Pizza Dough
Enough
dough for three 10-inch pizzas or foccacia, or 5 individual pizzas
Fermentation: 2 1/2 to 3 hours at room temperature, 70°F to 72°F
Retardation: 4 to 36 hours in the refrigerator, 37°F to 45°F
This dough makes a pizza crust with the taste of bread and the character
of pizza--equal parts crunchy and chewy. I use it to make focaccia
and breadsticks as well as schiacciata. It is best when it has a long,
slow rise.
There is a widely held belief that the best pizza dough is made with
high-gluten flour. I disagree, as do the great Italian pizza makers
of Naples, the birthplace of pizza. They use a flour that has less
gluten than our all-purpose flour. For the food processor, use all-purpose
for similar results. This recipe hits a home run, so don't adulterate
it with the most virgin of olive oils.
After the dough ferments, it will be softer and stickier than when
it was first mixed. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on your hands
and work surface when rolling it out and shaping it.
Unbleached all-purpose flour: 500 grams or 1 pound or
3 1/3 to 4 cups
Fine sea salt: 10 grams or 2 teaspoons
Instant yeast: 1/2 teaspoon
Water: 300 grams or 9 1/2 ounces or 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons
Cornmeal for the peel or baking sheet
1. Place the flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor fitted with
the metal blade. Using an instant-read thermometer, adjust the water
temperature so that the combined temperatures of the flour and water
give a base temperature of 130°F if using a Cuisinart or KitchenAid
or 150°F if using a Braun. (See page 33 for other models.) With
the machine running, pour all but 2 tablespoons of the water through
the feed tube. Process for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and if the
dough seems too dry, add the remaining water during the last 15 seconds
of processing for a total of 45 seconds.
2. Stop the machine and take the temperature of the dough with an
instant-read thermometer, which should read between 75°F and 80°F.
If the temperature is lower than 75°F, process the dough for an
additional 5 seconds, up to twice more, until it reaches the desired
temperature. If the temperature is higher than 80°F, remove the
thermometer, scrape the dough from the food processor into an ungreased
bowl, and refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes. Check the temperature after
5 minutes; it should be 80°F or cooler by that time.
3. Remove the dough from the processor, place it in a large ungreased
bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to ferment for
21/2 to 3 hours at room temperature, 70°F to 72°F. It will
not double at this point, but it will increase in volume somewhat.
4. Place the bowl of dough in the refrigerator and retard for at least
4 hours or up to 36 hours. Proceed with any of the recipes for pizza,
focaccia, or schiacciata.
5. Leftover pizza dough may be formed and baked like The Best Bread
Ever (page 50).
Pizza Margherita
One 10-inch pizza
Margherita is a fancy name for a simple pizza topped with a small
amount of tomato sauce, slices of fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil
leaves. Pizza Margherita is a universal favorite among children.
1. One hour before baking, put the oven rack on the second shelf from
the bottom of the oven and place the baking stone on the rack. Preheat
the oven to 500°F.
2. While the oven is heating up, remove the dough from the refrigerator
and turn it onto a lightly floured work surface. With the palms of
your hands, flatten it to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Generously
sprinkle a
baking sheet with flour, place the dough on the sheet, and cover it
loosely with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to come to room temperature.
This will take about 30 minutes, but do not let it sit longer than
1 hour before forming and baking.
3. If your kitchen is very cold, place the baking sheet of dough on
top of the stove. The warmth of the oven will help it to warm up so
that the dough is soft enough to stretch easily. Don't leave the dough
there more than 10 minutes; it could overproof. Turn the dough over
once or twice during this time so that the heat permeates it.
4. Place the dough on a generously floured work surface. Using your
fingertips, press it all over so that it begins to stretch out. Gently
pull to stretch it into a round disk. The dough will be noticeably
soft when pulled. Lift it by the edges, place your fists underneath
it, and move your fists outward to stretch the dough into a circle
about 10 to 11 inches in diameter, or the size that fits your peel
or the baking sheet you are using to slide it into the oven. If it
resists shaping, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for another
10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle a peel or the back of a baking sheet with cornmeal, then
carefully transfer the stretched pizza dough onto it. Spread the dough
thinly with the tomato sauce, leaving a 1/2-inch edge all around.
Scatter the mozzarella over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with
the basil leaves and the Parmesan and season it with salt and freshly
ground pepper. Drizzle it all over with the olive oil.
6. Open the oven door and carefully slide the pizza directly onto
the baking stone. (Hold the baking sheet or peel with two hands and
reach deep into the oven, directly over the stone where you want the
pizza to land. Use a firm back and forth movement to shake and slide
the pizza from the peel or baking sheet onto the stone. As the pizza
slides forward, gently pull the peel or baking sheet out from under
it.)
7. Bake for 5 minutes. Check it and rotate so that it bakes evenly.
Continue baking for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the edges of the
crust are just beginning to get dark brown. To remove from the oven,
slide the peel under the pizza and use it to lift the pie out. Or
slide the baked pizza onto the back of a baking sheet. Transfer the
pizza to a wire rack to rest for 2 minutes, so that some of the steam
escapes and the crust doesn't get soggy.
8. Place the pizza on a cutting board and slice into 8 pieces.
Excerpted from The Best Bread Ever by Charles Van Over Copyright© 1997 by Charles van Over. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
