Pizza with Quick Homemade Dough
King Arthur’s Quick Homemade Dough with “00” Flour
I owe my pizza shaping skills to my former medical scribe, Adam. He made hundreds of pizzas in his former life as a chef. There are many recipes out there for pizza dough; this is fast and ideal for a weeknight or Teaching Kitchen! The higher amount of instant yeast is a clue. If you don’t have time, the ready-made pizza dough in the refrigerator section of Trader Joe’s is very good.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/weeknight-neapolitan-style-pizza-recipe for the original recipe.
QUANTITY AND INGREDIENTS
THE DOUGH (for 2 medium-sized pizzas or 4 individual pizzas)
3 cups (360g) King Arthur ‘00’ Pizza Flour (in most supermarkets or on-line)
2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
2 tablespoons (25g) olive oil
Pinch of table sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons (8g) table salt (not kosher)
7/8 to 1 cup (198g to 227g) water, lukewarm (around 100 degrees, hotter water may kill yeast)
TOPPINGS
Fresh pesto (see recipe)
1 12 ounce package 4 Italian cheese mix (Trader Joe’s Quattro Formaggio)
1 12 ounce container mozzarella balls (Trader Joe’s marinated preferred)
Sun-dried tomatoes in oil (Bella Sun Luci from Costco always on hand)
Semolina flour for baking
EQUIPMENT
Kitchen scale
Kitchen Aide Mixer with Paddle and Dough Hooks
Baking stone for oven
Parchment paper
Pizza peel
PREPARE YOUR MIS EN PLACE
Read and reread the recipe. Divide the tasks amongst team members.
Gather all the ingredients and necessary equipment.
For the pizza dough, all the ingredients can be weighed directly in the Kitchen Aide mixer bowl using the kitchen scale.
CULINARY TIPS
The baking stone should be placed in the oven in advance of preheating and at least 8 inches from the heating element. Any closer, you risk the toppings cooking faster than the dough. The oven should be at the desired temperature for at least 30-60 minutes before baking the pizza to insure that the stone is adequately heated through.
“00” is ideal for pizza and pasta. In Italy, flour is categorized by numbers, unlike in the US (baking flour, all-purpose flour). The five categories are 00, 0, 1, 2, and Integrale (whole grain). According to caputoflour.com, “00“ flour is the most sifted of Italian flour, made only from the endosperm. “00” flour has a super-fine texture which allows for more water absorption and subsequent ease of rolling and stretching. Ideally the protein content of flour for making pizza is around 12% to allow for proper gluten development, which is what provides structure and chewiness. Both kneading and time contribute to gluten development and relaxation, the latter making it easier to shape.
Shaping pizza seems intimidating, but it’s not that hard with a little practice. Here is a video if you want to begin to explore this technique before class.
PREPARE THE PIZZA DOUGH WITH TOPPINGS
Preheat the oven to 550 F.
Weigh all your ingredients directly into the mixing bowl. First use the paddle to mix ingredients (or a flexible scraper), then switch to the dough hook. Mix dough on low speed until soft and smooth. This typically takes 5-7 minutes. Do the window pane test to see if you have adequate gluten development.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow it to rise for around one hour in a warm spot.
Divide the dough in half or fourths. Shape each half or fourth into a ball, and cover with a dish towel. Cover and let rise for another 15 minutes.
Put parchment paper on peel. Shape dough directly on parchment, 2 smaller pizzas or 1 medium size pizza at a time. Just before baking, put a fine layer of semolina underneath the pizza.
Top the crust with pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, 4-cheese mix, then mozzarella balls. Using the peel, ease the pizza with parchment directly onto the pizza stone. Bake directly on the stone for 5-7 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.
Remove the pizza from the oven and add any last-minute toppings (fresh basil) before cutting and serving.
