Pizza – Daring Bakers Challenge

It´great that it is still October 29 here and I am not late to post my October challenge. It’s not 12 am yet:) Makes me feel like Cinderella for a day:) The reason for my belated post is that I procrastinated and waited until the very last day to bake my pizza. I baked it only a few hours ago.

Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yum’s is hosting the October Daring Bakers Challenge. Originally she was going to host this month’s event with Sher of What Did You Eat, but sadly Sher passed away of a massive heart attack in July 2008, and Rosa had to continue on her own. I would like to dedicate this recipe to Sher and to another wonderful food blogger Bri of Figs With Bri who passed away only 3 days ago of breast cancer at the age of 31… Rest in peace, dear friends…

As far as the challenge is concerned, it was a fantastic one! I’ve made pizza several times before but will have to admit this dough has been by far the best pizza dough I’ve tried. I baked two pizzas only and froze the rest. Both pizzas were topped with whatever my fridge provided which resulted in Vegetable-Frankfurter Pizza:). Toppings included: tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, green peppers, onions, green olives, mushrooms and turkey frankfurter. This pizza dough recipe is definitely a keeper.  Thank you, Rosa, for the challenge! Please visit the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see many more pizzas from my fellow daring bakers!

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Equipment: Stand mixer with paddle and dough hook attachments (optional, see recipe), cooking thermometer, baking sheet, parchment paper, cooking oil, plastic wrap, pizza peel/scraper, pizza stone or pan.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled

1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter.  Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them.  Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time. During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

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NOTE ON SAUCE: Your sauce (any) should not be too thick as it will thicken in the hot oven. Less is more but make the less truly more by using quality ingredients.

SAUCE IDEAS: Pestos, white or brown sauce, tomato sauce, sour cream, thick cream, Bolognese sauce, etc…

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TOPPING IDEAS: Seafood, fish, meat (dry, cured, smoked or ground), cheeses (Gruyère, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella, Provolone, Ricotta, Maroille, Munster, etc…), nuts, tofu, veggies (tomatoes, bell peppers, artichokes, hearts of palm, zucchinis, pumpkin, red onions, etc…), herbs (mixes, fresh or dried), spices (garlic, gourmet salt, pepper, curry, berbere, ras-el-hanout, za’atar, etc…), nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashew nuts, Brasil nuts, macadamia nuts, etc…)….

32 Comments

Leave a Reply

  1. Wonderful job Farida! Nothing like posting before the stroke of midnight! They look delicious, glad you enjoyed the dough!

  2. Feride abla, yeni blogun hayirli olsun, sevgi ve selamlarimla.

  3. You did a great job here Farida, I can see all the ingredients I like on that pizza!!

  4. I love all the topping and I don’t see much cheese,just the way i like it:)

  5. 🙂 This was the first time I made the challenge on time, it’s usually a minute to 12, so I know what you mean 🙂

    Pizza looks lovely, can’t wait to see what you’ll do with the rest of the dough!

  6. Beautifully thin crust, great job!

  7. Your pizzas look professional. Plus, they look delicious, which is more important. Great job!

  8. Frankfruter pizza?!?!? That’s gotta be a first. It looks wonderful & I bet there was not one morsel left. Yum.

    xoxox Amy

  9. Hi,
    Lovely pizza.
    you have a wonderful site. It is lovely.!

  10. Hey .. first time @ yr blog … pizza looks delicious ,, the pic is just perfect

  11. What beautiful pictures of the pizza. I wish I could reach into the screen and grab a slice!

  12. That looks yum Cinderalla…great great looking pizza. Love everything about it!

  13. Love your new blog! Glad you were able to squeeze in the pizza. Looks delicious!

  14. Your pizza is so colourful, Farida.
    And I love the new look to your blog. I have taken a while to get back here, but better late than never. 🙂

  15. Farida, the pizza looks perfect. I tried it out today and we loved it – but we love thin crust so it was great!

  16. Gorgeous abla!! So nicely done!

  17. Farida, you have a nice blog. Your pizza look so delish, can I have a slice?…ah…right now, maybe nothing left 🙂

  18. What a delicious looking pizza Farida!

  19. Absolutely gorgeous pizza Farida, I could eat some right now and it’s only mid morning here. Great challenge wasn’t it and what a great job you did!

  20. Delicious looking pizzas, Farida!

  21. Farida,

    I really like the new look of your blog. Nice looking pizza!

  22. Great looking pizzas!

  23. Fari, I love what you’ve done with the place. I’ve been ogling it for the last 10 minutes. And, needless to say, I also love the look of your thin crust pizza!
    I’m glad your blog is finished, as I’ve missed your posts.

  24. Hi Farida,
    I love ur blog. I’ve to learn more from ur blog. When I choose list in the categories, it doesnt work. Pls fiz it so that it would be easy to browse with it. I really spent one and half hour to browse ur blog. I forgot all my works while browsing it. I want to try zebra cake and let u know. Pls tell me wether vanilla powder easily availabe in any regular store in US. I have vanilla extract only. Pls response.
    Cheers,
    Rajee

  25. Hmmm, the pizza looks delicious. Nice job. Will definitely try it out.

  26. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS!

    Rajee: check your email for answers to your questions.

  27. pizza looks deleciousss faridha

  28. love this pizza! and how did it come out looking so perfect if you finished it right under the deadline! i love the side by side before/afer photos.

  29. That looks delicious. I love your blog!

  30. I wanted pizza recipe desperatelyand i found it here .I have not see any food website so accurate and professional like this before in 6 years great job done My best wishes for future and i will visit more and more for recipes here. CONGRATULATIONS

  31. thank you)

  32. delicious!

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