Rose's Baking Basics

Pizza Rosa

Makes One 12 inch pizza; serves 2 or 3

Oven Temperature: 475°F/250°C; 500°F/260°C if using a baking stone

Baking Time: 8 to 12 minutes

Plan Ahead: Mix the dough a minimum of 24 hours, or up to 48 hours, before baking (or see Baking Pearls, for making and baking the dough the same day).

Baking Equipment: A baking steel, cast-iron pizza pan, or baking stone

A sheet of parchment

A baking peel, or 15 by 12 inch cookie sheet

Pizza is everywhere, so if you’re going to the effort of making it at home, it has to be worth it. This is the pizza dough that will spoil you forever in favor of homemade pizza. It sports a thin, crisp crust with a puffy, bubbly border that is soft inside. It is slightly chewy, crunchy, and flavorful. This pizza does not need to be eaten with a knife and fork like some Neapolitan-style pizzas, as the tip does not dip. The small amount of whole wheat flour or bran adds greatly to its flavor.

The dough takes just minutes to mix, but for the best texture and flavor make it 1 to 2 days before baking. The secrets to the crisp, light, bubbly crust are the long, slow rise and a fully preheated baking surface, ideally a baking steel or cast-iron pizza pan. To maintain maximum crispness, I bake the crust without the toppings for the first 5 minutes.

Dough Makes 332 grams (336 grams if using whole wheat flour)

water	133 grams	½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (133 ml)
unbleached all-purpose flour	182 grams	1½ cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
wheat bran	8 grams	1½ tablespoons plus ¼ teaspoon
OR	OR	OR
whole wheat flour	14 grams	2 tablespoons
instant yeast	1.2 grams	⅜ teaspoon
fine sea salt	4.5 grams	¾ teaspoon
olive or vegetable oil, for shaping and coating	13 grams	1 tablespoon (15 ml), divided
fine cornmeal, for dusting	8 grams	1 tablespoon

Mise en Place

▪ Thirty minutes to 1 hour ahead, weigh or measure the water and cover it.

Make the Dough

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat bran, and yeast. Then whisk in the salt.

2. With a silicone spatula, make a well and stir in the water just until the flour mixture is moistened.

3. Cover and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

4. Use your fingers to spread about 1 teaspoon/5 ml of the oil on the counter. Scrape the dough onto it. Shape the dough into a rough rectangle, stretch it to a longer rectangle, give it a business letter fold (fold it in thirds), and repeat. Round the corners by tucking them under and press the dough into a 1 quart/1 liter dough rising container or bowl that has been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray.

5. Let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes, and then repeat the stretching and folding process.

Let the Dough Rise

6. Return the dough to the dough rising container or bowl. Mark the side of the container where double the height would be. Cover the container tightly and set it in a warm place, preferably 80º to 85ºF/27º to 29ºC. (See Suggested Rising Environments.)

7. Let the dough rise to about 2 cups/500 milliliters, 1 to 1½ hours.

8. Set the container in the refrigerator until the next morning. Depending on the temperature of your refrigerator, by then it should have risen until doubled. If it has not, let it sit at warm room temperature.

9. Lightly oil the counter and preshape the dough: Stretch it from each of four sides (see photos). Bring up the sides to the center and pinch them together. Move the dough to an unoiled area of the counter. Place each hand against the side of the dough farthest away from you and press the dough toward you. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and repeat. Do this a total of four times to tighten it into a ball.

10. Set the ball of dough, pinched side down, on a cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Spray the top of the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until 15 minutes before the final shaping. (Preshaping will make stretching the dough easier.) If freezing the dough for future use (see Baking Pearls), first coat it with nonstick cooking spray, wrap it with plastic wrap, and set it in a quart size reclosable freezer bag. Thaw it in the refrigerator for about 12 hours before the final shaping.

Preheat the Oven

▪ One hour or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and place the pizza pan on it. Set the oven at 475ºF/250ºC, or 500ºF/260ºC if using a baking stone.

