Recipes Sites Ingredients

Pizza (Cicero’s New York Style, Thin Crust)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (or maybe a bit less)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup warm (110 degree) tap water
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (if using compressed yeast, use 90 deg water)
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil

Equipment

  • One 15-inch round pizza pan

Method

Place the flour and salt in a 2-quart mixing bowl and stir well to mix; make a well in the center.

Measure the water and pour it into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on the surface of the water and leave it to soften 3 or 4 minutes. Whisk the yeast and water together then whisk in 1 tablespoon of the oil.

Pour the liquid mixture to the well into the flour and stir with a rubber spatula to form a soft, sticky dough. Turn the dough out on a floured work surface. Knead the dough gently, folding it over on itself, and scraping it off the surface with a spatula or plastic scraper if it is very sticky. Avoid adding more flour to the dough – that will produce a tough pizza. Knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and no longer so sticky.

Rinse and dry the bowl. Spread 1 tablespoon oil all around the inside of the bowl. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl. Turn the ball upside down, so that the top surface of the dough is oiled, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise at room temperature about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. For advance preparation, cover and refrigerate the dough several hours or even overnight.

To form the pizza crust, generously flour the work surface. Flour your hand and scrape the dough from the bowl in one piece, without stretching or folding it. Place the dough on the floured work surface so that what was on top in the bowl is now underneath.

Scatter a tablespoon or so of flour over the dough and press down on it with the palm of the hand. Be careful to keep the dough an even disk shape. If the dough is freshly made, it may resist slightly. Should that happen, cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes, then resume the process. If the dough has been rested for a long time either in the refrigerator or at room temperature, it will respond easily.

Form your right hand into a fist and begin to press the dough in a circle, about 1/2-inch in from the edge of the dough, with the middle joints of your fingers (as though knocking on a door). Pull gently with your other hand on the edge of the dough, opposite where the dough is being pressed. Continue around the crust two or three times in this manner to flatten and widen it. For a rectangular crust, press and pull the dough into a rectangular shape – use a rolling pin of the dough resists. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil onto a round or rectangular pizza pan and spread it with the palm of one hand. Fold the crust in half and transfer it to the oiled pan. Unfold the dough and press it into place in the pan with the palms of both hands, gently stretching from the center outward. If the dough resists, cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes, then resume the process.

When the dough is properly stretched, it should be about 1/8-inch thick and have a 1/2-inch wide border which is slightly thicker.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Put the pizza in for five minutes, then reduce the temperature to 425. Total baking time should be about 15 minutes; check doneness by lifting the pizza with a spatula, the bottom should be browned when it’s done. Timing can vary quite a bit depending on the kind of pizza pan you use, the pizza stone seems to take longer than the aluminum pan…

Notes

If you double this recipe to make two pizzas, do not double the quantity of yeast. You can make this recipe with less (or no) sugar and it make an excellent, more traditional pie.

Ingredients for Sourdough 62% hydration

Notes

300g for 15 inch (176 sq in)
200g for 12 inch (113 sq in)

Total, 6 dough balls of 200 g each, total 1200 g


At 62% hydration:
740 g flour
460 g water

Poolish Ingredients

  • 91 g starter (45 flour, 45 water)
  • 100 g flour
  • 100 g water

Poolish method

  • Mix and proof (82F 100%steam) for 45 minutes

Dough Ingredients

  • The Poolish
  • 595 g flour
  • 315 g water
  • 24 g salt (2%)

Dough Method

  • Mix, stretch and fold, proof (78F) for 45 minutes
  • Repeat 2x