Basic Pizza Dough

Yields 3 pounds of Dough

1 Tbsp. dry yeast

½ tsp. sugar

2 2/3 cups warm water

2 Tbsps. olive oil

7 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cup whole-wheat or rye flour

1 Tbsp. coarse salt or 2 tsp. fine salt

ü Proof the yeast for 5 to 10 minutes in 1 cup of warm water and a pinch of sugar, until the yeast dissolves and the liquid begins to appear creamy.

ü Add the remaining water and 1 ½ to 2 cups flour, including the whole-wheat or rye flour. Beat this well (a hundred strokes with a wire whip) until it is smooth and soupy, and then let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes, until it’s bubbly and swollen. Add the salt and olive oil and proceed to stir in the rest of the flour by the cupful until the dough is stiff but still slightly sticky. Tip: Stir the dough in the same direction so that the gluten strands retain a smooth consistent pattern.

ü When the dough begins to form a cohesive mass that’s thick enough to hold its shape, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and let rest. Meanwhile, clean and oil the bowl. Knead the dough, turning it clockwise by quarter turns and sprinkling a little flour on top and on the surface underneath before folding it over. Add just enough flour so the dough doesn’t stick and tear. ( A dough scraper is invaluable for lifting the mass of dough cleanly from the counter) Kneading takes about 5 to 8 minutes. When the dough is smooth, springy, and pliant-earlobe-soft return it to the oiled bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise until doubled. This generally takes between 35 and 45 minutes at 70 to 75 degrees.

ü After the first rise, you can form the crust, assemble the pizza and bake it immediately, or punch the dough down and let it rise again before baking. This doesn’t substantially change the resulting crust, but it gives you more time if you need it before baking the pizza. Or, you can refrigerate the dough for several hours or up to two days. In this case, give it a final punch down after it has chilled for about 40 minutes and, put it in a plastic bag, as described in the recipe above.

ü  By letting the dough mature in the refrigerator, the gluten ripens and relaxes and the dough becomes less sticky, and will stretch farther when working with it. With this refrigerated dough, you can obtain a thin crisp crust, or a thick, chewy crust depending on how thin you roll or stretch the dough when forming it, and on whether or not you allow it to warm up and rise before baking it. A thick crust made from chilled dough is likely to have larger air bubbles and be less delicate and more chewy