Margarita Neopolitan Pizza Pie
Here is a basic pizza pie dough recipe
Equipment
- Pizza Stone
Ingredients
- 1.5 Lb Type 00 flour
- 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Tbsp dry active yeast
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 pint warm water Around 100 degrees fahrenheit
- 1 to 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Topping:
- 2 Lb Sliced Fresh Tomato
- 1 cup Thin sliced/shaved sweet Onion
- 2 Tbsp Thin shaved Fresh garlic
- 1 Lb Thin sliced and drained Fresh mozzarella
- 1/2 Cup Fresh basil leaves
- Olive oil to drizzle
- Flaked Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Oregano or 1Tbsp Fresh chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- corn meal for dusting
Instructions
- Put warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a mixer. Allow the yeast to activate for about 10 minutes
- Add in the salt and 1 Tbsp olive oil.
- Use a dough hook attachment on the mixer. Start at a low speed, and gradually add in the flour. Then increase the speed as you incorporate the last of the flour, so it doesn't fly all over.
- Mix until a dry dough forms. Add a little more oil if it is too dry.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and put on a floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top and cover. Let the dough sit about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour.
- Cut the dough into smaller portions if you want or leave whole if you have a large enough stone to accomodate.
- Preheat your oven to it's highest temperature. Most max out at 550. Have the pizza stone in the oven
- When the oven is hot, form the dough by hand. You can roll it out if you want, but I find the dough forms better and has a better mouth feel if done by hand.
- The dough can be formed on a pizza peel and slid into the oven or built on the stone itself. If you build it on the stone, be prepared to work fast. Either way, you want to dust the stone with corn meal to prevent sticking. If you are building on a peel, put some corn meal on the peel as well (also to prevent sticking).
- Drizzle the pizza crust with olive oil. Top with tomato slices (thin is better), onion, and garlic, top that with the fresh mozarella, then sprinkle parmesan, oregano, salt, and pepper on.
- Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on how well done you want it. The cheese should be somewhat browned. Be careful that it is not too wet.
- Either hand tear or slice the basil and sprinkle evenly over the pizza, Cut and serve immediately.
Notes
- Type 00 flour is a finely ground flour available in specialty stores. In Italy they categorize flour by the fineness of the grind. 00 is the finest grind. It's gluten content is similar to AP flour, but the grinding makes the gluten react differently, resulting in a crisper dough. You can mix with AP or bread flour if you want a chewier crust.
- Fresh Mozzarella needs to be drained first. It has a lot of moisture, and can make your pizza soggy. Slice it thin. Otherwise it will not cook quick enough, and, the moisture will seep out. You can use regular mozzarella if you want. But, fresh or buffalo Moz is preferred in this type of pizza.
- Strain the tomatoes too. They can sog out the crust as well.
- This dough is universal. I like to make larger batches of it, cut into smaller balls, and freeze the dough. You can put whatever toppings you want on it. Try a fig, prosciutto, and blue cheese, drizzle with balsamic reduction! Molto Bene!