[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.
Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!
Special equipment: wok or dutch oven for deep frying
serves makes 4 pizzas, serving 6 to 8, active time 1 1/2 hours, total time 1 day
Combine flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Whisk until homogenous. Add water and stir with hands until dough comes together and no dry flour remains. Knead lightly for about 30 seconds, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 16 hours.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and using floured hands, divide into four pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place on floured board, leaving a few inches of space between each ball. Cover with plastic wrap or with a moist, clean dish towel. Let rise for two hours.
When dough has risen, preheat broiler to high heat with the rack set about 6 inches below the broiler element. Place a 10-inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet under the broiler. Add oil to a wide wok or Dutch oven and heat over high heat to 350°F, as registered on an instant-read or deep-fry thermometer. Adjust flame to maintain this temperature.
On a lightly floured bowl, stretch or roll one dough ball into a disk about 10-inches in diameter. Using your fingertips, make a dozen to 18 small holes in the stretched dough, leaving the outer 1-inch intact.
Carefully lower dough into hot oil, using a wire mesh spider or large metal spatula to keep it submerged. Fry until puffy and lightly crisped on bottom side, about 45 seconds. Carefully flip the dough with tongs and cook until second side is crisp, about 45 seconds longer. Carefully remove hot skillet from under broiler and set on stovetop. Flip dough back over and transfer to pre-heated skillet.
Scatter 1/4 of sausage over top of pizza, leaving a 1-inch border all around and a 2-inch wide hole in the center for the egg. Make sure sausage pieces are no more than 1/4-inch in size, or they will not cook through. Break egg into center of pizza, drizzle sausage with maple syrup, then sprinkle entire pizza with 1/4 of Parmesan. Transfer to broiler and cook until edges are charred (this will happen much faster than with a normal pizza), and egg is set but still liquid in the center, about 1 1/2 minutes.
Drizzle finished pizza with hollandaise and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately, then repeat steps 4 through 6 for remaining pizzas.
[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
This pizza may sound heavy, but it comes out light, crisp, and airy. Easily one of the best, tastiest ways to cook pizza at home without a wood-burning oven.
Note: Use high quality fresh mozzarella or smoke mozzarella. You can mimic smoked mozzarella by adding a 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke (I prefer Wright's brand) to 2 cups of milk, breaking up the mozzarella ball into 1- to 2-inch chunks, and soaking them in the milk for 1 hour.
About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.
Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!
Special equipment: wok or Dutch oven for deep frying
serves makes 4 pizzas, active time 45 minutes, total time 1 day
Combine flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Whisk until homogenous. Add water and stir with hands until dough comes together and no dry flour remains. Knead lightly for about 30 seconds, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 16 hours.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and using floured hands, divide into four pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place on floured board, leaving a few inches of space between each ball. Cover with plastic wrap or with a moist, clean dish towel. Let rise for two hours.
Meanwhile, roughly blend tomatoes in a food processor, blender, with a hand blender, or by hand. Season to taste with salt. Roughly tear mozzarella into 1/2- to 1-inch chunks and squeeze out excess whey.
When dough has risen, preheat broiler to high heat with the rack set about 6 inches below the broiler element. Place a 10-inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet under the broiler. Add oil to a wide wok or Dutch oven and heat over high heat to 350°F, as registered on an instant-read or deep-fry thermometer. Adjust flame to maintain this temperature.
On a lightly floured bowl, stretch or roll one dough ball into a disk about 10-inches in diameter. Using your fingertips, make a dozen to 18 small holes in the stretched dough, leaving the outer 1-inch intact.
Carefully lower dough into hot oil, using a wire mesh spider or large metal spatula to keep it submerged. Fry until puffy and lightly crisped on bottom side, about 45 seconds. Carefully flip the dough with tongs and cook until second side is crisp, about 45 seconds longer. Carefully remove hot skillet from under broiler and set on stovetop. Flip dough back over and transfer to pre-heated skillet.
