Pizza Dough II
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I’ve been thinking of doing pizza every week or at least every other week for a Friday or Saturday night meal. I’m sure that’s pretty common with a lot of people. My quest is to try and find some really good but different options in pizza dough, and of course toppings. So far the toppings have remained the same but I’ve now tried two different dough recipes and they definitely have their own taste and thickness.
The previous pizza dough I shared had a really nice thick crust. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out since I gave up on trying to stretch it pretty quick. It was delicious. That recipe was a quick recipe, meaning ready to use in a handful of hours. I still needed to try other varieties and methods though.
This recipe isn’t a quick recipe. It’s quick to mix but then you let it sit for at least a day, or more if desired. Supposedly the longer you let it sit the better it tastes. I only let it sit for a day. If I had made the dough when I planned to, but totally forgot… two days in a row forgot, I might have let it sit for a few days. I wasn’t willing to wait longer this time. Pizza was planned for the weekend so no more waiting.
Another thing about this dough, it stretches really easily. The problem with easy to stretch dough, especially the thin kind which this is, is that holes easily happen. Not a big problem, just patch it up and continue forming your dough.
Simple to make but it does have it’s flaws. I’ll still plan to make it again though. I found that the thinner you make the crust, the more you have to watch it so the bottom doesn’t burn. It’s not too thin, but just right… or so I was told. I made two pizzas; one was made thin, the other not so thin. The not so thin variety would be perfect as cheesy garlic bread, which I will of course be trying sometime.
Pizza Dough II
Ingredients
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/2 Cups warm water
- 4 Cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 Cup olive oil
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in water. Remember the water needs to be warm, not room temp and not hot... warm. This is very important. Hot water kills yeast and water not warm enough won't allow the yeast to really do it's job properly. In a large bowl or stand mixer, toss in your flour and salt. On low speed, slowly pour olive oil over flour mixture. Add in water yeast mixture and combine well. Your dough will be super sticky and probably not so smooth.
- Grease a medium to large size bowl with oil. Shape your dough into a rough ball shape, this may be hard but it doesn't have to be perfect. Transfer dough to bowl, flip dough ball once so entire ball is now coated with oil. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap. Leave in the fridge until ready to use, at least a day or two.
- Preheat your oven to 500F°. Grease baking sheet. Split dough into two pieces. Stretch dough to form a long rectangle. You really don't need to pull much at this. Just hold the dough in the air and it will seriously start to fall and stretch on it's own. You will need to shape it a bit yourself once on the pan but for the most part, shaping this dough is pretty easy. Like I mentioned in the beginning, this dough has a tendency to be thin and rip easy. If that happens, just pinch to seal and continue. When you are satisfied with the shape and size of your dough, top as desired. Bake for 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy.
