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Pizza dough

Jerry Stratton, September 6, 1995

A great focaccia-style dough for pizzas, especially good for deep dish pizza.

[print]

Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tblsp honey
  • 3/4 cups warm water
  • 1/2 tblsp dried yeast (if you’re using packets, double the recipe)
  • 2 tblsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup unbleached white flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp chopped rosemary

Steps

  1. Mix the honey, water, and yeast in the small bowl. Set aside until foamy (three-five minutes)
  2. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, and rosemary in the mixing bowl.
  3. Stir the oil into the yeast.
  4. Add the yeast mix to the flour mix. Mix well.
  5. Turn the dough out and knead until smooth and elastic (about fifteen minutes). Use a floured surface, and as much additional unbleached flour as necessary. The dough should be quite soft.
  6. Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl, and coat. Cover, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
  7. Punch down, and let rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
  8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, along with the skillet.
  9. Roll the dough out to a half-inch thick round.
  10. Remove the skillet from the oven, coat with oil, and place the pie crust into the skillet.
  11. Add toppings
  12. Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until browned on top.

I usually make a quadruple batch of the dough, and freeze the other three for later. Take it out, let it thaw a few hours, roll it, and you’re in!

This “pizza dough” is a variation of foccacia. Make it on its own by putting two cloves of garlic (sliced) on top, some sprigs of rosemary, drizzle some oil over it all, then a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper. It also makes great rolls, and if you take a roll-sized chunk, flatten it, and fill it with pizza toppings, you’ve got a great pizza pocket.

Use a cast-iron pan if you have one to make a deep-dish pizza pie, or any standard baking sheet to make a thin-crust pizza. You don’t want to use a double-layer baking sheet, as it will not bake the dough well where the dough is covered by toppings.

Bake for less time (fifteen to twenty minutes) if you are making a thin-crust pizza.

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