How do you make pizza?


Answer: Pizza comes in many styles. I make Neapolitan pizza, which generally requires a high hydration dough and a very high oven temperatures. The dough is made with four cups of flour, three tablespoons olive oil, a cup and a half of water, one package of yeast, a tablespoon of sugar, and a teaspoon and a half of salt. I typically activate the yeast in lukewarm water and sugar first, then mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer with a dough attachment. I'll add additional water until the dough is very wet, let it rise once in the mixing bowl, then turn the dough out on a surface coated generously with flour. Then I quarter the dough, fold a few times, and let rise again. 

Forming the pies is the tricky part. I've found pushing the dough into a rough circle with my fingers as a first step works well, but he dough will tend to snap back. I'll pick up the small dough circle and stretch it out on top of my fists to start to break the gluten and form a larger pie with a thinner base. I use an Ooni oven pre-heated on high, but turn the heat down when I'm ready to put the pizza in. The peel needs to be generously coated with flour to get a good launch into the oven. After a few seconds, the dough on the bottom will cook enough that manipulating the pizza becomes much easier. I keep the toppings simple, mozzarella (low moisture), tomato sauce, basil. 

Enjoy!