Sunday, March 23, 2008

New pizza recipe...

Here is the pizza dough recipe that I have been using lately, because it better fits my schedule. It is from Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking. You'll need to mix the dough 4 or 5 hours ahead of time before you plan on baking the pizzas.

Unbleached bread flour - 3 1/3 cups (I like to substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for 1 cup bread)
Instant yeast - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - 2 teaspoons (kosher salt, if you use regular table salt reduce to 1 1/2 tsp)
Water, lukewarm - 1 1/2 cups

Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a stand mixer with the flat beater. Add the water and mix on low for 3 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Change to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes until the dough is smooth. You can adjust the dough here by adding water or flour.

On a lightly floured surface cut the dough into four pieces and form into balls. Roll each ball like a carpet into a cylinder. Lay it down seam side up and roll it up again. Roll it one more time in the same manner and form it into a tight ball. Roll the balls in flour and place on a floured tray. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 4 or 5 hours until puffy and soft. If the dough seems to be rising too fast, move it to a cooler area, if it seems to be the same size after a few hours move it to a warm place like a microwave with a cup of boiling water in it.

Preheat the oven with a pizza stone at 550F for one hour before you plan to make the pizzas. Gather your favorite toppings, sauce, cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni, etc. Form one of the dough balls into a pizza shape and place on a sheet pan or peel sprinkled with cornmeal or a piece of parchment paper on the pan instead of cornmeal. Top the dough with your favorite toppings (don't over do it on the toppings or the crust will be soggy). Carefully slide the pizza onto the pizza stone or slide it on the stone with the parchment and bake only about 5 minutes until the top is nice and brown.

Use your sheet pan or peel and remove the pizza to a rack for a few minutes until the cheese sets and cut.

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