Perfecting Pizza At Home

If you are somewhat adventurous in the kitchen 

I highly recommend making homemade pizza.

It's really fun and actually really easy 

and perfect for dinner in the summer time

I tried 3 or 4 different recipes and finally figured out how 

to make great dough that's perfect every time

I like a thinner dough 

with a nice chewy well browned crust

This recipe is an adaptation of "Now or Later Pizza"

 from the King Arthur website

but here is what I discovered along the holy grail of pizza making....

It's all about the flour! 

The secret is to use a "00" flour (dopio zero)

which is more finely ground that the typical bread flour we find here in the US

I found this beautiful flour imported from Italy on Amazon

It is a bit more pricey than regular flour but I think well worth the money.  

You won't be using it every day (unless you are a pizza fanatic)

so it goes a long way if you just use if for pizza 

Here is an interesting blog post about this flour if you are curious

The second ingredient is adding Semolina flour

I purchased this brand form the same Italian supplier but semolina is widely available and 

Bob's Red Mill is also excellent

This third ingredient is defiantly optional but does add something to the flavor 

which I can't really explain.  

It's sort of like a sour dough/cheese/garlic flavoring 

You can get this from King Arthur Flour 

and it costs about 9 dollars

It lasts quite a long time too

OK soooooo

You will also need 

Yeast

Salt

Olive oil

&

water

pretty simple list

I make my dough by hand with the help of a 

batter spoon thingy (sometimes called a Swedish Wisk)

in a large mixing bowl

I will give you the entire recipe at the end of the post 

but quickly take you through the process

The 00 flour is on the left and the semolina on the right

They are both super fine flours and mix together beautifully

Combine the flours and the pizza flavoring

add in the yeast

some olive oil and the salt and combine well

the dough will start to pull together really quickly 

when it looks lumpy but well hydrated you are ready to knead

I like using the semolina for my bench flour but what ever is nearby is fine

When you dump out your dough you can quickly combine

and start to shape 

to begin kneading

Dust your hands too 

Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and well formed

I try not to over knead this dough 

and leave it a bit rough looking

Put your kneaded dough into a plastic container like this Cambro

Tightly seal and let rise for 1 hour

It won't really double in size at this point...but just wait!

Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or up to 36 hours

I have been making the dough once per week 

and usually use it about 3 days after I have made it

This is what it will look like after a few days

Awesome!

At this point I divide the dough either in half or in quarters

Use now or use later

It also freezes great 

Watch this to get inspired....I dare ya

Here's the recipe:

1 3/4 cups Italian "00" flour

1 1/4 cups Semolina flour

1 Tbl Pizza dough flavoring

1 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tbl olive oil

1 1/2 cups water

next post....fire up the pizza oven

xo

kelley