Spread a few tablespoons of tomato sauce over the dough, leaving the risen bubbly edges uncovered. Scatter a few pieces of mozzarella and a few basil leaves over the pizza. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Transfer to broiler and cook until edges are charred (this will happen much faster than with a normal pizza), about 45 seconds.
Serve pizza immediately. Repeat steps 5 through 7 with remaining pizzas.
Note: This technique can be used with your favorite pizza dough recipe or with store-bought dough. It works best with a blow torch or a gas burner, but an electric burner will work as well.
serves makes 4 10-inch pizzas, active time 30 minutes, total time 1 day
Combine flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Whisk until homogenous. Add water and stir with hands until dough comes together and no dry flour remains. Dough will be very sticky. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 16 hours.
Turn dough out onto heavily floured board and using floured hands, divide into four pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place on floured board, leaving a few inches of space between each ball. Cover with plastic wrap or with a well-floured clean dish towel. Let rise for two hours.
Meanwhile, roughly blend tomatoes in a food processor, blender, with a hand blender, or by hand. Season to taste with salt. Roughly tear mozzarella into 1/2- to 1-inch chunks and squeeze out excess whey.
When dough has risen, gently stretch one dough ball on a well-floured board into a round about 6 inches in diameter. Gently lift dough and drape across knuckles, slowly stretching it out by rotating it around your knuckles until it's about 10 inches across.
Preheat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water dropped on its surface forms a bead that skids around (about 500 to 600°F). Carefully transfer dough to skillet and cover with tight-fitting lid. Cook until bottom side is very lightly browned and dough has puffed up in spots, about 1 minute. Remove dough with a metal spatula. deflate all bubbles in the center of the dough, leaving bubbles around the edges.
Flip dough and return to skillet so that the cooked side is now facing up. cook, shaking occasionally until the dough is darkly charred in spots. Remove to cutting board and invert (so that first-cooked side is now back on the bottom)
If using a blow torch: carefully torch edges of crust until roughly charred and browned in spots. Continue with step 8. If using a gas burner: Place pizza dough top-side down (the side you cooked second facing down) with the very edge hanging over the edge of the skillet. Cook the overhanging edge directly over the flame of a gas burner until well-charred. Rotate pizza so new section is overhanging edge and char again. Repeat until entire crust edge is charred. Continue with step 8. Alternatively, place a wire cooling rack directly over the burner flame. Invert pizza dough and use flame from burner to char and brown the edges of the crust. Continue with step 8. If using an electric burner: Proceed to step 8.
Make sure dough is facing right-side up (it should be facing the same way it was when you first put it in the skillet). Spread a few tablespoons of tomato sauce over the dough, leaving the risen bubbly edges uncovered. Scatter a few pieces of mozzarella and a few basil leaves over the pizza. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Return pizza to skillet, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until bottom is nicely charred and mozzarella is melted, about 3 minutes longer. If using torch, you can use it to help melt the cheese.
Serve pizza immediately. Repeat steps 4 through 8 with remaining three balls of dough.
[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
It's time for another round of The Food Lab. Got a suggestion for an upcoming topic? Email Kenji here, and he'll do his best to answer your queries in a future post. Become a fan of The Food Lab on Facebook or follow it on Twitter for play-by-plays on future kitchen tests and recipe experiments.
About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Managing Editor of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.
Special equipment: Stand mixer, rimmed baking sheet
serves makes one 13- by 18-inch pizza, serving 4 to 6, active time 20 minutes, total time overnight
Combine flour, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Whisk to combine. Add olive oil and water. Knead on low speed just until dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Let dough rest for 10 minutes, then knead once more on low speed for 10 minutes. Dough should pull away from sides of bowl but stick to bottom.
Remove dough hook, cover top of mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours and up to 24. Meanwhile, make the sauce.
For the Sauce: Heat olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until butter melts. Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, sugar, and whole shallot. Bring to a bare simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until rich and thick, about 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Allow to cool in fridge while dough rises.
Two hours before baking, remove dough from fridge. Generously grease the inside of a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet with olive oil (about 3 tablespoons). Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Form into flat ball and transfer to baking sheet. Using your hands, coat the ball on all sides with olive oil. Loosely cover the baking sheet with plastic and let dough rise in a warm spot for 1 hour. The dough should spread out .
