Pizza Crust
This is a very basic pizza crust that can be used as a base for more complex creations.
- I make this dough in a stand mixer, but you can also knead it by hand. Put the flour in the bowl, add the yeast, and mix with a dough hook on low.
- Add water gradually until the dough sticks in a ball. Mix/knead for 15-20 minutes. The dough should be very elastic and not at all sticky.
- Remove the dough, form it into a ball, and coat it with the olive oil.
- Put it in a bowl somewhere warm-ish and humid, and cover it. You can do this step inside a gallon ziploc bag if you like, which will make it rise more slowly. The idea is for little oxygen to reach the dough. Some people also cover the dough directly in Saran wrap. Rise for about two hours, or until it's doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough (literally, punch it) and form it into 3-4 smaller balls. Let these rise for half an hour or so, then you're ready to start making pizza.
- Sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza peel (yes, you really need to get a pizza peel) and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. The cornmeal should keep it from sticking to the pizza peel. Pick it up and stretch it, then roll it some more. I find one of those French rolling pins that's tapered on the ends works the best.
- Make sure the pizza dough is not sticking to the pizza peel. Shake it back and forth, and add some more cornmeal if it's sticking anywhere. Transferring the pizza to a pizza oven or pizza stone relies on having a pizza that is not sticking to the pizza peel.
- Put some stuff on top of the pizza crust, if you like. My favorite topping is peanut butter, leeks, anchovies, and diced tomatoes, in that order. If you don't know what goes on pizza, why are you reading this?
- Cook it hot. I probably should have added a "pre-heat oven" step. You want your pizza stone (yes, if you don't have a pizza oven, you at least need a stone) to be radiating heat, and ideally to be hotter than the oven. One way to get this effect is to heat it up at 450 or so for an hour, then cook the pizza with the oven at 350 or so. But if you've got a pizza oven, anything under 900 degrees should work.
- In order to slide the pizza (with all its toppings intact) onto the cooking surface, you should shake it back and forth a couple times to verify it is not sticking, then angle the pizza peel downward about 30 degrees, placing it halfway back on the cooking surface. Slide it forward almost to the back, stopping abruptly, then slide it back and forth a few more times. If you dump the pizza upside-down, get ready to turn off the fire alarm.
- Take it out when it's done. You'll know it's done because it will be cooked just the way you like it. This will take between 2 and 20 minutes, depending upon how hot your cooking surface is, and what toppings are on the pizza.
- Cool it a little, cut it in slices, eat it.