Artisan Pizza Dough
Despite its reputation as a convenience food, the most essential element of great pizza is time. A slow fermentation gives our pizza dough its chewy-crispy texture and depth of flavor. It starts with your choice of sourdough starter (aka levain) or a simple mixture of flour, water, and active dry yeast (poolish) left to ferment for 12 hours. Both options start fermentation and build flavor in the dough overnight. Strategic stretching of the dough during the initial fermentation stage develops gluten and makes the dough evenly elastic and forgiving to work with. Each 9-ounce dough ball will make one 10-inch pizza, a personal-size pie that's also easy to maneuver around home countertops and ovens. This overnight dough is easily doubled for pizza parties. Not cooking for a crowd? The raw dough may be frozen.
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Recipe Summary
Ingredients
Directions
Make Ahead
Dough balls can be frozen in lightly greased individual freezer-safe pint containers up to 2 weeks. Let thaw in refrigerator at least 12 hours or up to 2 days.
Notes
If you're new to making pizza, prepare a double batch of dough to get the hang of shaping and baking. Practice makes perfect.
Poolish and Levain
For this recipe, you will need to make a preferment—either a poolish or levain—to start the fermentation process and build flavor in the dough. A poolish uses yeast to start fermentation, while a levain uses mature sourdough starter. To make a poolish, stir together 3/4 cup unbleached bread flour (about 3 1/4 ounces or 95 grams), 1/2 cup warm water (about 80°F) (4 ounces or 115 grams), and a pinch of active dry yeast (about 1/16 teaspoon) in a medium bowl. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let ferment at cool room temperature (about 65°F) until increased in volume 2 1/2 to 3 times and passes the float test (see note below), about 12 hours. To make a levain, stir together 1/2 cup warm water (about 80°F) (4 ounces or 115 grams) and 3/4 ounce mature sourdough starter (about 1 1/2 tablespoons or 25 grams) in a medium bowl until starter is mostly dissolved. Stir in 3/4 cup unbleached bread flour (about 3 1/4 ounces or 95 grams) until well combined and mixture resembles thick batter. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel; let stand at room temperature until increased in volume 2 1/2 to 3 times and passes float test, at least 4 hours or up to 8 hours.
Your poolish or levain needs to rest from four to 12 hours to ferment before it is ready to use. You'll know it is ready to work by doing the float test. Using wet fingers, pinch off a small portion (about 1/2 teaspoon) of poolish or levain, and drop it in a glass of room-temperature water. If it floats, it's ready to mix into dough. If it sinks, continue to ferment, performing the float test again after 30 minutes.