FRASER ELISABETH TAN, PHD

Lazy Pizza Dough + Margherita Pizza

From Deb at Smitten Kitchen! This recipe can be made 24, 12 or 6 hours before you need. Of course, more time means more flavor!

V* EF

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose or bread flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 cup water, plus an additional tablespoon or two if needed
  • Overnight dough: heaped 1/8 tsp yeast
  • All-day dough: heaped 1/4 tsp yeast
  • Part-day dough: heaped 1/2 tsp yeast

For the pizza:

  • 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
  • Red pepper flakes, to taste
  • Pinch of sugar, if desired
  • 8 ounces aged mozzarella (sold in plastic, not water) (use more if you like your pizza with extra cheese)
  • 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
  • Two glugs of olive oil
  • Few leaves of fresh basil, torn or sliced

Directions

  1. For the dough: Mix all ingredients together into a craggy wet dough. You can add a few tablespoons more water if the dough feels a bit dry. Let the dough sit overnight, all day, or part day. Use when needed as follows, according to Deb:
  2. Flour your counter very well. Scrape dough out of bowl onto floured counter; in the time it has risen it should change from that craggy rough ball to something very loose, soft, sticky and stretchy. Flour the top of the dough, and divide dough in half (or more pieces, if you’re making smaller pizzas). Form them into ball-like shapes. Grab first round with floured hands and let the loose, soft dough stretch and fall away from your hands a few times before landing the dough on your prepared baking sheet/paddle. Use floured fingers to press and nudge dough into a roughly round or rectangular shape. Add desired fixings (see below for My Favorite Margherita Pizza) and bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, rotating if it’s baking unevenly, until the top is blistered and the crust is golden. Repeat with remaining dough.
  3. For the margherita pizza: Drain the tomatoes in a colander, giving them a squeeze to release more of the juices. Let them sit for 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to its highest setting - 450° or 500°.
  5. Add garlic, salt, red pepper flakes and sugar (if needed), and blend in a blender until smooth.
  6. Add 1/3 cup sauce to dough and spread it out evenly. (You can save the remaining sauce in the fridge or freezer.) Tear or crumble the mozzarella into small pieces and scatter over the sauce. Drizzle with a smidge of olive oil.
  7. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the top is slightly charred and the crust is golden. Out of the oven, top with Parmesan and basil.

Source: Smitten Kitchen