The Hubs has many wonderful qualities, two of which are generosity and computer prowess. The computer prowess part might not seem quite so amazing to you, but it really is. Every time I say to the Hubs "I wish my blog could do _____", a few moments later it can! Recently I told the Hubs that I really wished that my blog had the capacity to print off just the post (without all of the sidebar stuff) and that the post had a printer icon to identify that printing ability. Check the bottom of this post, that printer icon, see how cool the Hubs' talent really is?
This new found ability to print is just in time for my revelation of the Hubs' secret pizza dough recipe (there's that generosity I was talking about). It turns out that the Hubs' method of trial and error to find the best pizza dough recipe was to try different recipes he found on the internet (more of that computer prowess). The one we liked best came from the blog 101 Cookbooks (the post is called "Best Pizza Dough Ever" I can see why the Hubs picked it) and it seems that the original recipe is from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice. So even though I am sharing this recipe I am liberally applying credit where credit is due.
Not-So-Secret Pizza Dough
4 1/2 cups unbleached high-gluten bread or all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups water, ice cold
Cornmeal for dusting
Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer. If you aren't using bread flour you will need to add vital wheat gluten as per the instructions on the wheat gluten box or the dough won't have enough structure to form. (That is the Hub's Voice of Personal Experience.) Turn the mixer on to low speed and pour in the water and olive oil until the liquid is all absorbed and the dough has come together. The dough should be sticky and pull away from the sides of the mixer's bowl. Increase the speed the medium-high and let the machine need the dough for 5 minutes (the dough hook attachment is best for this).
After 5 minutes take the dough out of the mixing bowl and put it on a floured counter (also flour your hands). Roll the dough into a round ball and cut it into quarters. We only make two of the dough balls at once, so if you are freezing two of the dough balls, spray them with a little cooking spray and put them into freezer bags and then directly into the freezer. Spray the two remaining dough pieces with cooking spray and let them rise on the counter, covered in a clean kitchen towel, for 2 - 3 hours.
The Hubs pointed out the dough is much better if left in the fridge overnight and eaten the next day. So once you've cut the dough into quarters and frozen two of the pieces spray the remaining two pieces with cooking spray and put them into a large bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next day, take the dough out of the fridge about 2 - 3 hours before you plan to eat it, punch the dough in the bowl down, take it out of the bowl and leave it on the counter covered in a clean kitchen towel to rise.
The frozen dough should be taken out of the freezer 24 hours before you plan to use it and put into the frigde. Take that dough out of the freezer 2-3 hours before eating it and (again) let it sit on the counter under a clean kitchen towel to rise.
Some at-home pizza making tricks (these are also the Voice of Personal Experience):
First, the best thing you can buy for making pizza is a pizza stone. It's worth it. You can even store the pizza stone in the oven where it will regulate the temperature while you are baking, which means that opening the door to peer at the food in the oven (who? me??) won't drastically affect the oven's temperature.
Second, turn your oven all the way up when baking the pizza (be VERY careful taking the pizza out and you probably shouldn't do it while drinking wine) so that the center gets nice and crispy. It also only takes about 10 minutes to bake the pizza at those temperatures.
Finally, put cornmeal down on the vessel you are using to transfer the pizza from the counter to the oven (we use a cutting board) and make sure that the dough slides back and forth on the vessel before opening the oven (again, it's hot in there, you've got to be prepared).
Top and enjoy with abandon! Bon Appetit!
Serves 2 - 6
1 Additional Thoughts:
Cool. I'll definitely be making pizza in the next few weeks. I wonder if I can coax Kaylee into eating some? ;)
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