Shape the Pizza

11. One hour before baking, roll the dough into a 7 inch disc. Tape down the parchment to the counter on all four corners, to prevent sliding. Sprinkle the parchment with the cornmeal and place the dough on top. Brush it with about 1 teaspoon/5 ml of the remaining oil. Then gently stretch and press the dough into a 12 inch circle, keeping the outer ½ inch border thicker than the center. Remove the tape.

12. Brush the surface of the dough all over with the final 1 teaspoon/5 ml oil and set it in a warm area, preferably 80º to 85ºF/27º to 29ºC, to start rising while the oven is preheating.

13. Prepare the toppings of your choice (see Make This Recipe Your Own).

Bake the Pizza

14. Slip the peel under the parchment and slide the dough-topped parchment onto the hot pizza pan. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on the heat of your oven. The dough will puff up in the center and form large bubbles. After 3 minutes of baking, gently press it down.

15. Use the peel to remove the crust-topped parchment from the oven and slide it onto a cooktop or heat resistant counter. Slip the peel between the parchment and the crust and discard the parchment, leaving the pizza on the peel.

16. Top the crust evenly with the topping ingredients, scattering on garlic, if using, before the cheese to protect it from burning.

17. Slide the pizza back into the oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and the crust is browned.

18. Remove the pizza to a cutting board and cut into servings. A pizza wheel and sharp scissors work best.

Store Unbaked dough, airtight: refrigerated, 2 days; frozen, 2 months.

PREBAKED PIZZA CRUST (WITHOUT TOPPINGS), AIRTIGHT: frozen, 2 months.

Baking Pearls

Whole wheat flour is high in oil and prone to rancidity and off flavors if not stored correctly. It should be stored at cool room temperature or refrigerated for no longer than 3 months, but will keep frozen for a few years.

There is no need to use your expensive extra virgin olive oil, as the high baking heat will completely destroy its flavor. The oil in this recipe serves two purposes: to keep the dough from sticking during shaping and to create a crisper crust. If desired, after baking, drizzle the pizza lightly with extra virgin olive oil.

For a slight crunch for the bottom of the crust, use finely ground polenta in place of the cornmeal.

To make and bake the dough the same day, after stretching and folding, allow the dough to double. At 80° to 85°F/27° to 29°C, it will take 4 to 5 hours. (At 70°F/21°C, it will take about twice as long. If your environment is cool, you may want to double the yeast, but the resulting crust will not be as airy.) Preshape and refrigerate it or allow it to relax at room temperature for 20 minutes before stretching.

To make the dough more than 48 hours ahead and freeze, use 10 to 25 percent more yeast (the larger amount if planning to freeze for 2 weeks or longer). After the dough has risen to about 2 cups/500 milliliters, 1 to 1½ hours, oil the dough, wrap it well, place it in a quart-size reclosable freezer bag, and freeze it. Remove it to the refrigerator the night before to thaw, and then proceed as for the regular method.

A cast-iron pizza pan is just as effective as a baking steel and less expensive. A baking stone requires a higher temperature. If using a stone, increase the temperature to 500°F/260°C.

In summer, rather than heating up the kitchen I use my four burner gas grill. I set a cast-iron pizza pan on the grill and preheat it with all burners on high for 10 minutes, at which point it is over 500°F/260°C. Then I open the lid, turn all four burners to medium, and allow the grill to cool for about 5 minutes to bring the surface of the pan to about 475°F/250°C. I slide the pizza onto the pan (be sure first to trim any over-hanging parchment), lower the lid, and bake for exactly 3 minutes without opening it. I then remove the pizza pan to a wire rack, turn off the center 2 burners, and after topping the dough, set the pizza, without the parchment, in the center, directly on top of the grill grates. It takes about 9 minutes to finish baking the pizza, which becomes exceptionally crunchy, with grill marks on the bottom. I also like to transfer the pizza to a cookie sheet and set it under a preheated broiler for about a minute to give the top crust extra browning.

Making Pizza Rosa