Pizza Margherita, take due
Dough recipe from Julie O'Hara via NPR's Kitchen Window
Makes two 14-inch pizzas or eight 7-inch individual pizzas
If you think that you will ever make pizza, even just once, get a pizza peel! The fifteen bucks you spend on it will be far less than the toll the heartbreak of peel-less disaster!!! Plus you can use it for regular breads too. I was amazed at how much easier the pizza experience was when I had this indispensable kitchen tool.
I quartered the dough recipe so that I could make two 7-inch pizzas. You could also wrap any unused dough tightly in foil and in a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months. Bring the dough to room temperature again before attempting to handle it.
For the dough:
1 1/4 cups lukewarm (105-115 degrees F) water
1 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons) OR 1 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour, plus extra for work surface
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt (such as kosher or sea salt)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Sprinkling of cornmeal or semolina flour
For everything else:
1/2 - 1 pound of fresh mozzarella cheese, preferably mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella), depending on how cheesy you like your pizza
About 1 ounce of fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
If you're using instant yeast, skip to step two. If you're using active dry yeast, pour the water into a small bowl and gently stir in the yeast. Let it sit for 5 to 8 minutes in a non-drafty place.
Meanwhile, add the flours and salt to a food processor, stand mixer, or large bowl and combine (pulse if using a food processor). Add the olive oil, honey and yeast mixture (or yeast and water, if you're using instant). Mix or process until the dough comes together, forming a ball. The dough should be sticky but not wet. If it feels wet, add some flour 1 tablespoon at a time
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead with lightly floured hands and form into a ball. Place the ball of dough in a large bowl seam side down, cover with plastic wrap, a wet towel, or a lid, and let it sit in a warm, non-drafty place until the dough roughly doubles in bulk and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 1 hour.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead or about 30 seconds. Divide the dough into two (or eight, if you're making individual pizzas) equal balls. Let them rise for the second time on a cutting board, covered with a kitchen towel, for an hour and a half. When 30 minutes have elapsed, put your pizza stones in a cold oven and preheat to 500 degrees. When the dough tests ready as before, begin shaping the dough into flat rounds by rolling it out with a pin or by stretching the dough with your hands or by tossing it into the air, catching it in the middle with your fingertips or knuckles, and letting gravity stretch the dough out.
Once the dough has attained the desired thickness and diameter, sprinkle some cornmeal on a pizza peel (or the back of a baking sheet, but this course of action is far less recommended. Just get a peel) and place the dough on the peel. Lightly brush the crust with olive oil and top with the marinara. Pinch off pieces of flattened cheese from the ball of mozzarella and arrange them on the pizza.
With rapid jerking motions, slide the pizza from the peel onto the prepared stone. Bake for about ten minutes or until the crust and cheese begin to brown. When there is about 1 minute of baking time left, open the oven and add the basil to the pizza. When the pizza is done, remove it from the stone with the peel, slice, and serve.