the dough is pulled off the walls of the bowl and is being pushed by the dough hook. Once the ball of dough is smooth, remove the mixer bowl and remove the dough from the bowl. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and let rise in a warm (80ºF) place, such as inside a turned-off electric oven for 2 to 3 hours. Proceed as the recipe instructs.
Note:
Posted: 03/13/2018
