The Not So Skinny Cook

If I could scream it from the rooftop, I would, “I LOVE PIZZA”, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for my neighbors) I can’t get up to my rooftop. But I don’t love all pizza equally, or even like some of the things that get passed off as pizza. I generally like two kinds of pizza: New York style and Italian style. I am growing fond of Chicago deep dish though it seems like a different category all together (like how a veggie burger isn’t anything at all like a hamburger but it can still be a darn tasty sandwich.) I like my pizza with an almost paper thin crust and not too much sauce, if any at all.

I’ve been making my own pizza for several years now, it all started in college when I was living in Norway and could not get a decent slice of the good stuff in the city I lived it. What was a pizza loving Jersey girl to do?? Make her own, that’s what. And make it well! I used a very simple recipe back then and one day, if I can find it, I’ll post it. Well I moved back to the states and got lazy because I could find some pretty good pies. I lived down the street from Piecora’s which did a pretty good NYC style pie. Then I moved and now live close to Via Tribunali, which serves a most excellent wood fire oven pizza like in Italy. But the itch came back; to make my own pizza, control my ingredients, to make my own concoction. I went in search of a good thin crust recipe I can make in my oven, and now I have pretty much perfected my thin NYC style pizza crust for the oven. I hope to give this a try sometime this summer on my grill as well.

Tips and Tricks: This recipe is only for the crust and I’m sure I’ll refer to it in many recipes to come. The trick is to heat your oven as high as it will go, mine reach 550, and then let it heat for an hour or so before you cook your pizza (this holds especially true if you have a pizza stone, since you want it to get good and hot). A little trick I use is to heat the oven when I start my dough, then I place my  dough near the oven to rise (since it needs a warmer spot). This recipe is for a double batch, I freeze my other half to use later (just wrap in plastic wrap after step 5, put in an airtight bag and toss in the freezer, then thaw when ready to use.)

NYC Style Pizza Dough

Makes 2 large pies (1 pie is about 3 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 105F)
• 4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of yeast
• 1/2 cup cornmeal

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar and salt in water in a large bowl
2. Add oil and flour and stir for about a minute (I use a wooden spoon for this)
3. Add yeast and knead for about 12 minutes (I knead my dough in the bowl, you can also lightly flour a surface to knead on)
4. Divide dough into 2 portions and roll into balls
5. Place dough in separate bowls and cover bowls with plastic wrap  (Note, dough will grow in size so account for this in your choice of bowl). Let stand at a warm room temperature for 1-2 hours. (I put my bowls near the over to rise, as it is warmer there)
6. Once dough has risen lightly flour your work surface place your dough ball on the surface and lightly flour the top. Work from the center outwards with your fingers and palms, or use a lightly floured rolling pin. I repeatedly flip my dough and re-flour both surfaces so the dough does not stick.  The goal here is to get the dough as thin as possible
7. If you are using a pizza stone and pizza peel to cook lightly sprinkle some of the corn meal on the peel and transfer your dough. I use my thickest cooking sheet since I have neither of those things, if you are using a cooking sheet sprinkle cornmeal on there and then transfer your dough. The point of the cornmeal is so that the dough does not stick to the stone, peel or cooking sheet.
8. Now your pizza is ready for toppings! Once added bake at 500-550 (highest setting) for 15 -25 minutes.