by Chef Matthew Krenz

Family pizza night has been in rotation since I was a little kid. Early memories bring to mind par-baked crusts, canned black olives, way too much mozzarella, and some pepperoni.

It looks a little different these days. My daughter pulls up a bar stool and helps me measure the ingredients for the dough, prep some of the veggies, and has even started rolling out her own dough and putting on her toppings. We bought a small pizza oven in the middle of lockdown (something that still feels so surreal). It has been a family favorite and something we use not quite weekly, but almost. I hope you enjoy this recipe and play with the toppings, and that it brings joy and conversations around the table for years to come. For best results, you will need a food scale to measure the ingredients properly.

Pizza Dough Recipe (with starter)

Makes six 12-inch pizza crusts

1 kg. pizza tipo 00 flour
460-480g warm water
120g sour starter
20-24g fine sea salt
3g instant yeast
semolina flour, as needed
Pizza toppings of choice

1. In a mixing bowl, combine warm water (no hotter than 105°F), yeast, and sour starter. Mix on lowest for 2 minutes.
2. Add flour, then salt, and mix on the next speed for 5-6 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Dough should have some firmness and be resilient to the touch. Allow to chill, covered, overnight in the fridge.
3. About 2 to 3 hours before it’s time to cook, pull the dough out and portion it into 200-210g dough balls. Cover with a towel moistened with warm water and allow to proof.
4. When it’s time to cook, push down and out from the center of the dough balls, creating a nice, slightly elevated crust area. Try to pop any obvious bubbles with your fingernail or a toothpick.
5. Sprinkle some semolina flour on a pizza peel.
6. Place shaped pizza dough on top of the semolina; it should move freely. Add semolina if necessary.
7. Add sauce and toppings.
8. For a brick oven, cook at 750°F, slightly off-center. Use your spinner every 25-35 seconds to turn the pizza 90° each spin. There will be some blistering, preferably not black, but it could be close.
9. For a conventional oven, cook at 475°F for roughly 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Spin halfway after ⅔ of your cooking time to brown evenly.

Enjoy!

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