Perfect Pizzas - Part 2 - Dough
One of my greatest pleasures is strolling the cobblestone streets of Italian cities in the morning. The sites of Old World neighborhoods coming to life as the open-air markets begin to bustle in the new day. By lunchtime, the thoughts of a perfect thin crust pizza are inescapable. As I stroll past pizzerias, the aroma of freshly baked dough is too much to resist. One must simply stop, sit, and enjoy Italy’s most famous exports – pizza and a glass of vino! You can replicate those pizzas at your home. All you need is your oven, a pizza stone, and a few simple ingredients. The pizza dough comes together very quickly in your food processor and bakes up into a beautifully thin crust that is crunchy, yet slightly chewy at the same time. Top it with this simply divine tomato sauce that is so very easy you’ll be using it for all you pizza and pasta recipes! Add a few simple toppings: ripe tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and you’ll have your own perfect Italian Marghertia pizza! Delizioso!
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 500°F. Place pizza stone on the middle rack inside the oven.
2. Heat the water to 110° F water
2b. dissolve the yeast and set aside.
3. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix together.
4. With the food processor running, add the water-yeast mixture in a steady stream.
5. Turn off the machine and add the oil. Pulse a few times to mix in the oil.
6. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured board.
7. Gather any bits of dough and flour and quickly knead into a large ball.
8. Cut the dough into 4 equally sized pieces.
9. Roll each piece into a tight, smooth ball, cover with a clean dishtowel and set aside to rise until double in size, about 45 minutes.
10. Place a ball of dough on a lightly-floured board and, using your fingertips, press it into a flat cake about ½ inch thick.
10b. Lift the dough and, using your hands, gently stretch and rotate the dough in a circular motion until the dough is about ¼ inch thick
11. Sprinkle corn meal onto the peel.
11b. Lay the shaped pizza dough onto the peel.
12. Top with sauce and toppings.
13. Carefully slide the pizza off of the peel and onto the pizza stone in the oven. Bake until the edges are crispy and underside is brown, about 6-7 minutes.
14. Remove the pizza with the peel or spatula, place onto a cutting board and let sit 2-3 minutes before cutting. Repeat with remaining dough.
TIPS & TRICKS
• You can make the pizza dough and refrigerate it up to a day in advance. Just cover the towel tray with plastic wrap. When ready to use remove the tray from the refrigerator and allow to rise about 45-50 minutes.
• Pizza sauce can be made in advance. It will last 3-4 days in refrigerator. It can also be frozen.
• Make sure the sauce is cool before you top the dough with it. Otherwise the dough will stick to the peel.
Ingredients
1 package active yeast
1½ cups water
4 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp salt
2T olive oil
Toppings:
2-3 cups assorted toppings: sliced pepperoni, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, olives; goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves. pizza sauce ( see below)
¼ cup corn meal
