OK, we tried our hand at making pizza dough again. We tried in the past and just couldn’t get the right taste and texture with any consistency. Then we found the fresh dough from Trader Joe’s and started to use that because it’s so much easier and the dough is good. For Christmas I got Curt a gift box from Marcelli Formaggi called Trattoria Pizza Maker’s Kit. It has everything you need for a truly authentic Italian pizzeria experience.
I had to find a new recipe to use for the flour that is included in the kit. We ended up using the recipe provided on a card that is included in the kit. That recipe is below. I also reached out to some friends who are my go-to people for help, advice, and inspiration in my cooking. Luke is a professional chef and is now teaching future chefs. Josh is a fellow Italian American from Texas that has some awesome kitchen skills in both Italian cuisine and traditional Texan food (think BBQ, smoking, and similar items).
Here are their suggestions and then at the end is the recipe from Marcelli Formaggi.
Luke’s recipe:
One 12” NY Style Crust
150g flour
4g sugar
2.5g kosher salt
2.5g instant yeast
8g olive oil
100g water
blend dry ingredients in food processor-add water and oil and blend until dough forms-place in greased bowl and cover for 4hrs (or in the fridge overnight)-punch down, shape in a ball, refrigerate 1hr-remove from fridge 1hr before baking-shape, top, bake.
Josh’s recipe:
I am not particularly a pizza kinda guy. But my go to is..
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
6 ounces of water
Combine dry ingredients, then add water. Mix, cover, and let rise at room temp for 8-10 hours. Divide dough in half, roll up in balls, and place in bags or a container to rest in ths fridge for 2 days. Let rest for an hour or so at room temp before using. That’s enough for two small pizzas
Here is the recipe that came with the Trattoria Pizza Maker’s Kit from Marcelli Formaggi.
I do want to point out that this is for a pan pizza, so it’s very runny and meant to be poured into the pan, not rolled out like a traditional pizza. We didn’t realize this and started adding flour on the second day. Then even more on the third. We were using a 1000 gram bag and ended up with about 50 grams left. The dough rested in our refrigerator for two more days, so a total of 4 days after we initially mixed the dough.
In total, we ended up with 3 lbs of dough and separated it into 3 sections. We used one section to make pizza, and ended up dividing this section into two 10-inch pizzas. Both pizzas were awesome, so about 950 grams works, it’s just that this is a whole lot of dough and you might not want to make so much unless you’re having a pizza party.
I was going to update the recipe below, but wanted to leave it because I want to try it next. If you don’t want to make a pan pizza, try one of the recipes able from Luke or Josh.
Yield: 1 10″ x 14″ pizza
Time: 7 to 10 hours
Ingredients
- 300 grams Caputo 00 Chef’s flour
- 6 grams of salt
- 3 grams instant yeast
- 300 grams room temperature water
- 2 tablespoons semolina flour, or as needed, for dusting
- assorted toppings
Instructions
Whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast in a medium bowl. Add the water and mix with a spatula to form a wet dough, resembling a thick batter.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, use a rubber spatula to fold the dough. Pull on corner to the center and then give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the process. Do this a total of four folds and then flip the dough over, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, repeat the folding process and then, instead of flipping the dough in the bowl, flip it out onto a pizza pan that’s been lightly dusted with semolina flour. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, gently stretch the dough to fill the pizza pan. Cover the pizza pan and let it rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours before adding topping and banking the pizza.
To Bake
Preheat oven to 500 F
Add toppings to your pizza and bake for 20 minutes, turning the pan at least once during the process.
Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan to cut.
