Are you tired of paying exorbitant prices for good pizza or getting plastic cheese and krappy toppings on your pizza pie's? Me too. So I started making my own dough with this recipe. It is amazingly cheap, fast and tasty. After you make a few you will realize how much dough they make on pizza's. ha ha
I would opt for bread flour but all purpose works well. Smelling rising pizza dough in the oven, priceless.
Ciao!
BASIC PIZZA DOUGH
This dough makes a delicious and versatile rust. It can be thin and crisp or thick and chewy, depending on how it is rolled out and baked. After the recipe, I have given instructions on preparing the various kinds of pizzas from this dough. All of the recipes that are given on the following pages make doughs that can be prepared in any of these styles. The individual recipes will tell you how to put the pizzas together after the dough has risen. This recipe :II make:
2 thin crust pizzas, 12" each
2 stuffed pizza pockets
1 thick crust pizza, 14"
1 Chicago-style deep dish pizza, 13" to 14" 6 individual pizzas, 6" each
25 individual calzones
Measure 1/2 cup warm water (about 110°) in a measuring cup and stir in 2 tsp. of light brown sugar. Be sure the water is only warm--not hot. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and the dough will not rise. The warm water and the sugar help the yeast to become active. Dissolve the 2 packages of yeast in the water and set it aside for at least 5 minutes. The yeast will become frothy during this time.
Meanwhile, sift 4 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl with the salt. Make a depression in the middle of the flour and add 3 tbsp. of olive oil and 1 cup of warm water. When the yeast mixture has risen for 5 minutes, add it to the flour.
Dust the surface on which you will be kneading the dough with flour. Now mix all of the ingredients in the bowl with your hands and gather them together and place them on the floured board. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes.
Knead the dough by pushing part of it away from you with the heel of one hand and then folding it back towards you. Repeat with the heel of the other hand. Then rotate the dough 1/4 turn and repeat. Add more flour to the board (it will become incorporated into the dough) if the mixture is too wet or too sticky. Eventually the dough will become elastic and will stay together in a cohesive ball.
Rub a clean bowl with olive oil and place the kneaded dough in it. Moisten the top of the dough with oil as well. Place a clean dish towel over the bowl and put it in a warm, draft-free place to rise. The oven is a perfect place to let the dough rise. The pilot light generates a little warmth and there are no drafts to disturb the dough. However, if you're using the oven for something else, a cleared space in your linen closet is a good alternative as a warm, draft-free location for rising dough.
When the dough has risen for 1 1/2 hours, remove it and place it again on the floured board. You are now ready to roll out the dough for the pizza of your choice.
USING THE DOUGH The Varieties of Pizza
Thin-Crust Pizza: The recipe given above will make two, 12" thin-crust pizzas. Preheat the oven to 500°. Divide the dough into equal balls. With your hand, flatten each ball into a circle. Put flour on a board and on your rolling pin. Roll the circle flat until it is somewhat larger than your pizza pan. You will probably have to sprinkle flour on the dough from time to time to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Rotate the dough occasionally as you roll it out. You should also lift the dough up carefully at least once, place more flour on the board, and turn the dough over to roll the other side.
As you become more expert, you will be able to throw the dough over your head, as you have seen chefs do in pizzerias. It may take you a little while, however, to build up the confidence to try this. If the dough gets out of shape and you cannot restore the circle (or approximate circle), you can always gather it back into a ball and start again. If you do not have a pizza pan and are using a rectangular cookie sheet instead, roll the dough into an oblong shape that more nearly conforms to the dimensions of your pan.
When the dough has been rolled out, sprinkle a little cornmeal on your pizza pan, pie pan or cookie sheet and lift the dough carefully so you can slip the pan under it. The dough should
hang over the edge of the pan all around. Roll up the edge of the dough to form a rim that will hold in the sauce and the cheese. You can make a very attractive rim by lifting the dough over your finger to form pleats. Brush the dough with a little olive oil before putting the sauce on it. This will help prevent sogginess. Thin-crust pizzas take from 10 to 15 minutes to bake at 500°. Oven temperatures vary, so you should judge the baking time of your pizza by the look of the crust and the filling. The crust should be golden brown and crisp looking; the filling should be bubbling and the cheese melted but not toasting when the pizza is done. You will come to know what to expect of your own oven by experience.
A thin-crust pizza can be made without a pizza pan directly on baking tiles or a pizza stone. This method yields the best crust possible, reproducing the virtues of a stone oven. If you have such a stone or tiles, be sure that you preheat them in the oven for a half hour. Sprinkle cornmeal on them shortly before you are ready to bake the pizza. Assemble the pizza on a pizza paddle (peel) that has also been sprinkled with cornmeal. The cornmeal allows the pizza to slide off of the paddle and onto the stone easily.
I would opt for bread flour but all purpose works well. Smelling rising pizza dough in the oven, priceless.
