Difficulty
3/5
Prep Time
30 mins
Total Time
3-48 hrs
Makes
2 12" pizzas
IngredientS
- 500g+20-30g, Tipo 00/Pizza Flour
-
8g, Instant/Active dry yeast
6g, Sugar - 7g, Salt
- 338g, Warm Water
- 13g, Olive Oil
Rest your dough for 2 days!
Initially, I was sceptical about the rest time making. a difference but then after I tried it I can assure you that it definitely does. The dough has so much more flavour. But, you can use it immediately as well.
- Activate the yeast: If you are using active dry yeast, you always need to activate it first. Warm up the water till it’s luke warm (You should be able to dip your finger in it) in a small bowl. Add 6g sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top. Thoroughly mix till well incorporated and let it proof for 10mins. You should see a thick foam after the proofing stage. If not, your yeast has died and you should throw it out and start fresh. If you are using instant yeast, skip the procedure above and start with the next step.
- Mix the ingredients: In a big bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients. After the yeast has bloomed, add it to the dry ingredients. Mix well with a fork to slowly incorporate the ingredients till you get a shaggy dough.
- Knead! Knead! Knead!: Transfer the shaggy dough onto a floured surface. It’s time to knead the hell out of this dough. Your dough will probably be sticky at this stage.
So first, we will start with the slap-and-fold technique. Form a sticky dough ball, with both your hands lift up the dough from the sides by scooping it, slap the bottom on to the counter, this will stick to it, stretch the dough towards you just until it stretches and doesn’t tear, and then fold it back over. Repeat the process with a 90 degree angle change every time. After 5-7 mins of doing so, you should see that the dough has become less sticky.
Now, with the palm of your one hand knead the dough gently, and use the other one to keep turning the dough. Do this for another 5 mins. Ideally, your dough should be ready to stretch and fold by now. If you feel it is still sticky, slap and fold the dough for 2-3 mins and then do the stretch and fold.
For the stretch and fold step, stretch out the dough with the palm of one hand as far out as possible, don’t tear it. Then, roll it back towards you forming the original dough ball shape and then turn it by 90 degrees. and repeat. Do this for another 5-7 mins.
So, you are 15 mins into kneading the dough and now we can check if you are done. Pick up the dough ball and slowly try to stretch our the dough with your fingers forming a window frame. If you get a translucent window frame, your dough is ready. But, if while stretching it the window frame tears apart, you will need to stretch and fold again for 2 mins and then re-check. - Rest the dough: Grease the bowl you used earlier with some oil/baking spray and place your dough in it. Cover with a damp towel and let it rest for 1-2 hours in a warm place or until doubled in volume. (You can keep it in your oven with the oven light on for a warm environment).
- Chill the dough: Punch the dough down and divide into equal size dough balls. 6 if you want 8 inch pizzas and 4 if you want 12 inch ones. Put them in individual air-tight containers and store them in the fridge for 2 days. You can use them right away swell but storing in the fridge does give it a much more enhanced flavour.
- Stretch the dough: Take out the dough balls on a baking sheet and let it come to room temp an hour before using it. Stretch out the dough with the help of your knuckles, the dough should be extremely elastic and you will be able to stretch it easily.
Top this with some delicious marinara and cheese, and you are ready to go.