A Hungry Bear

You know how you start noticing something all the time only when it becomes important to you? Like you never notice different styles of roof shingles until you need to roof your house, or you really start noticing people’s glasses when you find out you need them yourself? (Maybe it’s just me.) The same thing happens with food. I’ve been spending my Sunday afternoons trying out new recipes from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s “The Bread Bible”, and have made her pizza dough several times. It seems like now I’m noticing everyone has their own favorite pizza dough, or that a lot of people are experimenting with it at least. I’d like to start a little experiment, trying other people’s favorites and see how they compare and what I can learn in terms of pizza dough techniques. To start with, let’s look at Beranbaum’s recipe, that will be our control.

And by the way, it’s very hands off, and only takes a few minutes to put together. It tastes best if you let it slow-rise in the fridge for anywhere between 4-24 hours. Just stir the ingredients together and pull it out of the fridge an hour before you want to eat it.

Note: the original recipe says it will make a single 10-inch pizza. I have always tripled the amounts and made 3 pizzas (I can never get them stretched out to 10 inches in diameter - maybe 8 inch pizzas at most). The amounts below are for this larger size batch, about 20 total ounces of finished dough.

Grocery list: 12 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour (King Arthur brand preferred - that’s approximately 2 cups even if you don’t have a kitchen scale), 1.5 teaspoons instant yeast, 1.5 teaspoons sugar, 1.5 teaspoons salt, 1 cup water, 3 tablespoons olive oil.

You can either mix up the dough one hour before you want to shape it (leaving it out on the counter to rise), or, for better flavor, mix up the dough and let it rise in the fridge for 4-24 hours. Whatever you decide to do, start by mixing the flour, sugar and yeast together with a whisk.

Then whisk in the salt. Don’t just dump the salt in with the yeast and sugar - the salt will kill most of the yeast if it comes in such direct contact with it! (That’s why I love this book - it explains the science behind bread baking along with great recipes. I’ll stop with the shameless promotion now.) Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the water. The water should be “room temperature” or lukewarm - between 70-90 degrees.

Stir the flour and water together with a rubber spatula until it just barely starts to come together, about 20-30 seconds. It should be a single mass but not smooth at all. Beranbaum cautions not to overmix, and I listen.

Pour the oil into a large bowl, and tilt the bowl around so the sides are coated. Dip a clean spatula into the oil, and use that to pull the dough from the original mixing bowl into the oiled rising bowl. This is a helpful trick, because the dough is ridiculously sticky.

Once the dough has made it into the oiled bowl, use the spatula to flip it over a couple times, so the surface of the dough actually gets coated with oil too. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter while you clean up (about 30 minutes), then put in the fridge for anywhere between 4-24 hours.

About an hour before you want to bake your pizza, take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up on the counter. Go ahead and preheat the oven to 475, so the oven is hot for almost a full hour before you use it. Meanwhile, you can prep your toppings. For this particular version, we went with sausage (cooked and crumbled in a skillet), along with sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms.

We actually had some friends over and let everyone assemble their own pizzas. I can never remember who hates mushrooms so I sauteed them separately.

Grate some fresh mozzarella - about 1/2 a pound was more than enough for 3 pizzas.

Brush a pizza pan or baking sheet with olive oil. Divide the dough into 3 equal-size pieces, and place in the middle of each pan. Using your fingers, spread the dough as thin as you want (or as thin as you can manage - it’s so stretchy it bounces right back). Bake for 5 minutes. If you have a pizza stone, it should be preheated on the bottom rack when you’re preheating the oven. You can set the pan directly down on the stone and it helps make the crust crispier.

After 5 minutes, take the dough out of the oven, and assemble the toppings. I have to admit I didn’t make my own sauce this time, but next time I do I’ll share my recipe. Layers of pepperoni, sausage, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and mozzarella - definitely bear-friendly pizzas!

Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown in spots. Lift up a corner of the pizza crust with a spatula and check under it to make sure it’s done.

Serve with parmesan and crushed red pepper, if that’s your thing.