Carefully stretch and push the dough into the corners and edges of the pan. Cover loosely, and let rise for 1 hour longer. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper middle position and preheat oven to 450°F. When dough has risen, gently dock center with finger tips and use your hands to create a risen ridge about 1-inch wide around the edge.
Spread sauce generously over dough, leaving the raised 1-inch edge un-sauced. Bake until edges are light golden brown and crisp, about 20 minutes total, rotating pan once half way through baking. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Sprinkle with Romano cheese, cut into slices, and serve.
Note: Caciocavallo is a sheep's milk cheese from Sicily. When purchasing, ask for aged caciocavallo meant for grating. If unavailable, replace with Pecorino-Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano. Store-bought bread crumbs will work, but for best results, use homemade. The 12.25 ounces of water is by weight not volume. For best results, use a scale.
Special equipment: Precise scale, rimmed baking sheet, food processor, baking stone
serves Makes 1 large pizza, serving 6 to 8, active time 1 hour, total time At least 1 day (including rise time)
Make the Dough: Add flour, salt, and yeast to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add olive oil and water and stir with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. Dough will be quite wet. Do not add more flour. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. While dough ferments, make the breadcrumbs and sauce (both can be made ahead).
Make the Breadcrumbs: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 300°F. Spread bread slices on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until completely dry, about 30 minutes. Break up bread into rough pieces with your hands then transfer to a food processor. Add olive oil and cheese and process into a fine powder. Set aside until ready to use. Breadcrumbs can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Make the Sauce: Heat olive oil and onions in a large straight-sided sautée pan over medium high heat until sizzling. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onions are deep golden brown, about 20 minutes total.
Add oregano, red pepper flakes, and anchovies and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer then reduce to lowest possible heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep red, rich, and thick, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and set aside. Sauce can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to one week.
When ready to assemble, place a baking stone directly on the bottom of your oven and preheat the oven to 450°F. Pour half of oil in the bottom of a rimmed aluminum baking sheet. Carefully remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a ball. Pour remaining oil over the top and coat with your hands. Let rise at room temperature for 2 hours. The dough should spread to mostly fill the pan. Gently stretch and shape it to fill out to the edges. Let rise another 30 minutes.
Carefully spread a generous layer of sauce to within 1/4-inch of the edges of the dough, taking care not to deflate the dough excessively (You may not need all the sauce). The sauce will spread better if it's allowed to come to room temperature first. Add a layer of grated cheese. Top the entire top surface with the cheesy bread crumbs (you may not need all the crumbs). Drizzle with more olive oil. Bake directly on the stone until top is golden brown and bottom is crisp and bubbly when you peek with a metal spatula, about 25 minutes total, rotating once half way through cooking.
Remove from the pan using a thin metal spatula and transfer to a cutting board. Serve immediately.
Note: You must use a scale for this sausage. There is no way to accurately estimate the amount of salt needed otherwise. This recipe can be made with pre-ground pork as well. Mix ingredients as directed in step one, allow to rest at least 8 hours, then skip the grinding step and proceed as directed in Step 3.
Special equipment: Meat grinder, stand mixer
serves Makes 2 pounds sausage, active time 30 minutes, total time 12 hours
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.
Place feed shaft, screw, blade, and 1/4-inch plate of a meat grinder in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Grind sausage meat according to manufacturer's directions into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl. If finer texture is desired, chill meat in freezer for 15 minutes before grinding again.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sausage meat on medium high speed until it becomes tacky and sticky, about one minute. Alternatively, knead by hand for three to four minutes. Transfer to a zipper-lock bag and seal. Sausage will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Stuff into casings or cook as desired.
Note: You don't have to use a cast iron pan for this - dedicated pizza pans, cake pans that you don't mind ruining, or a nonstick skillet will work just fine. You'll end up with more sauce than you need, which can be stored int he fridge for up to a week. Eat it with pasta, or more pizza! For best results, do not use pregrated cheese. It won't brown or melt properly.
