Pizza Dough


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10" pizza dough:


10" pizza dough x4:

Toppings:

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Combine all dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached. Add water and oil and mix on low until the dough clears the sides of the bowl (2 minutes) then continue to knead an additional 15 minutes. It will hold together but be slightly too sticky to handle.

Dust flour over the dough. Push down between the bowl and the dough with a rubber spatula to work flour between them until you can remove the ball of dough. Try not to work the flour into the dough as you handle it, you want a light, liquid-y ball of dough covered in flour.

Pour a little bit of olive oil into a metal bowl. Place the dough into the bowl top-side down and rotate to cover in oil, then invert in the bowl and rotate again. Cover with a towel and rise until doubled-ish, 60-90 minutes.

Knock back from the bottom while trying to keep the top intact (a spatula down the sides of the bowl again, tucking the sides further under the ball works.)

Re-cover and rest an additional 45ish minutes, until near doubled. Preheat the oven to 550F with an inverted cast iron skillet on a middle-low rack while proofing.

Invert the dough into the 10" bottom of a generously cornmealed 12" steel skillet (bubbly side up) and push gently from center to edge, rotating the pan as you go, until the bottom of the pan is covered. Create an edge crust by pressing the edge of the dough between your fingers and a spatula run around the edge of the pan. Pull the dough around so it is of even thickness; pressing it down will make it dense.

Spoon a few tablespoons of tomato sauce onto the dough and spread out with the back of the spoon. Aim for half red, half translucent, with no white dough showing through. Add additional pizza toppings, and top with 2oz low moisture mozzarella cheese, 1oz Parmesan, a scant drizzle of olive oil (for flavor not fat) and salt and pepper (go easy, the sauce may have salt.) Optionally top with some combination of red pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic powder.

Bake the steel pan on top of the cast iron pan for 4 minutes, rotate 180 degrees, and bake an additional 4 minutes. If not quite finished, set the oven to broil, move the pizza to under the heating element, and broil one more minute - DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM IT - until cheese is appropriately charred.

If making 4x the recipe with intent to freeze: after the primary 90 minute proof and knockback, divide dough into 4 balls, place each ball in an oiled pint deli container and swirl to oil top. proof til almost full (1/2" headspace), lid, and freeze.