Today Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day was published! Time to start baking from it, so I’m posting one of our favorite doughs from the book. I have to admit it took a while to decide which one to share, since our favorite seems to change with our moods. This Olive Oil Dough is fantastic for a thin crust, a thick crust and so many worldly flatbreads. No matter the technique you decide to try, you’ll love the results.

I like to make the classic Pizza Margherita, it’s the ultimate in Italian toppings. In fact, the colors resemble the Italian flag and the pizza was named for the Italian queen, Margherita, because she fell in love with it. Nothing but tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil. So pure and so tasty.

Pizza Margherita

Olive Oil Dough from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day:

3 1/4 cups lukewarm water

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon Yeast

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt

2 tablespoons sugar

7 1/2 cups (scoop and sweep) unbleached all-purpose flour

Toppings:

1/3 cup tomato (Sauce recipe p. 109 or drain diced tomato straight from the can)

3 ounces Fresh Mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

Fresh Basil

Olive oil for drizzling over the top before baking

Pinch of salt

Flour, cornmeal or parchment for the pizza peel

To make the dough: Use our dump and stir method of mixing the dough in a 5-quart Container with Lid, using a Danish Dough Whisk or wooden spoon. Then cover the container, not airtight and let it rest for about 2 hours on the counter. The dough can then be used right away, but it is much easier to handle once it has been thoroughly chilled. The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks!

To make the pizza:

Preheat your oven to the highest setting, which will be 500 to 550°F, with a pizza stone in the bottom 1/3 of the oven. Depending on the thickness of your stone this can take between 20 and 40 minutes.

Pull out an 8-ounce piece of dough from your bucket and quickly form it into a ball, no more than 30 seconds of work. Let it sit on the counter while you gather your toppings.

Roll the ball out into a 1/8-inch-thick round. If the ball is resisting just let it sit for about 5 minutes and it will relax and allow you to work with it.

Sprinkle a Pizza Peel with flour. Spread the tomato over the dough.

Place the chunks of cheese over the sauce and drizzle with the olive oil.

Check for doneness in about 8 to 10 minutes, turn the pizza around if it seems to be browning on one side more than the other. It may take up to 5 more minutes.

Let the pizza cool slightly, so the cheese can set a little before cutting with a Pizza Cutter. This is best done on a cooling rack if you want to keep a crisp bottom crust.

Using the freezer to save even more time

You can freeze my doughs anytime during their batch life, for up to two weeks.  Make half-pound (orange-size) balls and wrap them well before freezing.  Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then use as usual.  With the assistance of your freezer, there are three more ways to save even more time:

1. To freeze prepared 1/8-inch thick dough disks, set up cookie sheets with parchment paper and freeze prepared dough disks on the parchment.  As soon as they’re set (about 30 to 40 minutes), stack them, leaving parchment paper between disks.  Pack into gallon-size ziplock bags, then freeze and use within three weeks.  Bake them still frozen by placing, un-thawed, on a greased baking sheet, assembling the pizza, and then baking in a preheated oven.  If you bake right on the parchment you can place it directly onto a preheated baking stone.
2. To freeze a pre-baked pizza crust:  Bake the crusts “blind”, docking (puncturing) them well with a fork, removing them from the oven when they just begin to brown (about four minutes).  Check for puffing at one minute and dock again if you see any or you’ll end up with pita bread.  Allow to cool on a rack before separating crusts with parchment or wax paper and freezing in a ziplock bag.  These will be far superior to store-bought pre-baked pizza crusts, just as convenient, and a little quicker-baking than using unbaked frozen dough (see above).  You can bake them frozen or defrosted (when using frozen crusts it will take a few more minutes to complete the baking).
3. To freeze a pre-baked pizza:  Bake a pizza as usual, and allow it to cool completely.  Freeze in a heavy-duty freezer bag, preferably zip-lock.  When ready to use, remove from bag, and place on a preheated baking stone for about 10 minutes (watch carefully to prevent scorching and consider lower baking temperature if you’re finding the pizza dry).  While this method won’t be quite as impressive as the other methods on this list, it’s clearly the fastest.

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