PIZZA NIGHT
Another try at dough this week! This attempt features pizza dough made from scratch, along with a simple pizza sauce to make the entire process hands-on from start to finish. The most fun for me still comes from building the pies and deciding on topping combinations, if I’m being honest, but you need to have a sturdy foundation built first!
I chose to make this basic dough out of all purpose flour because that’s all I have at the moment, and the APF definitely makes it taste like your classic frozen pizza dough from the grocery store (I thought of those school cafeteria personal pizzas topped with chunky grated white cheddar and oily slices of pepperoni). Despite rolling out the dough pretty thin, close to breaking at some points, the dough puffs up quite a bit to about a 1/4” thickness while baking and holds toppings well. I’ve seen other dough recipes that incorporate bread flour instead of/mixed with APF to create a more nuanced, yeasty flavor that you usually get from pizza parlors, and encourage throwing cornmeal on the pan underneath your shaped pizza dough to get a crusty bottom, so know that there are many ways to make a base to suit your taste!
Pizza Dough
From Sally’s Baking Addiction
Makes 2 12” pizza doughs
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star Platinum instant yeast (1 standard packet)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbps olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
To make: Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Add olive oil, salt, and flour, then beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 3-4 minutes or use stand mixer on low speed if it isn’t too heavy for the mixer to handle. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger – if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading. Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray, then place dough in bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size. Once doubled, preheat oven to 475°F and lightly grease baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray or olive oil before shaping the dough. Take the dough and punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface using lightly floured hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle. Lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges by pinching the edges. Before adding toppings, brush the top lightly with olive oil to prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy. Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Top with your favorite toppings (suggestions below) and bake for 12-15 minutes. If you’re only baking one pizza, freeze leftover dough by lightly coating all sides of the dough ball with nonstick spray or olive oil and placing into an individual zipped-top bag. Seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter before shaping.
Notes: I used a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment for this recipe, which worked well. Make sure the dough is a proper consistency after kneading — mine was still pretty wet which made it difficult to shape, and I ended up having to more flour after the fact to salvage it.
Pizza Sauce
From The Kitchn
Makes ~4 cups
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 (14.5 oz) can whole or diced tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
To make: Add all ingredients into food processor and purée, stopping the motor and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. adding the rest of the ingredients. The sauce can be used as is — spoon onto a round pizza dough and use the back of the spoon to smooth it out. If you have leftover sauce, refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight before use or microwave the cubes in 30-second bursts until they melt.
Notes: I used about half of the sauce for two 12” pies, but you can easily use more since the consistency is a bit watery. I used fire roasted canned tomatoes, which added a bit more flavor, but a classic margherita pizza will likely benefit from plain tomatoes. If you want to freeze leftover sauce into meal prep-friendly portions, divide sauce in a muffin tin and freeze until solid before transferring frozen sauce cubes to a freezer container.
Topping Suggestion #1: Rosemary Potato & Bacon
Potatoes adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes toppings for one 12” pizza
1 red potato, peeled and thinly sliced (used a mandolin)
1/2 onion, diced
1 rosemary stalk, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 bacon strips, diced
Salt
Pepper
To make: Combine enough lukewarm water to cover potatoes and 2 tsp salt in a bowl, stirring until the salt has dissolved. Put the sliced potatoes directly into the salted water, which prevents oxidation and also helps soften them so they cook up nicely, and allow to soak from at least 30 minutes. Once ready to top pizza, drain potatoes in a colander and use hands to press out as much water as possible, then pat dry on paper towels. Toss potatoes, onion, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Spread this mixture onto your sauced pizza, fanning out the potatoes to the edges for even coverage. Top with chopped bacon. Bake at 475°F for 13-15 minutes, until the topping starts to turn golden brown and the crust is nicely bronzed underneath.
Note: To prevent the bacon from burning, cover with aluminum foil halfway through the bake time or when you begin to notice charring.
Topping Suggestion #2: Chicken, Spinach & Honey Goat Cheese
Makes toppings for one 12” pizza
1 chicken breast or thigh, cooked and diced/shredded
3-4 handfuls of spinach
1/3 cup honey goat cheese, crumbled
To make: Top sauced pizza with spinach before adding chicken on top and crumbling honey goat cheese across the pizza. Bake at 475°F for 13-15 minutes, until the goat cheese has melted into puddles and crust is nicely bronzed underneath.
Note: To prevent the chicken from burning, cover with aluminum foil halfway through the bake time or when you begin to notice charring.