I have tried many different recipes and methods to make pizza at home, but I keep going back to the one by Alessandro Servidio. Making the dough is easy, it doesn’t require a mixer, and the result is excellent. It uses a modified autolyse technique that doesn’t require kneading. Try this method and you’ll love it like me.
Ingredients: A V Ef
(serve 4 to 6 – makes two 12” pizzas)
- 400 g. all-purpose flour
- 100 g. bread flour
- 350 ml. water
- 6 g. of fresh yeast or 3 g. of instant yeast
- 12 g. salt
- ½ pint tomato sauce (see recipe)
- 1 buffalo mozzarella
- A few leaves of basil
- 1 Tbsp. of EVOO
Measure the first six the ingredients before starting.
Warm up the water to 90-95 F, pour it into a big bowl and dissolve the yeast.
Add the flour and mix with a spoon. After all flour has been absorbed, add the salt and keep mixing. At this stage the dough will look sticky and messy, but don’t worry, it will come together. Cover the bowl with plastic film and let it rest for 15 minutes.
**After the 15 minutes, transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface, put some flour on your hands and fold it as the follows: think of a compass and grab the east (right) side of the dough with both hands, pull it gently and fold it over the center of the dough. Repeat with the north side of the dough, then the west (left) side, and after doing it with the south side flip the dough upside down. Return to dough to the bowl, cover, and let it rest for 15 minutes. **
Repeat from ** to ** two more times (for a total of 45 minutes)
First fermentation: After the three foldings, let the dough raise for approx. 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
Second Fermentation: Divide the dough into two parts, fold them again, and close them at the base to form two balls (panetti). Let the panetti raise for approx. 2 hours or until they double in size. I put them on an oiled baking sheet and cover them loosely (since they are going to double) with plastic film.
Warm up the oven at 470 F well in advance, especially if you have a pizza stone. This way your oven will be uniformly warm.
Shape your pizzas on a floured surface, one at a time. Flatten the dough with your fingertips, starting from the center and moving outwards, to form the cornicione, the typical raised edge. Keep flattening the dough with your fingertips until you reach the desired size.
If you have a pizza stone and a peel, transfer the dough on the floured peel and put the condiments on the pizza. Otherwise, put the dough on a pizza dish.
Spread the tomato sauce starting from the middle and moving outwards, with a circular motion.
Add the mozzarella, a few drops of olive oil, basil, and bake until the crust turn golden brown.
Tip: If you cannot stay at home for the five hours it takes to make the dough, you can put the panetti in the refrigerator for the second fermentation up to 24 hours. Just remember to take them out at least one hour before baking your pizza.
