Basic White Wine Pizza Dough (Easy)
Making pizza dough can be very tricky especially if you're trying a complicated recipe from that famous pizza restaurant in NYC or LA. We tried a number of times and failed pretty miserably until I begged my pizza-making friend from work to share his dough recipes with me. This "easy" recipe worked right out of the gate and hasn't failed us yet. But there are two other, more complicated recipes that I have yet to try. I will try them soon though, just for you!
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup of Warm Water
Pinch of Sugar
3 Teaspoons of Yeast
1/4 Cup of ROOM TEMPERATURE White Wine
1 1/4 Teaspoons of Kosher Salt
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
3 Cups of Bread Flour (Optional: 1 Cup of 00 Flour; 2 Cups of bread Flour)
2 Teaspoons of Honey
Mix 6 tablespoons of the warm water, pinch of sugar and 3 teaspoons of yeast in a small bowl. I like using a tablespoon to get the yeast mixed in well and flatten out the lumps. I warn you though, yeast smells...well, "yeasty" so be ready for it. Let sit for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining water and 1/4 cup of ROOM TEMPERATURE white wine, 1 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the first cup of flour. Since this recipe had the option of using 00 flour, I did that from the first try and haven't looked back. I say, use the 00 flour!
Next add in the 2 teaspoons of honey and the yeast mixture you've already made. Continuing stirring with the wooden spoon until all the flour is mixed in and it has the consistency of batter. Add the remaining flour and stir a few more minutes.
Knead the dough in the bowl until smooth. Clean the sides of the bowl, oil the dough with olive oil, and then cover with a towel. Getting the dough to really stick at this point can be challenging but keep at it until it's pretty close and the olive oil will help you the rest of the way.
Let the dough rise for 45-60 minutes. This time can vary wildly in my experience. If at 45 minutes, the dough doesn't look like it's risen as high as it should, let it go another 15. But if it looks pretty high, go ahead punch it down. Yes, it looks just like it sounds. Punch the dough so it falls. Once you've punched it down, split it in to four pieces. (Disclaimer: we often split it into thirds because we like our pizzas a little bigger.)
Don't pull the dough to split it. Cut it evenly with a butter knife or some similar tool that will cut the dough and not stretch it. Knead the dough briefly again before putting all four sections in separate bowls, cover again and let them rise for another 15 minutes or so.
Next: let's learn how to make pizza sauce!