Buy your premium Sun-Maid + Orchard Choice Figs at valleyfig.com

Get 20% off Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid products with coupon code "20offretail". Limit one use per customer.

four cheese balsamic fig tart flambe pizza

Print Recipe

Peter Reinhart Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients

21 oz / 595g (4 2/3 cups) unbleached bread, or all-purpose, or 00-flour
.42 oz / 12g (1 1/2 teaspoons) kosher salt
.11 oz / 3g (1 teaspoon) instant yeast
14.25 oz / 405g water (room temperature, approx. 68-72 degrees F)
1 oz / 28g olive oil (optional, see notes below)

Instructions

In a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add all the water and stir with a large spoon, or use the paddle attachment and mix on slow speed for 30 seconds to form a coarse, shaggy dough. Add the oil (if using). Increase the speed to medium (or continue mixing with the spoon or with wet hands) and mix for another 30 to 60 seconds to make a wet, coarse, slightly sticky dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate.
If using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook. Increase the mixer to medium-high speed (or continue mixing by hand) and mix for another 2 to 3 minutes to make a smooth dough (add more flour or water, if needed). The dough should be soft and supple, tacky but not sticky to the touch, and offer a bouncy resistance when pressed with a wet finger or slapped with a wet hand.
Use 1 teaspoon of olive oil to make a 15” diameter oil slick on the work surface. Rub some oil on a plastic bowl scraper and on your hands and use the scraper to transfer the dough to the oil slick. Stretch and fold (s&f) the dough to form it into a round ball. Invert your mixing bowl and use it to cover the dough, and let it rest for 2 minutes. Then, repeat the stretch and fold (you can rub additional olive oil on the work surface, if needed). Again, cover the dough, let it rest for 2 minutes, and repeat the stretch and fold. Cover with the bowl and, again, let it rest for 2 minutes. Perform one final stretch and fold to make a smooth ball of dough. The dough will have firmed up after each s&f and will now be smooth, supple, and tacky to the touch, but not sticky.
Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl or container, roll it around to coat the dough with oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for anywhere from 12 to 72 hours.
On the day you plan to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator 3 hours before you plan to bake the pizzas. Immediately, divide it into the desired size pieces (typically, 9 oz or 255 g) and round them into balls, placing the dough balls on a sheet pan that has been lined with either lightly oiled baking parchment or a silicone baking mat (or use a dough box). Mist the dough balls with vegetable spray oil and cover the pan or box with plastic wrap or a lid Then, follow the recipe for the pizza.

Notes

recipe by Peter Reinhart

__________

NOTES:

—You can substitute up to 25% whole grain or other flour (such as semolina, rye, heirloom, etc.) for an equal amount of white flour, but increase the water by 0.5 oz (14 g) for every 2 ounces (57 g) of whole grain flour that you swap in.

—Omit the olive oil in dough for wood-fired, high heat pizzas, such as pure Neapolitan-style.

—You can use any brand of spray vegetable or olive oil to lightly oil the bowls and dough balls).

—Use all purpose flour or -00- Italian flour for Neapolitan-style pizza, and use unbleached bread flour for Neo-Neapolitan (or Neapolitan-ish) pizzas, whether baking in home ovens or wood-fired ovens.

—With some brands of flour you may need to increase (or also decrease) the water amount. Always let the dough dictate how much water it needs, using the recipe as a general guideline.