This was the first pizza dough I ever attempted! Pretty easy, and doesn’t require anything terribly unusual, though a pizza stone is very helpful…
All-Purpose Pizza dough
Ingredients
- 5 c unbleached Bread flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 2 Tbsp olive oil + oil for bowl
- 1 3/4 c + 1 Tbsp water, at room temperature
- Non-stick cooking spray
Directions
- Combine flour, sugar, yeast, 2 Tbsp olive oil, and water in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix for about 3 minutes, or until all of the flour is wet. The dough will be soft and the gluten won’t be fully developed at this point.
- Continue mixing for an additional 2 minutes, or turn out and knead. Mix or knead long enough to create a smooth, supple dough, about 3 more minutes. Dough should be tacky, but not sticky. (If the dough seems stiff, incorporate water, a teaspoon at a time, as you mix; if the dough is too wet and sticky, sprinkle more flour as you mix or knead.)
- Lightly grease a bowl with olive oil, or non-stick spray. Form dough into a smooth ball, and place in the bowl covered with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap does not touch the bowl. Let dough stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight, or up to 3 days.
- Two hours before you plan to make the pizzas, mist a baking sheet with non-stick spray. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces, and form each into a smooth, round ball. Place dough on the prepared pan, mist lightly with spray, and cover lightly with plastic wrap.
- To shape dough, use hands to form into a disk, then drape over the backs of your hands using thumbs to gently stretch into a circle. Shape all of the dough at once.
- Preheat your oven and a pizza stone (located 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven) to 500 degrees F. Transfer one dough circle onto a rimless baking sheet dusted with flour, and top with desired toppings (if using a cast iron skillet, wait to top the dough until the oven has reached its temperature).
- Slide pizza carefully onto the pizza stone. Bake 5-7 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing
Here’s the deal with this recipe – you need to know that you’ll want pizza at least a day in advance so that you can let the dough rest in the fridge overnight. But… you can also make the dough, get it through the rest and fridge stages, divide it into 4 (or six), and freeze in zip top bags. To use, thaw the dough to room temperature, then shape as desired.
Originally, this recipe only uses a pizza stone, and it can be a bit tricky to get the dough with its toppings on the stone without losing some of the toppings in the transfer. I haven’t tried it yet, but I believe using a cast iron skillet, might help – waiting to add the toppings until the dough is in the skillet, of course.