Category
Pizza
Servings
Makes two 12-inch Pizzas
Prep Time
8 hours
Cook Time
8 minutes
Nothing makes for an easier pizza party then a couple of our frozen doughs, a good sauce, and some of your favorite toppings. When we make pizza at home (and for each of the pizza recipes featured here on the site), we use the following technique which makes 2 12-inch pizzas for every order of our dough. You may also stretch the entire ball to fit one half-sheet tray, top as desired, and bake as instructed until the bottom is golden (10-12 minutes if using a pizza stone, more without).
Whatever your shape and size, our general rule of thumb: keep it simple. From the sauce to the cheese use quality ingredients and just enough to get that perfect balance of sweet, salty, chewy and crisp. That said, it’s pizza. If you like to load it up let your freak flag fly. It’s bound to be fun. And delicious.
Author:Karl Wagner
Ingredients
1 order Journeyman Pizza Dough
All-Purpose Flour for dusting
Semolina Flour (optional)
Baking Stone
Parchment Paper or Baker's Peel
Special Equipment
Directions
At least 8 hours before serving (or the night before) transfer frozen pizza dough to a bowl and place in the refrigerator to thaw. Or, thaw at room temperature for 4 hours prior to baking.
When ready to bake, set baking stone on middle rack and preheat oven to 500ºF.
Meanwhile, remove dough from bag onto a lightly floured surface. Using a dough scraper or butter knife, divide dough ball in half and form each half into a disk. Lightly flour both sides of each disk, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest on the counter for 15 minutes.
Once rested, take one of the disks and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Using the tips of your fingers, press the dough from the center outward, stretching it slightly and making sure the dough is of equal thickness everywhere.
Now, to stretch: lightly flour the top of the dough. Invert it onto the tops of your hands, curving your fingers so that the center of the dough is loosely draped over your knuckles. Begin to stretch the dough by gradually moving your hands apart. At this stage, focus on the middle - where it has a tendency to get thick - stretching the dough towards the edges. As the pizza gets bigger, allow much of it to hang off of your hands, slowly working the edge across your knuckles and letting gravity continue to evenly stretch it. Be patient. If handled too roughly or hurriedly the gluten in the dough has the tendency to resist and tear. If you feel the dough beginning to resist your stretching, place it on the counter for another minute or two and allow it to rest before continuing.
Once stretched to your desired size, lay the pizza on your parchment or baker’s peel (prepared with a generous sprinkling of semolina or all-purpose flour) and adjust any edges as necessary to get a rounder pizza. Top as desired and carefully move the pizza to the preheated baking stone (using the parchment as a sling or, with practice and confidence, your peel).
Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the crust is golden and cheese is melted and bubbly. If desired, broil for the final 2 minutes for a charred Neapolitan-style crust and browned top.