The information below is what I am currently using for the pizza recipes. Some things may be great, others may be wrong. Always subject to change. I am not an expert but I am having fun trying to figure things out.
Dough
The dough recipe I’m using is from Frank Pinello found in the following video:
He also has a whole series called “The Pizza Show”. Watch them all.
By weights, the recipe is:
- 1,000 g all-purpose flour
- 20 g kosher salt
- 10 g extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 650 g water
Yield: 6 dough balls, each around 275 g
I did make a modification by reducing the amount of yeast by a half. The dough would be a bit puffy. When doing a batch of six, the last dough ball would be blown out to the point it was difficult to work with. Half the yeast gives the dough a longer room temperature life with still a good rise. Six does seem to be the limit for me when making pizza. More than that requires letting the dough come up to room temperature in shifts.
My dad is a fan of the King Arthur flour so that is what I have been using. It has treated me well so far and I keep buying that brand. Early in the pandemic, when everything was hard to find, Terri managed to grab some Gold Medal flour. At that point flour was probably harder to find than gold itself. That worked well too.
Place all the dry goods in a large bowl and stir until well combined. No need to bloom the yeast if you know it is good. Roll up your sleeves, take off any rings, dump the liquids in, and start mixing. Resist the temptation to add more water. It is going to feel very dry at first but it should get wetter as you go along. As soon as there in no longer any dry flour in the bowl, stop. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes. If it becomes too wet and starts sticking to the surface, add a touch of flour, and continue kneading. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Take the dough out of the fridge 2 hours before baking time. Divide the dough, make individual dough balls, and place on a floured sheet pan. Cover the sheet pan which I usually do by using another inverted sheet pan.
Half of the recipe is:
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 10 g kosher salt
- 5 g extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp active dry yeast
- 325 g water
I am really bad when it comes to halving recipes in my head. No matter how many times I keep repeating, “half, half, half”, I usually end up forgetting to halve one of the ingredients. Which is why I have listed it here. I also made sure to put enough text between the full and half versions so that both aren’t displayed on my phone screen at the same time.
Sauce
For this recipe, I found three or four different recipes online and then averaged them out and added or removed ingredients from each for no particular reason. My notes do not contain the various sites that I looked at. This sauce tastes good enough for now but improvements are always welcome.
- 28 oz can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp of salt
- ¼ tsp of black pepper
- ½ tsp of dried oregano
- 1 tsp of dried basil
- ½ tsp of dried marjoram
- 1 tbsp of sugar or 1 squirt of honey
For the San Marzano tomatoes, I pick up these at my local supermarket:
I first tried to put some vinegar in the recipe as a few of them called for that but it never worked for me. I could always taste the vinegar. It was out in the front and center. I kept halving it until I removed it completely.
I originally used honey instead of the sugar. I think I read somewhere that honey should be used in a non-cooked sauce and sugar in a cooked sauce. But then my vegan friend, Ken, said that he doesn’t eat honey. Oops. I guess I should have asked before we had that sauce contest. I’ve been using sugar lately but I might switch back to honey at some point.
Cheese
For a 12" pizza, I use the following blend of cheeses:
- 80 g part skim mozzarella
- 10 g medium white cheddar
- 10 g monterey jack
- parmesan after baking according to taste
Weighing the cheese might sound like it is overkill, but when it comes to blending, it is the only way I could make the taste consistent. A little bit of cheddar is nice but it can be overpowering when too much is on the pizza. This blend of 100 g of cheese provides nice coverage on the pizza without being too gooey. Add or remove cheese to adjust to your personal preference.
For the mozzarella, I get the Galbani brand and they have it in two form factors–great for slicing, and great for shredding. Both work well depending on if you want to cube it or shred it. I use a shredding attachment with my stand mixer when I need to shred. I find it a bit difficult to work with a box shredder. I end up always busting my knuckles against the counter top.
There is a difference when it comes to melting and browning between the part skim and whole milk mozzarella. Try the part skim first and get a feel for how that tastes. Then move to the whole milk and decide which one you like better.
Trying different cheese blends is half the fun. What is listed here is what I use most of the time. And don’t think that the pizza has to have mozzarella. Plenty of pizzas taste great without it.