extraspecial
Pizza Dough
I've recently rediscovered the joy that is making your own pizza from scratch -- dough and all. It's actually really easy, not too time consuming, and the results are amazing. Plus you can make the kind of crazy pizzas you'd be scared to ask for in a restaurant.
My dough recipe:
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
100g semolina flour
400g bread flour
2tsp sea salt
(flour is best measured by weight, since its volume varies a lot on how well it's packed, etc. also, make sure you're using *bread flour* and not all-purpose)
- pour the lukewarm water in a large bowl, and dissolve the sugar in it
- sprinkle the yeast over top, and let it dissolve
- add the oil, and about half of each of the flours, and mix until combined
- add the remaining flour and salt, and stir until combined
- start kneading the dough until it is coming together, then turn it out onto a floured surface
- knead the dough for 5-7 minutes until it starts looking smooth like the photo above
usually it's still a little sticky when I start kneading, so I'll add a light sprinkling of flour every little bit. my best success kneading is to push on it with both palms, fold it back on top of itself, rotate 90 degrees, and do it again.
I'll divide the dough ball in half, and oil up two large bowls with olive oil. Lightly coat each dough ball with oil from your hands, and place each one in a bowl, and loosely cover the top of the bowl with cling wrap. Let it rise for a few hours (it should double in size).
I'll divide each of those dough balls into two, so I get a yield of 4 small to medium'ish sized pizzas. I'll spread the dough out on the counter to get it to the desired shape (don't overwork or overflour it at this point!) then put it on a pizza peel that's been lightly dusted with semolina flour. I'll add my toppings (lesson learned: "less is more" with pizza toppings), then let it slide off the peel onto the baking stone.
I'll have preheated the oven at its highest temperature (mine only goes up to 550) for about an hour before baking. It's usually done in about 6 minutes or so, but keep an eye on it.
Pizza Dough
I've recently rediscovered the joy that is making your own pizza from scratch -- dough and all. It's actually really easy, not too time consuming, and the results are amazing. Plus you can make the kind of crazy pizzas you'd be scared to ask for in a restaurant.
My dough recipe:
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
100g semolina flour
400g bread flour
2tsp sea salt
(flour is best measured by weight, since its volume varies a lot on how well it's packed, etc. also, make sure you're using *bread flour* and not all-purpose)
- pour the lukewarm water in a large bowl, and dissolve the sugar in it
- sprinkle the yeast over top, and let it dissolve
- add the oil, and about half of each of the flours, and mix until combined
- add the remaining flour and salt, and stir until combined
- start kneading the dough until it is coming together, then turn it out onto a floured surface
- knead the dough for 5-7 minutes until it starts looking smooth like the photo above
usually it's still a little sticky when I start kneading, so I'll add a light sprinkling of flour every little bit. my best success kneading is to push on it with both palms, fold it back on top of itself, rotate 90 degrees, and do it again.
I'll divide the dough ball in half, and oil up two large bowls with olive oil. Lightly coat each dough ball with oil from your hands, and place each one in a bowl, and loosely cover the top of the bowl with cling wrap. Let it rise for a few hours (it should double in size).
I'll divide each of those dough balls into two, so I get a yield of 4 small to medium'ish sized pizzas. I'll spread the dough out on the counter to get it to the desired shape (don't overwork or overflour it at this point!) then put it on a pizza peel that's been lightly dusted with semolina flour. I'll add my toppings (lesson learned: "less is more" with pizza toppings), then let it slide off the peel onto the baking stone.
I'll have preheated the oven at its highest temperature (mine only goes up to 550) for about an hour before baking. It's usually done in about 6 minutes or so, but keep an eye on it.