The Daily Grind, Chop and Fry

I ought to know this off by heart; the book falls open to the page on its own. Unrisen pizza dough keeps in the fridge for a day or so if you are doing things ahead of time, and if you want to make extra, it makes excellent Tortas de Aceite (recipe in a post to come, or follow the link.) 

Over the years, I’ve made a lot of pizzas. Can I save you some time and money? If you are going to be making pizza at home, having the right equipment makes a big difference in how it turns out and how much you enjoy making it. It can be very frustrating to go to the trouble to make a nice crust and load it up and then not be able to put it in the oven without a near-disaster. Or get it out of the oven without it being half-stuck to a screen or stone. A few tips will help, too.

1. Buy a pizza stone. Get the largest one that will fit in your oven. For this reason, square or rectangular is good. You can spend a lot of money on a stone, but there is no good reason to. You can just keep the stone in the oven on the bottommost rack, and it bakes other things, like breads, very well, too. The stone does so much better a job at making the crust crisp and evenly cooked than anything else that there is no contest.
2. Get a peel. Once you’ve rolled/pulled your dough out and shaped it, dust your peel with corn meal and place the dough on the peel then build the pizza. It will take some practice, but you should be able to slide your pizza onto the stone without mishap. I use a large spatula to help things along. (Those two items, stone and peel, might set you back about $60. Or two nights’ home delivery. And you won’t have wasted money on pizza screens.)
3. Don’t overload your pizza. It makes it too hard to transfer to the stone (or, if you are using one, pushes the dough through the holes in the screen) and keeps the dough from cooking through in the center.
4. A pizza joint’s oven is very hot; our ovens don’t get as hot. So turn the dial up to “11″ and keep an eye on your baby. She should be done in about 8 minutes, but that will be up to your oven.

Makes two 14 inch pizzas

1 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast

3 C (about 14 oz.) all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed

2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling

1 to 1 1/4 cups water

2 tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil

Combine the yeast, flour and 2 tsp salt in the bowl of a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and the 2 tbsp of oil through the fee tupe.

Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds. (In the unlikely event that the mixture is too sticky, add flour, a tablespoon at a time.)

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball. Grease a bowl with the remaining oil, and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm, draft-free area until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. You can cut the rising time short if you are in a hurry, or you can start the dough in the morning and let it rise slowly in a cooler place during the day.

Proceed with any pizza recipe, or wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month. defrost in a covered bowl in the refrigerator or at room temperature. 

Shopping List

1 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
3 C (about 14 oz.) all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed
2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
corn meal for sprinkling