Pizza Dough
hello pizza, my dear friend. You have been missed.
If you have followed me on social media, you know I live for pizza. Like seriously, I could eat it every day, for every meal. Growing up, we used to order a pizza every Sunday; large cheese and pepperoni, pie cut, extra crispy with an order of wings, mild. We ordered it from the same place every weekend, holidays, and birthday parties. Once our family started our cheese store business, my grandma would make fresh focaccia every Friday for my uncle to bring and sell on Saturday. Oh I miss those Friday phone calls confirming my order; white pizza with no cheese. Eventually, once my mom retired and my grandma passed, my mom took over making pizza for the family. She knew me so well and would always make extra dough for me to make the pizza at home and if I was extra lucky (I’m always lucky to have a mom like mine) she’d make me my own pizza to pick up on my way home. Now that I think of it, I wonder if that was her pizza she always gave me. Sorry Pops, that was most likely your pizza. Ah mom’s and grandma’s have the best hearts.
When we moved to Texas, I was determined to find good pizza. We tried and tried but nothing compared. We found some of the strangest places that “made” pizza, ones with 4 star reviews! Some tasted like straight cardboard, others were mushy, turning your stomach even before taking a bite. Nothing compared to home, not even a tiny bit close.
It was hard enough being so far from family and the life I knew, but no delicious pizza? That drew the line in the sand. I knew I had to change this. If I couldn’t find pizza, well then I was going to make pizza. I have watched my mom a dozen times make it, I even took video of us making it so if some day I decided to be brave and give it a try, I’d have some video to help me along the way. Goodness, I’m so glad I did, what a life saver that has been during all my recipe trials.
If you don’t make this recipe, I hope the one thing you take away is making moments with your parents. At the time I thought it was nothing but now, especially being so far from home, it has been everything.
I will be honest, it took many, many failed attempts. I was determined every Friday to perfect it. After some tweaking, I got it! My poor fiancé. Man, did he have to endure some terrible pizza! Someone get him an award!! (Don’t tell him I wrote that)
So here it is! The long awaited recipe. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope I wrote out the directions easy enough. If you ever have any issues, let me know! I would love to help walk anyone through this.
Check out my video posted below as well as posted to my Facebook and Instagram page!!
Salute!
Pizza Dough
Servings: 8 slices
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Rise Time: 4-6 hours
Total Cook Time: 30-45 minutes
What you will need:
Mixer with whisker and dough hook attachments
Large bowl to hold dough in to rise
Olive oil to rub in the large bowl
Dry yeast
Salt
Pizza flour or All-purpose unbleached flour
Water
Butter
Pizza tray
Pizza toppings
Ingredients:
7 oz (7/8 cup) warm water
6 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 oz (1 3/4 cups) pizza flour or all purpose unbleached flour
Recipe:
In a mixer, add water and dry yeast. Turn to level 3 for 30 seconds to one minute to activate the yeast.
Add flour and salt to water and yeast mixture. Change the whisk utensil on the mixer to a dough hook. Make sure to lock the mixer and turn the speed to a level 2 to get the mix going and after 5 minutes turn to a level 3. The mixture will form into a ball once mixed.
On a counter or board, sprinkle flour for the dough to rest on. Once the flour is on the counter, gently remove the dough ball from the mixer bowl and let rest on the counter or board for 10 minutes.
In the mean time, rub oil on the bottom and sides of a large bowl for the dough to rise in.
Gently grab the dough ball and stretch it out with your thumbs on the outside and fingers on the inside in a circle continuing forming into a ball. Roll in flour to prevent dough from sticking to your hands. After about 4-5 stretches, place the dough ball in the bowl with oil.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Lay a blanket on top of the plastic wrapped bowl and let it sit on the counter for 4-6 hours.
When you are ready, heat the oven to 475 degrees.
Grab a pizza pan and rub butter on it. Make sure to get in all the corners and slightly over the edges for when the crust rises during cooking.
Grab the dough from the bowl and place on the buttered pizza pan.
Gently press the dough out from the center in the circle until it cover the entire pan. Do not stretch the dough as it will create holes in the dough.
Once pressed out, add your toppings! Make sure to leave some crust space if you want crust.
Place the pizza in the oven, on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes. Please note, cooking times will vary on your oven. I like to set my timer to 20 minutes to check on the pizza. I use a spatula to lift the dough to see how the bottom is cooking. Some people like their pizza extra crispy (me) so I like mine to cook for about 30 minutes. I cannot stress enough to make sure to keep an eye as the pizza cooks. You will know the pizza is cooked because the cheese will melt, but when you lift it gently with a spatula the bottom should be a nice golden brown. It’s possible it can take up to 45 minutes to cook.
Dough can be prepared the night before. Leave on the counter. In the morning, press down on the dough then cover it back with the plastic and blanket until you are ready to cook.
Butter on the bottom helps to prevent from sticking. A little olive oil on the bottom of the pizza pan will work as well, just be sure to not use too much oil otherwise it will burn.
A food scale has helped tremendously with measuring ingredients. Not sure why, I just comes out better when I measure with a scale.
If you’re using store bought, pre-cut pepperoni, I like to quick boil them for 10-30 seconds to help cook some of the fat out. This will help lessen the amount of oil sitting on your pizza. Trust me, it’ll help.
If using fresh mozzarella, press the slices between paper towels to get some of the water out. This will also lessen the amount of oil sitting on your pizza.
Fresh basil can be added before cooking or a few minutes before it is done. I like to add mine before it cooks. I like the flavor of basil to be in my pizza and cooked with it.