Homemade Pizza Dough

HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH

Makes 1 very large pizza or two 12” pizzas

IMG_2740.JPG

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour

  • Slightly heaped ⅛ teaspoon (Overnight), ¼ (All-Day) or 1/2 teaspoon (Part-Day) instant or active dry yeast

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea or kosher salt

  • 1 1/3 cup room temperature water

PREPARATION

  • In a very large bowl, mix all ingredients with a spoon. The dough will be craggy and rough; this is fine! Cover bowl with plastic and keep at room temperature for approximately 22 (for Overnight schedule), 12 (for All-Day schedule) or 6 (for Part-Day schedule) hours, or until the dough has more than doubled. This takes longer in a chilly room and less in a very warm one, but don’t fret too much over this, as the dough is generally forgiving of a loosened schedule.

  • About 30 minutes before the dough is ready, heat the oven to its highest temperature – usually 550F. Put a baking tray in the oven *upside down* while the oven heats up. If you have a pizza stone, use that instead. 

  • Tear off a sheet of parchment the same size as your pizza stone/baking tray, and sprinkle it with cornmeal. 

  • Flour your counter very well. Scrape dough out of the bowl onto a floured counter; in the time it has risen it should change from that craggy rough ball to something very loose, soft, sticky and stretchy. Flour the top of the dough, and divide dough in half (or more pieces, if you’re making smaller pizzas). Form them into ball-like shapes. Use floured fingers to press and nudge dough into a roughly round or rectangular shape. Pick up the dough and circle it around your fists, letting the gravity gently stretch the dough. 

  • Land the dough on your prepared sheet of parchment paper. Add desired fixings and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating if it’s baking unevenly, until the top is blistered and the crust is golden. 

Do ahead option: Once risen and formed into ball-like shapes, the dough can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days.