Special equipment: a couple of 10-inch cast iron pans, pizza pans, cake pans, or skillets
serves 4 to 6 (two 10-inch pizzas), active time 45 minutes, total time Overnight
Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and whisk until homogenous. Add oil and water and stir with wooden spoon until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature at least 8 hours and up to 24.
The next day, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and dived in half. Form balls with each half, then place into lightly oiled bowls, coating all surfaces of the balls with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook for thirty seconds until fragrant. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add two thirds of crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Reduce heat to lowest setting and cook, stirring occasionally for 1 hour. Stir in remaining tomato sauce and season to taste with salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
Stretch the dough: Coat two 10-inch cast iron skillet (or cake pans/oven-safe nonstick pans) with 1 tablespoon each of shortening and olive oil. Transfer dough balls one at a time to a large cookie sheet and stretch out into a 10-inch circle. Transfer the circle to the greased skillet. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour at room temperature. Meanwhile, adjust the oven rack to the bottom position and preheat oven to 500°F. Combine the cheeses in a large bowl and cover until ready to use.
When dough has risen, top each circle with 1 cup of sauce (you will have leftover sauce), spreading it to within half an inch of the edge. Divide grated cheese evenly between the two pies, spreading it all the way to the edge of each pie.
Bake pies until top is bubbly and golden brown in spots and cheese has charred around edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove pizzas from oven and using a thin metal spatula, release the edges from the pans. Carefully lift pies to check for doneness underneath. If you'd like a darker bottom crust, set each pie directly over a medium-low flame and cook, turning occasionally until desired level of doneness is reached.
Slide pizza onto cutting board, allow to rest two minutes, slice, and serve.
Special equipment: Food processor
serves Makes four 12-inch pies, active time 1 hour, total time 3 days
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer. Alternatively, combine ingredients in a stand mixer and mix on low speed for ten minutes.
Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. Transfer to a gallon-sized zipper lock bag, seal, and place in the refrigerator. Allow to ferment for at least one, and up to 5 days.
At least two hours before baking, remove dough from refrigerator and divide into four even balls. Shape into balls by gathering dough towards bottom and pinching shut. Flour well and place each one in a separate bowl (cereal bowls or small mixing bowls work well). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise at warm room temperature until roughly doubled in volume.
Meanwhile, adjust oven rack with pizza stone to top position and place a second rack one position below it. Preheat oven to 550°F for at least one hour.
Turn single dough ball out onto floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 12-inch circle, lifting and stretching by hand if necessary. Grease an aluminum baking sheet with 1 tablespoon canola oil. Transfer dough to baking sheet. Spread about 1/2 cup of sauce evenly over entire surface of pie. Sprinkle with 1/4 of parmesan. Spread 1/4 of cheese in even layer over surface. Top with additional toppings as desired.
Place in oven on rack immediately under the baking stone. Bake until edges are just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven (close oven). Using a thin flexible metal spatula, careful separate the pizza's edges from the pan (the pizza should slide around freely). Carefully slide pizza off of pan and onto baking stone. Continue baking until bottom is deep golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly. Transfer pizza to a cutting board with a pizza peel. Cut into 8 slices, and serve. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with remaining pizzas.
In last week's Pizza Lab, I promised a calzone recipe. Well, here it is!
Note: You can make this calzone with store-bought dough if you'd like, or use this recipe, which is an adaptation of my NY-style dough. If you don't have much experience working with calzones, you might find it much easier to transfer the calzones to the peel and the stone if you build them directly on a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer them, parchment and all, to the peel and then to the stone in the oven.
serves 3-4 (makes 2 large calzones)
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer.
Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. Divide dough into 2 even parts and place each in a covered quart-sized deli container or in a zipper-lock freezer bag. Place in refrigerator and allow to rise at least one day, and up to 5.
At least two hours before baking, remove dough from refrigerator and shape into balls by gathering dough towards bottom and pinching shut. Flour well and place each one in a separate medium mixing bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise at warm room temperature until roughly doubled in volume.
