Pizza Dough
A few months ago I made pizza dough from scratch for the first time. It tastes so much better than frozen pizza, and it’s so easy to make (healthier too)! The dough is mixed in a food processor, and it takes less than 10 minutes to put together. You do have to plan ahead though; once the dough is mixed up it needs to rise for 1.5-2 hours.
This recipe makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas, or 3 medium ones, so I always like to freeze the extra dough. It’s definitely worth the added effort to have a delicious homemade pizza, and I really like being able to choose whichever toppings I like.
When I most recently made this pizza, I topped it with my favorite tomato basil pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, sliced prosciutto, kalamata olives, basil, and sliced red peppers. It was a wonderful combination of ingredients, and I will for sure be making this pizza again! Enjoy!
Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 envelope (2 ¼ teaspoons) rapid-rise yeast
- 1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cups (20 ounces) bread flour, plus more for dusting work surfaces & hands (all-purpose flour can be substituted, but the resulting crust will be less crisp)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Directions
- Measure the warm water into a 2-cup measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room-temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
- Pulse the flour and salt in the work bowl of a large food processor fitted with a steel blade to combine. Continue pulsing while pouring the liquid ingredients (holding back a few tablespoons) through the feed tube. If the dough does not readily form into a ball, add the remaining liquid and continue to pulse until a ball forms. Process until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 30 seconds longer.
- The dough will be a bit tacky, so use a rubber spatula to turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead by hand for a few strokes to form a smooth, rough ball. Put the dough into a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Yield: 3 balls of pizza dough (enough for 3 medium sized pizzas, or 2 large pizzas)
When you are ready to assemble & cook the pizza:
- Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes.
- After the dough has finished rising, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into three pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball and cover it with a damp cloth. Let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes.
- Working with one ball of dough at a time and keeping the others covered, roll the dough out into a circle.
- Transfer the dough to a baking sheet or pizza pan that has been lightly dusted with cornmeal.
- Lightly brush the dough round with olive oil. Spread tomato sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a ½ inch border around the edge. Sprinkle with cheese and toppings of your choice.
- Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Slide the dough onto the heated pizza stone (I just put the cookie sheet or pizza pan directly onto the pizza stone). Bake until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden brown in spots, 8-12 minutes.
- Cut the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.
Recipe adapted from: Cook’s Illustrated, ‘Italian Classics’ Cookbook
This is what the dough looks like before it has risen.
I will have to try this recipe the next time I make pizza dough, to see how it compares to my regular recipe. It looks just as easy, except for needing a bit more time to rise. The only other difference seems to be that it uses bread flour. I’ll have to buy some the next time I go to the grocery store!
I read all about bread flour in my Cook’s Illustrated cookbook. According to their test kitchens, bread flour makes the pizza crust chewy and crisp, resulting in a better texture.