Saturday, March 28, 2009

Pizza Dough

This can be made into small pizza crusts and grilled. Doubled recipe will make a large 11 x 17 jellyroll pan size pizza.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup lukewarm water (105–115°F)
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt


PREPARATION

1. Stir together water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over.) Stir in oil, flour, cornmeal, and table salt, then stir until a dough forms.

2. Knead on a floured surface, dusting with more flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes (dough will be moist). I use my Kitchen Aid mixer at medium and the dough hook for 5 minutes.

3. Put dough in an oiled deep bowl and turn to coat with oil. Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

4. Punch down dough and divide into 6 balls. Roll out 1 ball of dough 1/8 inch thick (about 7 inches in diameter) on a lightly floured surface. Brush off excess flour, then transfer dough to a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover surface of dough completely with plastic wrap. Roll out remaining balls of dough in same manner, covering with plastic wrap and stacking rounds. Wrap baking sheet with more plastic wrap. Chill dough until firm, about 2 to 4 hours or overnight.