Meanwhile, place spinach in microwave-safe bowl and cover with large plate. Microwave on high heat until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer spinach to a triple layer of paper towels and roll tightly. Press to remove excess moisture. Roughly chop spinach and transfer back to bowl. Add provolone, pepperoni, parmesan, and remaining olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss to combine.
1 hour before baking, adjust oven rack with pizza stone to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 500°F.
When ready to bake, turn single dough ball out onto lightly flour surface. Gently flatten ball with fingers. Using a flour rolling pin, roll into a circle 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Repeat with remaining dough ball. Working quickly, divide between dough discs, spreading it over half of each one. Fold the dough over and fold and crease the edges to seal.
Carefully transfer to floured wooden pizza peel and slide onto stone. Bake until deep golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
For the science behind this recipe, check out the full article here.
Note: To make without a stand mixer, combine flour, salt, yeast, sugar, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large bowl along with the cooled riced potato along with 11.25 ounces water and stir together vigorously with a wooden spoon until homogeneous, about 3 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 15. Continue with step 3 as directed.
Special equipment: rimmed 12 by 18-inch baking sheet
serves 4 to 6, active time 1 hour, total time 3 hours with stand mixer, at least 9 hours without
For the Dough: Place the potato in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until cake tester inserted into center meets no resistance, about 15 minutes. Pass through potato ricer into small bowl and allow to cool at room temperature for ten minutes. You should have 6 ounces of riced potato.
Meanwhile, combine flour, salt, yeast, sugar, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in bowl of stand mixer (see note for mixer-free version). Add 11.25 ounces (about 1 1/3 cup) water to mixer and mix on medium speed until it comes together and no dry flour remains. Add cooled riced potato, increase speed to medium-high and mix until the dough is stretchy and smooth, about 6 minutes. The dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl but pull away from the sides.
Pour remaining olive oil into rimmed baking sheet and spread over entire inner surface with hands. Transfer dough to baking sheet and rub top surface with oil until thoroughly coated. Cover with baking sheet with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature until dough has spread out to touch nearly each rim of baking sheet, about 2 hours.
For the Sauce: While dough is rising, heat olive oil and garlic cloves in 8-inch skillet over medium heat until lightly bubbling. Reduce heat to low and cook until garlic is light brown and tender, about 10 minutes, flipping garlic cloves once during cooking. Transfer garlic cloves to bowl of food processor or blender (without the oil). Add drained tomatoes. Process or blend until roughly pureed, and set aside.
Transfer garlic-scented olive oil to large saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add oregano and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato mixture, sugar, and basil stems. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
To Finish the Pizza: 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 550°F. Carefully remove plastic wrap from pizza dough. Using oiled hands and being as gentle as possible to maintain air bubbles, push and stretch the dough into the corners of the pan by pressing out from the center and lifting each corner and stretching it beyond the edge of the pan. It should pull back until the pan is just filled with dough.
Spread approximately 2/3 cup of sauce over top surface of pizza with back of spoon, leaving 1-inch border all the way around the edge. Sprinkle with half of Parmesan, focusing on edges of crust. Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven, and spread mozzarella evenly over surface. Dot more tomato sauce in irregular spots on surface (you may have extra sauce). Top with basil leaves and remaining Parmesan.
Return to oven and bake until crust is well browned and cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Allow to cool at room temperature for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large cutting board (pizza may stick to pan at some point—use a spatula to carefully pry it off), cut into 8 or 12 rectangular slices, and serve.
Note: Using a food processor ensures that your dough is properly developed without over-oxidizing, which can affect flavor. To scale up, make dough in separate batches in food processor. Do not try to process more than one batch at a time.
Special equipment: Food processor
serves 4 to 6 (makes 3 pies), active time 30 minutes, total time 24 hours
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer.
Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. It should pass the windowpane test. Divide dough into three even parts and place each in a covered quart-sized deli container or in a zipper-lock freezer bag. Place in refrigerator and allow to rise at least one day, and up to 5.
At least two hours before baking, remove dough from refrigerator and shape into balls by gathering dough towards bottom and pinching shut. Flour well and place each one in a separate medium mixing bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise at warm room temperature until roughly doubled in volume.
