Homemade Pizza Dough
Pizza!!! I love it and if you don’t, I don’t think we can be friends. It has its endless options, and I have not even come close to tasting 1/2 of those options. 2 years ago, my husband gave me an Ooni Pizza Oven because we shared a love of Neapolitan-style pizza crust and dipping it in balsamic vinegar. But also because for some reason no-one buys me good gifts and I will return it if I don’t like it. When I open it up the first thing out of his mouth was you are not allowed to return this. I of course cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing. This is by far the best birthday gift ever. We have a pizza spatula, and stones for the oven. It doesn’t have to only be used for just pizza!! It’s a wood burning oven. You can use it for anything. I however haven’t ever gotten that far because every time I can use it all I dream about is that Chewy, crisp crust!!
When the snow melts and there is a tease of spring, that sucker comes out of storage faster than a scalded cat and I call it!!! The pizza season has officially begun!! The weather here for the next two days is between 60-70. I figured with awesome weather we can make homemade pizza. Fun for the entire family. My daughter pretends to be a chef, and I am still waiting for the husband to say THIS IS IT! The perfect crust! P.S. That will never happen….so I continue to change and adjust the recipe, but I think I found one that I can really get behind, regardless of what anyone else thinks. It has lots of Chew, and it bubbles when you cook!! I don’t like my crust dry, or dense.
Okay so a few things to note with this recipe, I use a starter, I found that my breads have more air and rise better when I use a starter. People get freaked out about this and think this means some weird sour dough cult! STOP. None of those things are true here. A starter is simply you starting the proofing process of the yeast and giving it a head start to when you want to actually make your dough. That’s it! simple!!! It’s 3 ingredients, yeast, water and flour. before I go to bed, I grab a tiny glass bowl and mix it up, cover it with plastic wrap and walk away. It’s a 2-minute task. Now if you have sour dough starter you can certainly use about 1/2 a cup of it.
PIZZA RECIPES:
Starter:
1/2 tsp active dry yeast (NOT instant)
1/4 cup of lukewarm water
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
Pizza Dough:
3 1/4 tsps dry active yeast
1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water
2 tsp. sugar
Starter mixture
4 cups of ’00” pizza flour
4 tsp salt
1/4 Flour for dusting
Pizza Sauce:
32 oz. crushed tomatoes
3 Tbsps. olive oil
2 large garlic cloves grated or minced finely
1 1/2 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Dough steps in pictures can be VERY helpful for someone who is not a dough enthusiast like me. I have the Starter pictured first. You can see I used a glass measuring cup and put plastic wrap around it with a rubber band. (using a rubber band around all of my bowls is a trick I use with all plastic wrap) You’re welcome! you can now avoid the frustrations of getting it to stick and not succeeding. The second picture is the next morning. I woke up and checked the starter and it’s super bubbly and exactly how I would want it to look. The third picture is how you proof your yeast when you start actually making your dough. I let mine sit for about 30 minutes because I was busy juggling other things but about 10-15 minutes is really all you need. To proof the yeast, you mix the 3 1/4 tsps. of yeast, 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water and 2 tsps. of sugar. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit. I always proof my yeast with sugar. It’s what my grandma did, and she never messed anything up! All the grandmas in the world make the best anything. So just copy them. It’s also a guaranteed way of knowing your dough is going to rise and rise well. The activation in the yeast is what you need. I have made stuff before and not proofed it and it was an old yeast. The dough wouldn’t rise.
Once your yeast has bloomed up, add the 4 tsps. of salt, starter mixture and the 4 cups of flour. I usually start mixing with a fork until it starts to come together and resemble the fourth picture. Shaggy dough. I always laugh when I see that term and most people don’t know what that means but it simply is just forming a more solid form. I use my hands to start to knead the remaining parts into one ball. I also knead my dough for a minute or two to activate the gluten and make the texture a little smoother. Time to let it rest for a few hours. I cover it with plastic wrap and a rubber band again because it locks in warmth and moisture, and I know it won’t get crusted on the top. You can also use a lightweight cloth and brush it lightly in olive oil too. You can let the dough rise for as long as you would like! It’s not going to hurt it. It will only add more air to the dough. If you wanted to quick make your dough in the morning before work and let it sit all day, so it’s ready when you get home, that works great.
Now our dough is ready to be a pizza. First, I divide the dough into 6 or 8 parts. I usually make smaller pizzas, then I start to pull the dough working in a circle with it. I don’t like to roll it out with a pin because it can lose some of the air bubbles captured in the rising process. I make sure the center is a little thin then the edges. I also don’t worry about it being perfectly round. It all tastes the same whether it’s square, oval or round. Once you feel good about the thickness then we shift to toppings. I like a very simple pizza, sauce, mozzarella cheese, and some wilted arugula. My husband likes a garlic butter as the base, mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, and if he is in the mood some arugula. The toppings can be what you want. but remember this is a Neapolitan style pizza, and the crust it thin so you can’t just pile toppings on it. It won’t hold. I cook my pizza in a pizza oven, its next to a flame and I let the fire go for about 15-20 minutes so it can heat up the stone. It usually takes about 5-7 minutes for the crust to cook, I like to rotate it around, so the fire doesn’t burn one side of the pizza. If you don’t have an oven, NO problem. In the winter here I have a pizza stone in the oven, and we preheat the oven to 450 with the stone in the middle. place on the stone and cook for 8-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the pizza so it doesn’t burn.
A few tips you can make a double batch of pizza dough and before it rises you can divide it and freeze it in vacuum sealed bags with parchment paper. when you pull it out of the freezer to use, just place on a cooking sheet and let it thaw and rise for a few hours until double the size. the Pizza sauce can also be made in large batches and frozen with the dough.
Enjoy your PIZZA!! It’s so yummy! Send me pictures or share your favorite topping combos with me.