Mike’s Homemade Pizza Dough
This recipe makes excellent dough for pizza and calzones and flatbreads. This recipe is for one large 16 inch. You become the creative genius by selecting the toppings you want and how much. We love making pizza here at home. Well, everyone loves me making them i guess you could say.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and measuring spoons, mixing spoon or carving fork
- Pizza stone or baking pan (try to use a stone if you have one) I've attached a link below of the stones we have.
- Hot Oven
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 Cups Bread or all purpose flour
- 1 TSP Course salt
- 1 1/2 TSP Yeast-dry. Make sure it's fresh/not expired.
- 3/4 Cup Plus 2 TBSP of warm water. This will depend on the type of crust you desire. (See below) Temp should be 105-115. Not hotter, you don't want to kill the yeast.
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil – Not EVOO. Not EVOO.
- 3 TBSP +/- Flour for kneading
- Corn meal for the paddle
- Cheese, bacon, onions, mushrooms…whatever you want to top your pizza with.
Instructions
- Mixing is where you can begin giving the pizza your own personal touch. Most recipes use a 1/4 inch thickness as general guide. We prefer a thinner crust. To achieve that, make the dough a little drier and shape to 1/8 inch thickness. Increase the over temp to 475-500F (246- 260C for our european friends). For a thicker crust, make the dough moister and softer. Whichever you choose, allow the dough to rise again for about 30 more minutes.
- Bowl/Hand: Mix flour and salt in your bowl. Make a small well in the center, distributing the flour around the side so the water does not run out. Sprinkle yeast into the well, pour about 2 tablespoons for water into the well and mix with your fingertips until yeast is dissolved. Pour in remaining water with olive oil. Starting from the inside of the circle, gradually brush the flour into the liquid with your fingers. When the flour is all incorporated, gather the dough into a ball. Knead until smooth and elastic, occasionally slapping the dough on the counter top surface. This should take about 10 minutes for you to properly knead the dough. I any dry particles remain, sprinkle with a few drops of water. If dough is too sticky, knead in some additional flour. Dough should be soft, and easy to work; however, dough will become softer as it rises and if it's too soft, it's more difficult to work.
- Food-Processor: Mix flour and salt thoroughly using several pulses or quick on/offs. Sprinkle yeast over water in your measuring cup and mix well. Add olive oil and mix again.With machine running, now carefully pour the water, yeast, olive oil mixture through the feed tube and continue processing until the dough is smooth, moist and well mixed about 10 seconds. Dough should NOT form a BALL. Turn dough out onto your work surface and knead until smooth, and silken. About 3-5 minutes
- Rising: Form dough into a circle makes for eventual shaping of the pizza easier. Basically you are tucking the dough ends underneath and slightly stretching it as you do so. Arrange the dough tucked side down on a baking pan or cutting board with a little rice flour sprinkled on it, as rice flour is not readily absorbed by the dough. Otherwise, I will sometimes just spray it using cooking spray. Cover with saran wrap so the dough doesn't dry out or get crusty, but allowing enough space so the dough can rise. Allow to sit in a cold oven for 1 1/2 -2 hours. Notes: we usually make smaller/individual size pizzas, so i'll cut the dough into smaller pieces and allow them to rise. So i might have four dough balls that I'll allow to rise.
- Once your ready to start making your pizzas, adjust your oven racks. I like one at the top and one at the bottom. This way i can rotate the pizza to adjust how fast it's baking. I start at the bottom for a few minutes to get a crispy crust, then move to the top shelf where the heat rises to finish the toppings. Always rotate the pizza regardless of the shelf as the back is always hotter than the front.
Notes
Looking for wines to accompany your pizza? You can go red, white, rose or sparkling. We typically choose a good red.
We have this one: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/williams-sonoma-pizza-stone/?catalogId=79&sku=4820531&cm_ven=PLA&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Cooks%27%20Tools%20%3E%20Pizza%20Stones%20%26%20Tools®ion_id=658780&cm_ite=4820531&gclid=CjwKCAjwtfqKBhBoEiwAZuesiMejuJ5Jx_H9SjfbNwwkqqHpZ8uXcvpyARxPANYGoPpfL2E-pTIKARoCcFcQAvD_BwE
We also have several of these round shaped: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/american-metalcraft-stone15-15-round-ceramic-pizza-stone/124STONE15.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwtfqKBhBoEiwAZuesiPeB4nijWxN3a4IzSDv0xd9FNGrKc8M0Tm-pgq12fStkAo4O-HnTnxoCFJEQAvD_BwE
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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