1 hour before baking, adjust oven rack with pizza stone to middle position and preheat oven to 500°F. Turn single dough ball out onto lightly flour surface. Gently press out dough into rough 8-inch circle, leaving outer 1-inch higher than the rest. Gently stretch dough by draping over knuckles into a 12 to 14-inch circle about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to pizza peel.
Spread approximately 2/3 cup of sauce evenly over surface of crust, leaving 1/2 to 1-inch border along edge. Evenly spread 1/3 of cheese over sauce. Slide pizza onto baking stone and bake until cheese is melted with some browned spots and crust is golden brown and puffed, 12 to 15 minutes total. Transfer to cutting board, slice, and serve immediately. Repeat with remaining two dough balls, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.
This creates a slightly sweet, intense tomato sauce typical of New York-style slices. It's also good served with pasta.
Read more about the science behind the recipe here.
Special equipment: food mill, food processor, or hand blender
serves 4-3 (makes enough for 2-4 12-inch pies, depending on how much sauce you like), active time 15 minutes, total time 2 hours
Process tomatoes and their juice through food mill, pulse in food processor until pureed, or puree with hand blender. Puree should not be completely smooth, but should have no chunks larger than 1/16 of an inch. Set tomatoes aside.
Combine butter and oil in medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Add garlic, oregano, pepper flakes, and large pinch salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil sprigs, onion halves, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to lowest setting (bubbles should barely be breaking the surface), and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 1/2, about 1 hour. Season to taste with salt. Allow to cool and store in covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Note: The Antimo Caputo Tipo "00" Italian bread flour called for helps improve the texture, but is not necessary. Regular bread flour (of even all-purpose flour) will work just fine. The dough will improve with age, though the peak performance will vary with your refrigerator. For me, the dough had the best flavor and texture on the 5th day.
For best results, use weight measurements, not volume.
Why does my dough improve with age? Read all about it here!
serves 4-6 people (makes six 10-inch pizzas)
Combine flour, salt, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Whisk to combine. Add water and knead on low speed just until mixture comes together and no dry flour remains. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Knead on low speed for an additional ten minutes. The mixture should come together into a cohesive mass that barely sticks to the bottom of the bowl as it kneads. Depending on the type of flour used, you may need to add up to 1/2 cup additional flour. If dough sticks heavily to bottom of bowl, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time with mixer running until it forms a mass that just barely sticks to the bowl. Cover bowl tightly with plastic or transfer the dough to two gallon-sized zipper lock bags, seal, and refrigerate at least overnight, and up to 5 days.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and dust the top with additional flour. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into six even pieces, approximately six ounces each. Using floured hands, shape each piece into a neat ball by gathering the dough towards the bottom. Coat four small containers with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil (large cereal bowls work great for this) and add one dough ball to each bowl. Lightly spray top of dough ball with non-stick cooking spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rise at room temperature for 2 hours (dough should roughly double in volume).
Transfer 1 ball of dough to a medium bowl filled with flour and flip to coat. Lift it and gently pat off the excess flour. Transfer it to a floured surface and gently stretch it into a 10-inch circle, leaving the outer 1-inch edge slightly thicker than the center. The best way to do this it to start by gently stretching with your fingertips. Pick up the slightly stretched dough and place it on the opened face of your left hand. Toss it back and forth between your opened hands, rotating it slightly with each toss until it stretches out to around 8-inches in diameter. Return it to the work surface. With your left hand flat in the center of the round, use your right hand to stretch the edge of the dough out, rotating as needed until it is an even 10-inches in diameter.
