Pizza Dough

We’ve been making pizza every Friday night for about seven years now. Making pizza from scratch is how we really got started with our mini-farm and trying to become more self-sufficient. Read the details here. Several have asked recently about our pizza crust recipe. Thank you for the compliments.

The simple recipe, is nothing special beyond being shared by friends to get us started.We like it because it is easy and fast. We make ours with our counter-top mixer. We used to stir it by hand, but have decided to use the machine to make the job easier and a little less time-consuming.

Basic recipe made right in the mixer bowl:

1 Tbs. Yeast

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

3 cups of warm water

The salt and sugar help the yeast to get going. If your yeast is less than fresh, you may want to let it bloom, then:

Add 7 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. (See our variations below.)

Mix on low for a few minutes. Increase speed and mix until dough pulls away from the sides.

Transfer to an oiled bowl to rise until doubled. Turn out onto a floured counter and kneed for two or three minutes. Cut into three or four equal pieces depending on the thickness of crust you prefer.

Shape into rounds, place on a floured board and let rise while you are finishing the sauce and chopping and slicing the toppings. This step will allow the dough to relax and will make it easier to roll out.

Roll out each round of dough to desired thickness or diameter. Place on a round or square pan depending on your preference, or on what pans you have. We use a round Pampered Chef baking stone. Top with sauce, cheese and other toppings. At this point, depending on how you like your crust, you can let the dough rise again, or you can bake it right away.

Bake in a 500 degree oven until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden, approx. 12-15 minutes. We use a pizza stone on a middle or slightly higher rack. Experiment with cooking times, rack height and pans to get the crust just the way you like it. In our family, some like it thin and crispy, some like it thicker and floppy. We make some of each.

To get a crunchy-tender crust, America’s Test Kitchen recommends letting the dough rest in the fridge for up to three days... yes, days. Even though we make pizza every week, for some reason we haven’t yet remembered to make the dough on Tuesday night. Here is their video. 

Our variations on the basic recipe:

We like to soak our grains before cooking them to maximize nutrition.

These days, we also use whole wheat flour. You can use as much or as little as you like. You will have to adjust the amount of water or the total amount of flour depending on how much whole wheat flour you use. We find that substituting one cup of whole wheat for one cup of AP flour doesn’t usually require any further adjustment.

We also add about a tablespoon of dried summer savory, marjoram, or oregano to the dough to make an herbed crust. We will be trying a rosemary and olive crust soon. We also plan a sourdough crust, and one made with yogurt as the starter. We’ll let you know how those turn out.