Peter Reinhart’s Pizza Dough Recipe

This is such a hurry-scurry kind of post. I have been tardy in updating this space but now am back with a wonderful pizza dough recipe from one of the greatest artisan bread makers in the world. I had made this many months ago and it has been languishing in my drafts for some time now. The photographs are not the best because of the paucity of time.

I have tried quite a few Peter Reinhart recipes of which I had posted one about Lavash crackers before and I have to say that I have met with 100% success. I would highly recommend the book ” The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” for the beautiful, no-fail recipe instructions and the stunning photographs of all the gorgeous breads and its variants.

It is suggested that a finer pizza is loaded with simpler and fewer toppings but simple and light is not my thing. It is always a little over the top, exaggerated and dramatic for me; applies to my life in general, also.

In my pizza eating life, a random observation that I have made is that while a pizza with a thicker crust is always devoured with much gusto the  thinner crust makes for dainty nibbling. Peter Reinhart in his book vouches that it is the crust that makes for a great pizza and not the toppings and I have to agree. I have made pizza before but none were as satisfying and so wonderfully done as this one. In one of my earlier post I suggested baking pizza at a lower temperature but I have been made to eat my own words. I have to admit that whilst I did enjoy my earlier pizza because they were home  made ( read, made by me) I knew that the crust wasn’t the best and  a lot was left to be desired.

Here are the reasons that Peter Reinhart gives for NOT baking your pizza at lower temperatures -

” Baking pizza at a low temperature ruins the crust because it takes so long to brown it that all the moisture evaporates, leaving a cardboard -dry shell behind. The key to great pizza is extremely hot oven and baking surface.”

Another rule of the book that he mentions is ,” The single biggest flaw in most pizza dough recipes is the failure to instruct the maker to allow the dough to rest overnight in the refrigerator. This gives the enzymes time to go to work, pulling out subtle flavour trapped in the starch. The long rest also relaxes the gluten, allowing you to shape the dough easily, minimizing the elastic springiness that so often forces you to squeeze out all the gas.”

 I did not shape the pizza by tossing it up in the air because I cannot even in my dreams imagine that I would be able to do so. Instead I resorted to using the good old-fashioned rolling-pin and my palms to get the thin crust that I desired. The Master recommends that in order to do the tossing in the air act, one has to flour their hands and use the fists rather than the fingertips.

I rested the dough overnight in the refrigerator and then I let it stay out for 3 hours before I wanted to bake it. I thought it would rise just a tiny little bit but it did not. I was quite skeptical about the outcome at that point and it worried me because I had made no alternate arrangements for lunch that day. But the end result was nothing short of what you can call spectacular. I made it twice : Once for the family and once for a dear friend who had come for lunch. Both the times it was just as brilliant.

Another key-note that Peter Reinhart suggests is to use chilled water to make the dough. Use the coldest that you can manage for wonderful results. It also helps if you put the flour in the refrigerator at least 1 hour before mixing or preferably the day before.

I followed each and every recommendation of his blindly and it helped me reap the benefits for sure.

Pizza one without mushroom

Like I mentioned before, I made two pizzas with different toppings and all vegetarian and for once there were absolutely no leftovers. The hubby who had propounded a theory about how the last slice of pizza tastes the worst had to accept an exception to his theory.

Pizza two with mushrooms

The Recipe for Peter Reinhart’s Pizza

Ingredients

Unbleached  high gluten bread flour Or All purpose flour ( I used AP) – 4 1/2 cups

Salt – 1 3/4 tsp

Instant yeast – 1 tsp

Olive or vegetable oil – 1/4 cup

water , ice cold (40 F) – 1 3/4th cups

Semolina or cornmeal for dusting

Preparation

1. Stir together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a bowl and then stir in the oil and cold water until the flour is all absorbed. You can do this in an electric mixer where you can mix all the aforesaid ingredients at a low-speed with a paddle attachment. If you are using your hands, like I did, repeatedly dip one of your hands into cold water and use it , much like a dough hook,  to work the dough into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5-7 minutes or as long as it takes to make a smooth, sticky dough. You’d know you have done a decent job when the dough clears the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom. If the dough is too wet and sticks to the sides then sprinkle flour to get it off it and continue kneading. AND if it clears the bottom of the bowl then you need to add a few teaspoons of cold water to get it sticking to the bottom of the bowl.  The finished dough will feel elastic, springy and sticky.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter now. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment. I used a large tart pan to bake my pizza on and placed that on the sheet pan instead. Whatever surface you use to bake your pizza, make sure to mist it well with oil. The next step is to cut the dough into equal parts depending on what size pizza you want. I made large pizzas ( 2 in nos. and 8 slices).

3. Sprinkle flour over the dough and flour your hands before you start. Shape it into a round ball and mist it with oil and transfer it into a bowl ( which I did) or into a food grade plastic bag ( as the Master suggests).

4. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough. Each dough ball has to be refrigerated in a separate bowl.

To freeze : If you want to save some for future baking then you can store balls (misted with generous coat of oil) in a zippered freezer bag. The day before you plan to make the pizza, transfer them to the refrigerator.

5. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Dust the counter with flour and mist the counter with oil. Gently press the dough into flat discs and then mist and flour it. Let it rest in a bowl,covered,  for another 2 hours ( yes, it starts to get a little tedious here but it so worth the effort)

6. Atleast 45 minutes before making the pizza preheat the oven up to 500F or gas mark 8 or 260 C or even higher if you oven permits.

7. Dust the sheet pan or the tart pan, in my case with semolina or cornmeal. Make pizzas one at a time if you intend on making several on one day. After this the master proceeds to explain how to toss the dough to resemble a flying saucer but I was sure of my limitations and used my palms and fists to spread the dough on my moist tart pan.

8. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction, layer it with the sauce that you have prepared. I made a regular tomato based one spruced with herbs and pepper. I layered the toppings of my choice with different cheeses such as feta, mozzarella and cheddar on both the pizzas.

9. Bake the pizza for about 8 minutes. In spite of being top-heavy ( no pun intended) my crust baked to perfection. Lighter toppings ensure a faster bake time of say 5 minutes.

10. Wait for 7-8 minutes before you can cut and serve it.

Peter Reinhart points out that the race between browning the crust and melting the cheese is one of the great culinary dramas, and if they converge at exactly the same moment, you will have a memorable experience.

After writing this statement, my mind can’t help but race all possible directions to draw parallels with life, in general. A dirty mind, you may say. But don’t tell me you did not think of it while you read it!!!

He also adds that the thinner and more even that you can stretch the base, more likely it is that you would get this baking convergence…

I would highly recommend this to all the passionate pizza lovers that they ought to try making this once to taste the difference!

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Tags: Peter Reinhart, pizza, The bread baker's apprentice