Recipe of the Week

I have been experimenting for years to learn to make excellent pizzeria style pizza as to me that is the perfect pizza and who doesn't love a really good pizza. I was making personal size pizzas to sell to mikes co-workers this week and so I decided to post this recipe as recipe of the week. It is not quick and easy but at least the work is split up over an at least 24 hour period. It is the pizza for special occasions, not a last minute pizza recipe but it is worth it, at least I think so. The crust is chewy and crispy yet light and airy and full of irregular sized bubbles. I love a good crumb (the bubbles you see in bread, big, small, minuscule or irregular meaning all different sizes). This dough goes through a process called cold fermentation which allows it time to develop a truly rustic flavor. That is the reason for so little yeast if you bakers are wondering. Otherwise the the dough would over ferment, in other words it would run out of food before the dough has the chance to take on the complex flavors that time gives it. Many bakeries use a sponge to do this as it is not practical to need cold storage for the amount of dough they produce. But for home bakers this is far more practical then keeping a sponge alive. I have a recipe for rolls that use cold fermentation and they are amazing. I also have been doing french bread using this method.

Ingredients for crust
flour (amount varies depending on brand and location)
2 tsp. table salt
1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Combine yeast, water and sugar and let sit for 5 minutes. Mix in salt, olive oil and 2 cups flour. Stir for one minute and then let rest 5 minutes so the flour can fully hydrate. Continue mixing and add flour as needed, a little at a time until you have a soft smooth dough that is somewhere between sticky and tacky. Spread a little oil on the counter and your hands and put the dough on the counter and stretch out one side of the dough and then fold it back over top of the dough then repeat with the other three sides. Turn over and cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Repeat another three times waiting 10 minutes in between each stretching. You will see the dough get super soft and smooth. I liken how it looks to a ball of fresh mozzarella. Place dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 4 days. Bring the dough out of the fridge an hour and a half before you plan to cook it and divide into how ever many pizzas you want to make, keeping size of pizza and thickness of crust in mind.  Shape into balls and cover but leave out at room temp.If you don't want to bake them all that day then place the ones you won't be using back in the fridge. About 1 hour before baking place your pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F. Once the hour and a half is up for the dough to come to room temp. sprinkle some flour on your counter and on hands and transfer one ball of dough to the counter. Sprinkle flour over the dough ball and then carefully and lightly stretch out the ball they place over your fist and put your other fist beside the first and carefully stretch the dough with your two fists while rotating the dough on top of your fists until desired size. Be very gentle when forming it so you don't pop many bubbles as this is key to the texture. Place on oiled parchment paper. Transfer to peel and top pizza as desired then use the peel to transfer the pizza and parchment paper to the preheated pizza stone. Immediately turn the heat down to 425-450 degrees F depending on your oven. Bake, turning once until evenly browned. Repeat with remaining dough.