Pizza
Oscar Sunday can really only mean one thing - Pizza Party!
I'm from Seattle. I can't pretend to say that pizza is in my bones, something my friends from Chicago and New York can rightfully claim. However, I am an avid pizza eater and this recipe takes the cake (or pie!). My ideal pizza is typically top of mouth-searing hot, thin, non tomato saucy (or very little sauce), and piled on with great toppings.
Some of my favorite pizza combinations:
Carmelized onions and brie
Arugula, prosciutto, and egg
Classic margherita - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil
Spicy sausage, roasted garlic, and mushrooms
Marinated artichokes and sliced olives
This recipe is the most satisfyingly easy pizza dough and so much better than store bought!
Pizza
Source: Roberta's, NY Times Cooking
Makes two 12 inch pizzas
Pizza is totally doable without a pizza stone, preheat a cookie sheet upside down. My pizza stone is 15 inches, so often I will 1.5x times this recipe to make a bigger pizza and it works out perfectly. A scale is awesome for the recipe and will make measuring out ingredients both super accurate and fast.
There are many ways to transfer a pizza from the counter to the pizza stone if you don't have a peel:
Method 1: Sprinkle fine corn meal onto bottom of a cookie sheet (a flat sheet works best). Flour the bottom of the pizza dough and transfer to the cookie sheet. Slide pizza dough around the sheet to make sure there are no sticky spots. Add more cornmeal as needed. Add toppings to the pizza and carefully slide the assembled pizza onto the pizza stone.
Method 2: Flour the bottom of the pizza dough and transfer to a sheet of parchment. Slide pizza dough around parchment to make sure there are no sticky spots. Add more flour or cornmeal as needed to prevent sticking. Add toppings to the pizza and place pizza and parchment onto the hot baking stone. Once pizza has baked for a few minutes, the parchment can be removed from under the pizza.
153 grams 00 flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
153 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons)
8 grams fine sea salt (1 teaspoon)
2 grams active dry yeast (3/4 teaspoon)
4 grams extra-virgin olive oil (1 teaspoon)
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together 200 grams (a little less than 1 cup) lukewarm tap water, the yeast and the olive oil, then pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands until flour is well combined, approximately 3 minutes. Cover bowl with towel and let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.
- Knead rested dough for 3 minutes until smooth and slightly elastic. Cut into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with dampened cloth, and let rest and rise for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature or place in a greased bowl covered with greased plastic wrap and leave for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. If you refrigerate the dough, remove it 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.
- Preheat pizza stone in oven on hottest setting for at least 45 minutes.
- To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Working quickly, top pizza and carefully slide onto the hot pizza stone (see note).
- Bake until cheese is bubbling, and dough is crisp and darkened in spots.
