This pizza is full of flavor. It’s crispy, but not hard. The dough is flavorful and chewy. The sauce is rich and tomato-y. And that ooey gooey cheese that’s browned all over, well, it’s everything you want in a pizza.
Vegetables: Aim for a maximum of 6 ounces per pizza
Vegetables such as onions, peppers, and mushrooms should be thinly sliced and lightly sautéed before using.
Delicate Veggies & Herbs: Leafy greens and herbs like spinach and basil are best placed beneath the cheese to protect them or added raw to the fully cooked pizza.
Instructions
Dough:
In food processor fitted with metal blade, process flour, sugar, and yeast until combined, about 2 seconds. With machine running, slowly add ice water through feed tube; process until dough is just combined and no dry flour remains, about 10 seconds.
3 & 3/4 cups bread flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, ½ teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast, 1 & 1/3 cups ice water
It’s important to use ice water in the dough to prevent overheating the dough while in the food processor.
Let dough stand 10 minutes.
Add oil and salt to dough and process until dough forms satiny, sticky ball that clears sides of work bowl, 30 to 60 seconds. Remove dough from bowl and knead briefly on lightly oiled counter until smooth, about 1 minute. Shape dough into tight ball and place in large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.
1 tablespoon light tasting oil like grapeseed or olive oil, 1 & ½ teaspoons fine grain sea salt
Proofing in the fridge leads to less rise, a more flexible dough that holds its shape, and a thinner (and more flavorful) crust.
To bake the pizza:
30 minutes (if you have a good oven) to one hour (if your oven is a little slow) before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to second highest position (rack should be about 5 to 6 inches below broiler), set pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 ° F. Baking the pizza on the top rack (rather than the usual approach of placing it near the bottom of a home oven) means the heat will hit the top of the pizza, browning the toppings before the crust overcooks.
Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. Shape each half into smooth, tight ball. Place dough balls on lightly oiled baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart; cover loosely with plastic wrap coated with nonstick cooking spray; let stand for 1 hour.
Coat 1 ball of dough generously with flour and place on well-floured counter. Using fingertips, gently flatten into 8-inch disk, leaving 1 inch of outer edge slightly thicker than center. Using hands, gently stretch disk into 12-inch round, working along edges and giving disk quarter turns as you stretch. Transfer dough to well-floured or a well-cornmealed peel and stretch into 13-inch round.
Cornmeal and flour for dusting
I like to use a mixture of cornmeal and flour on the pizza peel. Cornmeal has a nice crunchy texture and a pleasing taste in the final baked pizza.
Using back of spoon or ladle, spread ½ cup sauce in thin layer over surface of dough, leaving ¼-inch border around edge. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella evenly over sauce. Place any additional toppings in a single layer on top of cheese (but remember, an overloaded pizza will bake up soggy).
Slide pizza carefully onto pizza stone using the peel, and bake until crust is well browned and cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pizza halfway through. Remove pizza and place on wire rack for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Repeat for shaping, topping, and baking second pizza.