Pizza Dough - the latest - from NYT cooking

Roberta's Pizza Dough from NYT Cooking 

Make the day before you want to use it - makes TWO 12 inch crusts.  I make two double batches - 8 crusts - for a larger group at Kaela's. 

Need a kitchen scale

153 grams 00 flour (Italian pizza flour, get at Whole Foods)  

153 grams all purpose flour 

8 grams fine sea salt (1 tsp) 

2 grams active dry yeast (3/4 teaspoon) 

4 grams (1 tsp) olive oil (or a bit more) 

200 grams (about 1 C) water, lukewarm 

1.  Combine flours and salt in KitchenAid. 

2.  Combine the water, the olive oil and the yeast, and add to flour. 

3.  Knead three minutes, then let rest 15 minutes.  Knead again for 3 minutes.  Cut into two pieces, shape each piece into a ball.   Place balls onto heavily floured cookie sheet, dust with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and *refrigerate for 8-24 hours (or more).  Take out of fridge 30-45 minutes before starting to shape it for pizzas.  

*alternately just leave covered to rest at room temp for 3-4 hours, although we haven't tried that yet.  

Some helpful notes from readers of NYT Cooking: 

Cathy Onderick5 years ago

Forgot to mention that I do use a kitchen aid mixer with dough hook using the recommended kneading times suggested by recipe. Works out great every time.

Samantha5 years ago

This recipe is great! It instantly became my go-to for amazing pizza. After many batches and some experimentation I've found that 300g king Arthur bread flour, in place of the 2 types of flour, is quite acceptable if you can't find/don't have 00.

Joyce5 years ago

I preheat the oven to 550F for 45 minutes to an hour, with the pizza stone on the middle shelf. I make the pizza on top of a piece of parchment paper, then use a peel under the parchment to transfer the whole thing onto the stone in the oven. After about 5 minutes I lift the pizza slightly with the peel and carefully pull out the parchment so that the pizza is directly on the stone. Then I let it finish baking, another 5-10 minutes. You have to watch. Doesn't stick and crispy every time.

Joyce5 years ago

Yes, once it's cut into 2 pieces I sometimes take one piece and put it in an oiled ziplock bag and put that in the freezer. When needed, thaw in fridge overnight, then bring it up to room temp for a few hours before shaping into crust.

Kaela's sheet pan Sicilian pizza

Sicilian Pizza

 

This is the recipe -  it’s from our friend [Spencer Reynolds]. I even just use jarred sauce sometimes. 

**use deli full fat mozzarella in a chunk and hand grate, and freeze for 5 minutes before putting on pizza to bake** 

We do pepperoni a lot.  I think fresh gooey mozzarella and basil would be my favorite though. 

-Kaela 

Toppings:
-Basil leaves
-16 oz Fresh Mozzarella Cheese(you won't use it all... maybe half per pan/batch)
-Any other toppings you want: pesto, ham, pineapple, pepperoni, bell pepper slices, etc. 

Sauce: (no need to cook or heat... it will cook on the pizza)
-One 14oz can of whole peeled tomatoes or no salt added diced tomatoes
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1.5 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-1 teaspoon oregano
-3-4 cloves of garlic

Dough:
-17.5 ounces (500 grams, about 3 1/2 cups) all-purpose or bread flour
-2 teaspoons kosher salt
-1 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
-1 1/2 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons water, warm/room temperature
-2 tablespoons extra virgin Olive Oil (in dough)
-4-5 tablespoons extra virgin Olive Oil (in a pool on the pan when you place the dough in baking sheet)

Cooking Instructions:
Combine flour, salt, yeast, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in bowl of stand mixer. Whisk to combine. Add water to mixer and mix on medium speed until it comes together and no dry flour remains. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until the dough is stretchy and smooth, about 6 minutes. The dough is usually pretty sticky. Might need a spatula to get it out of the mixing bowl and onto the pan.

Pour 4-5 tablespoons olive oil into rimmed baking sheet and spread over entire inner surface with hands. Transfer dough to the oiled 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet, spread the dough out a bit. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap, and allow dough to rise at room temperature until it has spread out to touch a couple edges of the rim of baking sheet, about 2 hours.

Instructions for the sauce while waiting: 

Open the can of tomatoes and drain off the watery liquid. Combine the tomatoes, oil, garlic, oregano, and salt into a blender and lightly blend- don't puree it. You could also use a stick blender and just lightly blend up the ingredients. No need to cook it... it will eventually cook while it is on the pizza baking.

30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to the bottom (Getting it closer to the heating element gets a nice crispy bottom... just don't burn it)  and preheat oven to 550°F. Carefully remove plastic wrap from pizza dough. Using oiled hands and being as gentle as possible to maintain air bubbles, push and stretch the dough into the corners of the pan by pressing out from the center and lifting each corner and stretching it beyond the edge of the pan. It should pull back until the pan is just filled with dough. If needed, allow to rise for another 30 mins.

 

Top pizza as desired and bake until bottom is crisp and top surface is bubbling, Usually just under 15 mins, but depending on the oven it could go a hair longer. Allow to cool at room temperature for 5 minutes.

reference material:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/07/basic-square-pan-pizza-dough-recipe-sicilian-recipe.html

 

Pizza dough

Pizza dough

This is the dough Grandma ML taught us back in 1990.

Dissolve these ingredients in a small bowl:
1 T sugar
1 C warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast

In the bowl of your mixer, mix:

3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 C olive oil

Add the yeast mixture.  Use the flat beater for 1 min, then switch to the dough hook.  Add a little flour or a little water to make a nice dough.

Shape dough into a ball.  Place in a well-oiled bowl, turn to coat the dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile heat the oven to 475F, or even better, 500F.   Punch down dough.  Divide into 2-3 balls.  Roll out, put your toppings on, bake on a pizza stone, and enjoy wonderful homemade pizza!