Pizza Dough

Pizza, a yeasted flat bread topped with tomato sauce, shredded cheese, veggies or meat and baked in a super hot oven till golden brown, was a great invention by Italians. Gennaro Lombardi, an Italian immigrant from Naples(the birth place of pizza) opened America's first Pizzeria in New York city in 1905. It remains extremely popular comfort food till now.

My first home made pizza tasted not so good and tried to find out what went wrong. After failing couple of times I just gave up. I was applying the same method of cake and cookies at 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit. Later I learned 350 degrees was not enough heat for baking Pizza. Oven temperature needs to be extremely hot before pizza goes inside. I couldn't wait to try and the result was incredible. I am sharing this recipe with some great tips that I have learned over the years through my experiments.

1. When it comes to baking measuring is very important. You have to be precise. No eyeballing. Always sift flour before measuring. It is also important to use dry measuring cup for dry ingredients and liquid measuring cup for liquid ingredients.  

2. Using too much yeast gives awfully smelly pizza. 1/4 teaspoon is enough per 8 oz. cup flour. It  may take longer time to rise but it is better waiting than having a yeasty smelling pizza. Proof yeast first to check it is still active. The water temperature should be between 105 and 110 degrees for proofing. If water is too hot it will kill the yeast.

3. Aluminum pan works better than nonstick pan. Pizza crust  tends to burn quickly on nonstick pan.

 4. Lightly oil the pan. Dust some corn meal on the pan so Pizza won't stick to the bottom and It gives a crusty texture to Pizza. 

 5. Dock the rolled dough with a docker or fork which helps steams to escape during baking. There will be no air bubbles in the crust while it bakes.

6. Brush with Olive oil so Pizza crust won't be soggy after sauce is spread. Also make sauce thicker but spreadable not runny at all.

7.Veggies like bell paper, mushroom and canned olive release lot of water. So let them sit on a clean kitchen towel right after cutting them for a while and gently press to take out the extra water from the veggies. Do not add too many toppings.

8. Must rotate the pan during half way of baking.

9. Last but not least preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit  for at least 20 minutes. Oven must be very very hot.

Ingredients~  
2 cups whole wheat flour, plus more as needed
2 cups unbleached bread flour or all purpose flour
1 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt 
2 tsp. granulated sugar 
4 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for coating and brushing the dough
1 and 1/8 cups warm water (105-110 F degrees) or as needed

Equipment~
A large mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Damp kitchen towel

Total time ~
Prep time 30 minutes
Rising time 4 hours or more

Method~
1.This recipe for two 12 inch pizza crust. To proof the yeast, combine the yeast and little sugar with warm water in a large mixing bowl. or make sponge. For sponge method Stir well and cover it for 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy. Sift flour. Add in olive oil, salt, sugar and measured flour, one cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon. At this point dough will be very sticky and wobbly mass.

2.Sprinkle flour on to the work surface where dough is going to be kneaded. Put the dough on the floured surface. Flour your hands. Fold the dough in half and push it away from you and pull it toward you with the heels of your hand. Continue knead for about 6-7 minutes. Sprinkle more flour as needed. By now dough will look smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball. It should bounce back if you press finger in it. 

3. Lightly grease a large bowl and coat the dough with oil and place in the bowl. Cover with a damp kitchen towel or a plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place without disturbing it. Dough doubles in size within 4 hours. 

4.Gently deflate the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for 2 minutes.  Dough is ready to be rolled. This recipe makes two 12 inch pizzas or four 7 inch individual pizzas. 
Veggie Pizza is coming up next.

Happy Baking!