Pizza Dough

by Chef Olivier Quinn

We recently enjoyed delicious homemade pizzas at the home of our good friends Randy and Cheryl.  They have a great outdoor wood burning pizza oven that they have been cooking in for many years.  The well seasoned oven as well as the smoky flavor the wood imparts, made for absolutely delicious pizzas.  We enjoyed the pizzas so much that we are now looking into having an oven built in our backyard. 
You do not however have to have a pizza oven to make great homemade pizza.  You can make pizzas in your indoor oven or even on your barbecue.  All you need is a pizza stone.  They make specific stones for barbecues, which can also be used in your indoor oven.
There are two elements to great pizza, the dough and the toppings.  Great pizza dough is crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside.  The rule about toppings is that less is more.  Do not overload your pizza.  You should be able to taste every element of your pizza, and no one ingredient should overpower the others.  Try to use no more than three ingredients on your pizza.
I don’t like to cook the tomato sauce for pizza.  I use canned whole San Marzano tomatoes that I crush with my hands.  Just make sure to season with salt and pepper.
The possibilities are obviously endless.  Gather your favorite toppings and make several different types of pizzas.  My personal favorite is Pizza Margherita.  Tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, olive oil and salt and pepper, that’s all.
Get your oven as hot as possible.  Sprinkle some semolina on your pizza peel to keep the dough from sticking.  Shape your dough, it doesn’t have to be perfectly round, I prefer when it isn’t.  Place the dough on the peel and add your toppings. 
Place the pizza on your hot stone and bake for a minute or so and then rotate using your peel.  The pizza should be beautifully cooked in 3 to 4 minutes.
Enjoy, have fun with it and get the kids involved.

Pizza Dough
Makes enough for  about 6 pizzas
Sponge
2 teaspoons dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2/3 cup bread flour
1/2 cup white wine,
room temperature
1/2 cup  cold water
Dry Ingredients
4 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 cup rye flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup olive oil

To make the sponge, dissolve the yeast in 3/4 cup lukewarm water and stir in the 2/3 cup flour.  Allow this mixture to sit until quite bubbly, about 30 minutes.
Mix together the bread flour, rye flour, and salt in another bowl.  Stir 1/2 cup of cold water and 1/2 cup of white wine and 1 cup of these dry ingredients into the sponge.  Mix thoroughly and let sit for another 30 minutes.
Add the remaining dry ingredients and the olive oil and knead, by hand or in an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Knead until the dough is soft and elastic, about 5 minutes.  It may be necessary to add more flour if the dough is too wet, but add only enough flour to form a soft, slightly sticky dough.  A very soft, moist dough makes the best crust.
Put the dough in a large bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.  For an even better-tasting, more supple dough, let the dough rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator.
Punch down the dough and divide into portions – 4oz balls for pizzettas or 7oz balls for standard pizzas.  Form each portion into a nice smooth sphere.  Allow the dough balls to rest at room temperature, wrapped in plastic for an hour or so before shaping and baking.  Individual dough balls may also be frozen, then thawed overnight.
* I have adapted this recipe from the recipe of Alice Waters of Chez Panisse