Basic Pizza Dough
Here is my recipe and process. It is a variation of my bread dough, but is a slightly lower 65% hydration.
Make the starter the night before you want to bake pizza:
Let this sit covered on the counter overnight. It will double in size by the next morning
The morning of the day you want to make pizza, mix up the following:
To the remaining starter, add enough flour to make it the consistency of playdough. Let that sit on the counter (covered) for a few hours then put it in the fridge. This is your starter for next time.
Mix all the dough ingredients up in a bowl... it should seem pretty stiff, but not dry. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then knead it in the bowl (push it down, then pull the sides over the top) once an hour(ish) for 3 or 4 hours. Keep the bowl covered when sitting on the counter. The dough will get softer and smoother and start to rise after about 4 hours. At about 6 or 7 hours it's time to pull the dough out of the mixing bowl for a final proof.
Divide this dough into 4 equal balls, pinch the bottoms and let them proof for at least 2 (preferably 4) hours. I do this on a sheet pan and loosely cover the dough balls with plastic film or a grocery store bag.
When you are ready to shape and bake a pizza, flour your counter and grab one of the dough discs. Use a Neopolitan shaping technique by gently pressing the center with your fingers to make a rimmed disk. Then stretch it to it's final size. Make sure there is plenty of flour to keep this from sticking.
Place your sauce and toppings, then slide your pizza peel under this pizza. It's tricky, especially if the dough is sticky. Expect some carnage in this step early on.
Place your pizza Into an 850° F oven and bake for about a minute... then rotate it every 20 seconds or so. The pizza should be done in about 2 minutes.
For pizza you want to use 00 flour. This is a finer grind that bread flour and results in a light and fluffy crust. I use a mix of 10% 00 whole wheat and 90% 00 flour. This results in great flavor and crust texture and is an easy to manage dough. So, in this recipe I use a mix of 40g 00 whole wheat and 400g 00 flour.
We are lucky enough to have Barton Springs Mill nearby for our whole wheat flour. Don't skimp on quality flour, this will have a huge impact on your results. Support your local mills!