[Article]
Pizza Dough
Ingredients
7 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour or 5 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour, plus 2 cups finely ground semolina flour
1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast
1 tablespoon raw sugar
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
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Directions
This is a fantastic, reliable, everyday pizza dough, which can also be used to make bread. It's best made with Italian Tipo "00" flour, which is finer ground than normal flour, and it will give your dough an incredible super-smooth texture. Look for it in Italian markets and good supermarkets. If using white bread flour instead, make sure it's a strong one that's high in gluten, as this will transform into a lovely, elastic dough, which is what you want. Mix in some semolina flour for a bit of color and flavor if you like.
Sift the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.
Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.
Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands - this is called punching down the dough. You can either use it immediately or keep it, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straight away, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas - this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.
Timing-wise, it's a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don't roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though - if you are working in advance like this it's better to leave your dough, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there's 1 less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 1/4-inch thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted aluminum foil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with plastic wrap, and pop them into the refrigerator.
Total Time:
1 hr 20 min
Prep:
20 min
Inactive:
1 hr
Yield:6 to 8 medium-sized thin pizza bases
PIZZA
- Pizza Sauce:
- 1/2 (12 ounces) Tomato Paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Pizza Crust:
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed
- 2 (.25 ounce) Pizza Crust Yeast or Yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/3 cups very warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)
- 1/3 cup oil
- Toppings:
- 1 (6 ounces) package Pepperoni
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, or more to taste
- Add all ingredients to list
Directions
For sauce:
- Combine all sauce ingredients with 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl; set aside for flavors to develop while making the crust. Freeze remaining paste.
For crusts:
- Combine 2 cups of flour with the dry yeast, sugar, and salt. Add the water and oil and mix until well blended (about 1 minute). Gradually add enough remaining flour slowly, until a soft, sticky dough ball is formed.
- Knead for about 4 minutes, on a floured surface, until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour, if needed. If you are using Yeast, let the dough rest, covered, for 10 minutes.)
- Divide dough in half. Pat each half (with floured hands) into a 12-inch greased pizza pan OR roll dough to fit pans.
For pizza:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Top crusts with sauce, pepperoni, and cheese.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until crusts are browned and cheese is bubbly. For best results, rotate pizza pans between the top and bottom oven racks halfway through baking.
ENJOY.
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