Bob and Paul’s Homemade Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast; see step 1(e) below if using instant yeast
- 3 3/4 cups bread flour
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
Pizza Ingredients (your choice):
- Olive oil
- Pizza sauce
- Firm mozzarella cheese, grated
- Fresh soft mozzarella cheese, separated into small clumps
- Fontina cheese, grated
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- Feta cheese, crumbled
- Mushrooms, very thinly sliced and sautéed
- Mushrooms, very thinly sliced and sautéed
- Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, very thinly sliced
- Italian pepperoncini, thinly sliced
- Italian sausage, cooked ahead and crumbled
- Chopped fresh basil
- Baby arugula, tossed in a little olive oil, added as pizza comes out of the oven
- Pesto
- Pepperoni, thinly sliced
- Onions, thinly sliced and caramelized
- Ham, thinly sliced
Instructions
To prepare the pizza dough:
- Place the warm water in the large bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer.
- Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
- After 5 minutes, stir if the yeast hasn't dissolved completely.
- The yeast should begin to foam or bloom, indicating that the yeast is still active and alive.
- If you are using "instant yeast" instead of "active yeast", no proofing is required; just add to the flour in the next step.
- Using the mixing paddle attachment, mix in the flour, salt, sugar, and olive oil on low speed for a minute.
- Replace the mixing paddle with the dough hook attachment.
- h) Knead the pizza dough, on low to medium speed using the dough hook, about 7 – 10 minutes.
- If you don't have a mixer, you can mix the ingredients together and knead them by hand.
- The dough should be a little sticky, or tacky to the touch.
- If it's too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour.
- Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the inside of a large bowl.
- Place the pizza dough in the bowl and turn it around so that it gets coated with the oil.
- At this point you can choose how long you want the dough to ferment and rise.
- A slow fermentation, 24 hours in the fridge, will result in more complex flavors in the dough.
- A quick fermentation, 1 1/2 hours in a warm place, will allow the dough to rise sufficiently to work with.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap.
- For a quick rise, place the dough in a warm place, 75°F to 85°F, for 1 1/2 hours.
- For a medium rise, place the dough in a regular room temperature for 8 hours.
- For a longer rise, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 24 – 48 hours.
- The longer the rise, to a point, the better the flavor the crust will have.
To prepare the pizzas:
- Place a pizza stone on a rack, in the lower third, of your oven.
- Pre-heat the oven to 475°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.
- If you don't have a pizza stone, you can use a pizza pan or a thick baking sheet; you need something that will not warp at high temperatures.
- Remove the plastic cover from the dough.
- Dust your hands with flour and push the dough down so it deflates a bit.
- Divide the dough in half.
- Form two round balls of dough.
- Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 15 minutes, or up to 2 hours.
- Prepare your desired toppings.
- Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way.
- About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza.
- One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.
- Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface.
- Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick.
- Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further.
- Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter – 10 to 12 inches.
- Treat the dough gently.
- You can also hold up the edges of the dough with your fingers, letting the dough hang and stretch, while working around the edges of the dough.
- If a hole appears in your dough, place the dough on a floured surface and push the dough back together to seal the hole.
- Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker.
- Pinch the edges if you want to form a lip.
- Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling.
- Brush the top of the dough with olive oil to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings.
- Let rest another 10-15 minutes.
- Repeat with the second ball of dough.
- Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel.
- If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.
- Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.
- Slide the pizza off of the peel and on to the baking stone in the oven.
To bake the pizza:
- Bake, one at a time, until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10 – 15 minutes.
- If you like, just prior to removing the pizza from the oven, sprinkle on more cheese.
- Leave in oven just enough time for the cheese to melt; remove.