FOOD
Crash Course: How to Make the Perfect Pizza
Tips on how to make the perfect pizza at home.
FOOD
Crash Course: How to Make the Perfect Pizza
Tips on how to make the perfect pizza at home.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees), plus 1 tablespoon
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing dough
- 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 4 cups bread flour (aerated), plus extra for dusting
- 3 tablespoons semolina flour, divided
- 2/3 cup favorite tomato sauce, homemade or store-bought, divided
- 12 ounces freshly shredded low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese, divided
- 6 ounces freshly shredded fontina cheese, divided
- 8 ounces pepperoni sausage, thinly sliced, divided
- Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish (optional)
- Red pepper flakes, for garnish (optional)
Steps
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour. In a liquid measuring cup, accurately measure the water.
- Stir in the sugar and salt to dissolve.
- Add the olive oil and yeast. Gently stir.
- Turn the mixer on to low to gently incorporate and then increase the speed to low-medium, mixing until a dough ball forms, 3 minutes.
- Dust a clean, flat work surface with flour.
- Remove the dough from the mixing bowl onto the floured surface and lightly dust the dough.
- Continuously and vigorously knead by hand for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky.
- Pull off a small piece of dough and stretch until thin – this is called the windowpane test. The dough should be almost translucent without tearing. If the dough tears, continue to knead. Windowpane test your dough again.
- Once it’s ready, cut the dough in half and form each of the doughs into a ball, pinching the dough on the underside to seal it.
- Place each in a separate airtight container (one that’s bigger than the dough to give room to proof) and put into the refrigerator to cold ferment for 8 hours (for a quick pizza) and up to 4 days (ideal).
- When ready to make your pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator.
- Re-form into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl.
- Gently cover with a clean towel and set aside for 2 hours, to both rise and come up to room temperature.
- One hour into the dough’s rise, place oven racks on the very top and upper-middle positions. Put a pizza stone or cast-iron pan on the top rack and a pizza stone on the rack below it.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
- Heat the cast-iron pan and pizza stone for 1 hour.
- Dust a pizza peel (or upside down cookie sheet) with 1 1/2 tablespoons of semolina flour.
- Remove the dough from the bowl onto the floured surface.
- Using your hands, stretch and press the dough evenly from the middle outward, leaving a puffy perimeter for an airy crust to form. To stretch the dough further, pick it up, holding it about 1 inch from the perimeter so as to not deflate the crust, and gently rotate the dough in a circular motion, allowing gravity to evenly stretch it.
- Place the dough back onto the peel and re-shape into a circle.
- Brush the crust with olive oil. Spread 1/3 cup of tomato sauce onto the dough. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella and fontina. Arrange half of the pepperoni slices on top.
- Carefully slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes until the crust is golden brown and bubbled, and the cheese is melted.
- Garnish with Parmesan cheese, basil leaves and red pepper flakes, if desired.
- Repeat with the remaining dough.