Pizza & Dough

One of my favorite recipes is for a simple pizza dough and sauce from America’s Test Kitchen. I’ve made it with both a food processor and by mixing the dough by hand and let’s be clear, the food processor makes your life much easier. If you want to mix it by hand, just use a big bowl (make sure it’s real big!) to put all the dry ingredients in, then add the wet ingredients slowly as you keep mixing it all together with a spatula). You’ll also have to do extra kneading, like 8 minutes instead of one minute so the moral of the story is, own a big food processor.

“let’s be clear, the food processor makes your life much easier”

Dough Ingredients

• 0.5 cups warm water (110 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 envelope instant yeast
• 1.25 cups room temp water
• 2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1.5 tsp salt

This process is pretty simple. We want to get some basic dry ingredients together (flour and salt) and then mix in some wet ingredients.  The wet ingredients need a bit more care because yeast is special and needy. You take the warm water and mix in the yeast and wait until it starts blooming then you put the rest of the water and olive oil in there and then slowly drizzle it into the dry mix while its mixing in the food processor. It will become a giant blob then you take it onto a floured work surface and knead it for a bit.  You then oil up a big bowl and put the dough into it, cover it with plastic, then let it chill in room temp for like 90-120 minutes.  Once it’s done, cut it into two or three pieces (or however many you want), then form it into balls.

With each ball, you just form it into disks.  You can go fancy like I learned at Domino’s with my buddy scooter or you can use a rolling pin.  Key note: when you are forming something into a pie, the more you work it, the less air will be in the dough and the denser it will be. If you just roll it out with a rolling pin, you will have a really dense, chewy disk of bread.  If you manage to stretch it by hand carefully then you might have some of those delicious bubbles in it! Those are exciting! VARIETY!

Once you have the dough ready, throw some sauce and some low moisture (trust me) mozzarella cheese and whatever toppings you want on there.  Put it in the oven at the highest temp possible and keep an eye on it.  Should take about 15 minutes.

Sauce Ingredients

• 14.5oz can Tomato Puree (note, I used diced tomatoes then put them in the food processor, this is dumb, get tomato puree).
• Some garlic, like 3-4 cloves but how much is up to you, I guess, but err on the high side. Mince it or put it through a garlic press.
• Olive oil

The sauce is simple, take some tomatoes and cook them for a while with aromatics until you like the way it tastes. You start by putting olive oil and garlic in a cold sauce pan, then turn it to medium heat until the garlic gets fragrant, then put the pureed tomatoes in there and maybe a bit of water to thin it out and allow it to cook longer and gain flavor. Put a lid partially over the sauce pan (or a splatter screen) and bring it to a simmer, then lower the heat to low and cook it until it tastes the way you want. Once it’s done, let it cool for a bit then throw it one the uncooked pizza dough (should be the first thing on the dough unless you’re from Chicago, in which case YOU HAVE THE WRONG DOUGH).

Try this recipe out and have fun.  I like to top the pizza with mushrooms, bell peppers, sausage, or --  God help me – Hormel peperoni. Don’t be a shame to your family like I have, be true to yourself.