Making Pizza Dough

Photo: Alexandra Grablewski, Getty Images

With the loss of mom-and-pop stores, it's getting harder and harder to find a great slice of pizza in Manhattan. Sadly, the days of a real Italian pizza parlor on every block are gone. Nonetheless, nobody wants to eat mediocre pizza. So I began making my own pizza. It starts with a perfect dough.

For years I've made a good Chicago-style pizza, but now I'm obsessed with trying to make a thinner-crusted, brick oven, Italian-style pizza. Lacking a brick oven, I can only try to come close. What I can do is get the ingredients right:

Here is an authentic pizza dough recipe for one 10-inch pie. For a family of 4, simply double the ingredients (and after it rises, split the dough in half) to bake two 10-inch pies. Yep, half a pie each sounds about right to me.

Pizza Dough for one 10-inch pie

Ingredients:

3 ounces lukewarm water (optional: I add about 3 tablespoons of dry powder milk too.)
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (plus extra oil to brush on the baking dish)
2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds (I did this once. Loved it💖, so now include it in my recipe.)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra flour for kneading the dough) Note: I use all-purpose flour, but professionals use bread flour. It's higher in protein. I don't stock it, so don't use it. All-purpose is just what the name says it is, "all-purpose." I add an egg and milk for the protein.
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1) Combine the water, yeast, egg, (extras I list above if you wish)and olive oil in a bowl. With a fork or the handle of a wooden spoon, incorporate the flour and salt until a ball forms. (If the dough seems dry, sprinkle a few extra drops of warm water on it. If the ball forms easily, don't do anything.)

2) I only work the dough until the flour is incorporated. (I don't touch it with my hands yet.)

3) Cover the dough in the bowl with plastic wrap and sit it inside your cold oven for 2 or more hours. The pilot light will keep it warm for rising.

4) After it has doubled in bulk, dump the blob of dough onto a floured surface and knead until it is elastic and no longer sticky. Sprinkle with flour as you fold it over and knead. (You can knead the dough inside the bowl if it's big enough, then have less to clean up.) Now is the time to divide the dough in half if you double the recipe and are making two pies.

5) Flatten, pull, and toss the dough with your fingers and knuckles like a true Italian pizza maker. Feel free to shape your pizza round or rectangle. Place the pizza dough (with a little sprinkle of flour on the bottom) into an olive-oiled cast iron skillet or a stainless steel baking sheet. (If you wish, place parchment paper, or a silicone non-stick mat into your baking dish. I don't: A brush of olive oil on aluminum foil works for me.)

6) Add a thin layer of tomato sauce and your favorite toppings, such as onions, garlic, mushrooms, banana peppers, Jalapeño peppers, ham, pepperoni, sausage, fresh basil, plus mozzarella cheese. A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Also feel free to spice to taste with oregano, dried basil, red pepper flakes, or dried garlic.

Commercial pizza ovens get much hotter than a home oven. Whenever I attempt to duplicate the heat of a pizza parlor oven, the result is dry pizza, so I no longer try. For that reason, I don't turn my oven all the way up. Instead, I bake my pizza at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes, or until the dough is done. Delish!

Extra tips: Whole wheat flour works with this recipe too. (Yes, I went through that phase. But whole wheat changes the texture of the pizza dough) Now I mostly use all-purpose flour to make pizza (as well as, buttermilk biscuits). In moderation, it won't kill us. Bon appetito!

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