Ciao!
BASIC PIZZA DOUGH
This dough makes a delicious and versatile rust. It can be thin and crisp or thick and chewy, depending on how it is rolled out and baked. After the recipe, I have given instructions on preparing the various kinds of pizzas from this dough. All of the recipes that are given on the following pages make doughs that can be prepared in any of these styles. The individual recipes will tell you how to put the pizzas together after the dough has risen. This recipe :II make:
2 thin crust pizzas, 12" each
2 stuffed pizza pockets
1 thick crust pizza, 14"
1 Chicago-style deep dish pizza, 13" to 14" 6 individual pizzas, 6" each
25 individual calzones
Ingredients
41/2 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour
salt 1 tsp.
olive oil 1/4 cup (4 tbsp.)
dry yeast 2 pkgs.
warm water 1 1/2 cups
light brown sugar 2 tsp.
41/2 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour
salt 1 tsp.
olive oil 1/4 cup (4 tbsp.)
dry yeast 2 pkgs.
warm water 1 1/2 cups
light brown sugar 2 tsp.
Measure 1/2 cup warm water (about 110°) in a measuring cup and stir in 2 tsp. of light brown sugar. Be sure the water is only warm--not hot. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and the dough will not rise. The warm water and the sugar help the yeast to become active. Dissolve the 2 packages of yeast in the water and set it aside for at least 5 minutes. The yeast will become frothy during this time.
Meanwhile, sift 4 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl with the salt. Make a depression in the middle of the flour and add 3 tbsp. of olive oil and 1 cup of warm water. When the yeast mixture has risen for 5 minutes, add it to the flour.
Dust the surface on which you will be kneading the dough with flour. Now mix all of the ingredients in the bowl with your hands and gather them together and place them on the floured board. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes.
Knead the dough by pushing part of it away from you with the heel of one hand and then folding it back towards you. Repeat with the heel of the other hand. Then rotate the dough 1/4 turn and repeat. Add more flour to the board (it will become incorporated into the dough) if the mixture is too wet or too sticky. Eventually the dough will become elastic and will stay together in a cohesive ball.
Rub a clean bowl with olive oil and place the kneaded dough in it. Moisten the top of the dough with oil as well. Place a clean dish towel over the bowl and put it in a warm, draft-free place to rise. The oven is a perfect place to let the dough rise. The pilot light generates a little warmth and there are no drafts to disturb the dough. However, if you're using the oven for something else, a cleared space in your linen closet is a good alternative as a warm, draft-free location for rising dough.
When the dough has risen for 1 1/2 hours, remove it and place it again on the floured board. You are now ready to roll out the dough for the pizza of your choice.
USING THE DOUGH The Varieties of Pizza
Thin-Crust Pizza: The recipe given above will make two, 12" thin-crust pizzas. Preheat the oven to 500°. Divide the dough into equal balls. With your hand, flatten each ball into a circle. Put flour on a board and on your rolling pin. Roll the circle flat until it is somewhat larger than your pizza pan. You will probably have to sprinkle flour on the dough from time to time to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Rotate the dough occasionally as you roll it out. You should also lift the dough up carefully at least once, place more flour on the board, and turn the dough over to roll the other side.
As you become more expert, you will be able to throw the dough over your head, as you have seen chefs do in pizzerias. It may take you a little while, however, to build up the confidence to try this. If the dough gets out of shape and you cannot restore the circle (or approximate circle), you can always gather it back into a ball and start again. If you do not have a pizza pan and are using a rectangular cookie sheet instead, roll the dough into an oblong shape that more nearly conforms to the dimensions of your pan.
When the dough has been rolled out, sprinkle a little cornmeal on your pizza pan, pie pan or cookie sheet and lift the dough carefully so you can slip the pan under it. The dough should
hang over the edge of the pan all around. Roll up the edge of the dough to form a rim that will hold in the sauce and the cheese. You can make a very attractive rim by lifting the dough over your finger to form pleats. Brush the dough with a little olive oil before putting the sauce on it. This will help prevent sogginess. Thin-crust pizzas take from 10 to 15 minutes to bake at 500°. Oven temperatures vary, so you should judge the baking time of your pizza by the look of the crust and the filling. The crust should be golden brown and crisp looking; the filling should be bubbling and the cheese melted but not toasting when the pizza is done. You will come to know what to expect of your own oven by experience.
A thin-crust pizza can be made without a pizza pan directly on baking tiles or a pizza stone. This method yields the best crust possible, reproducing the virtues of a stone oven. If you have such a stone or tiles, be sure that you preheat them in the oven for a half hour. Sprinkle cornmeal on them shortly before you are ready to bake the pizza. Assemble the pizza on a pizza paddle (peel) that has also been sprinkled with cornmeal. The cornmeal allows the pizza to slide off of the paddle and onto the stone easily.