Have your cheeses, olive oil, sea salt, and oregano leaves ready and close to the stovetop. Preheat the broiler to high and arrange the rack such that you can just barely fit a 12-inch heavy-bottomed oven-proof cast iron or stainless steel skillet on top of it. Dust skillet with flour, tap out excess, then heat the skillet over high heat and heat until lightly smoking, about three minutes. Transfer one dough round to the skillet. It should fill up the entire bottom surface. Working quickly, spread 1/6th of fontina over surface followed by 1/6th of Parmigiano, leaving the outer 1-inch border un-sauced. Season with sea salt salt. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and scatter 2 oregano stems over surface. Transfer skillet to broiler and broil until pizza is puffed and darkly charred in spots (this can take anywhere between 1 1/2 to 4 minutes, depending on the strength of your broiler). Return the skillet to the stovetop and cook until the bottom is darkly charred in spots, using a thin metal spatula to peek after about 1 minute (depending on the skillet you use, you may skip this step if the pizza is already charred). Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and serve immediately. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to bake remaining pizzas.
This recipe is about as close as you can get to wood-burning oven-style Neapolitan pizza without having to void the warranty of your oven. The Antimo Caputo Tipo "00" Italian bread flour called for helps improve the texture, but is not necessary. Regular bread flour (of even all-purpose flour) will work just fine.
For best results, use weight measurements, not volume.
serves 4-6 people (makes six 10-inch pizzas)
Combine flour, salt, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Whisk to combine. Add water and knead on low speed just until mixture comes together and no dry flour remains. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Knead on low speed for an additional ten minutes. The mixture should come together into a cohesive mass that barely sticks to the bottom of the bowl as it kneads. Depending on the type of flour used, you may need to add up to 1/2 cup additional flour. If dough sticks heavily to bottom of bowl, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time with mixer running until it forms a mass that just barely sticks to the bowl. Cover bowl tightly with plastic or transfer the dough to two gallon-sized zipper lock bags, seal, and refrigerate for at least 8 and up to 72 hours.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and dust the top with additional flour. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into six even pieces, approximately six ounces each. Using floured hands, shape each piece into a neat ball by gathering the dough towards the bottom. Coat four small containers with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil (large cereal bowls work great for this) and add one dough ball to each bowl. Lightly spray top of dough ball with non-stick cooking spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rise at room temperature for 2 hours (dough should roughly double in volume).
Meanwhile, drain tomatoes in fine meshed strainer and break them up with your fingers, squeezing excess juice out from the interior. Transfer the tomatoes to a blender with a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Cut the mozzarella into 1/2-inch chunks and place on a plate on a triple layer of paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Place another triple layer of paper towels or clean dish towel on top of the cheese and stack another plate on top. Allow the excess water to blot out for at least 10 minutes.
Transfer 1 ball of dough to a medium bowl filled with flour and flip to coat. Lift it and gently pat off the excess flour. Transfer it to a floured surface and gently stretch it into a 10-inch circle, leaving the outer 1-inch edge slightly thicker than the center. The best way to do this it to start by gently stretching with your fingertips. Pick up the slightly stretched dough and place it on the opened face of your left hand. Toss it back and forth between your opened hands, rotating it slightly with each toss until it stretches out to around 8-inches in diameter. Return it to the work surface. With your left hand flat in the center of the round, use your right hand to stretch the edge of the dough out, rotating as needed until it is an even 10-inches in diameter.
Have your tomato sauce, drained cheese, pizza dough, olive oil, kosher salt, and basil leaves ready and close to the stovetop. Preheat the broiler to high and arrange the rack such that you can just barely fit a 12-inch heavy-bottomed oven-proof cast iron or stainless steel skillet on top of it. Dust skillet with flour, tap out excess, then heat the skillet over high heat and heat until lightly smoking, about three minutes. Transfer one dough round to the skillet. It should fill up the entire bottom surface. Working quickly, spread two tablespoons sauce evenly over the dough, leaving the outer 1-inch border un-sauced. Top with 1/6 of the cheese chunks. Season with kosher salt. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and scatter four basil leaves over the surface. Transfer skillet to broiler and broil until pizza is puffed and darkly charred in spots (this can take anywhere between 1 1/2 to 4 minutes, depending on the strength of your broiler). Return the skillet to the stovetop and cook until the bottom is darkly charred in spots, using a thin metal spatula to peek after about 1 minute (depending on the skillet you use, you may skip this step if the pizza is already charred). Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and serve immediately. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to bake remaining pizzas.