Marthas Pizza Dough For A Crowd Food

MARTHA'S PIZZA DOUGH FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups flour and the salt, stirring until smooth. Stir in an additional 2 cups flour; continue adding flour (up to 1/2 cup), 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until dough comes away from bowl but is still sticky.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead with lightly floured hands. Start by slapping the dough onto the counter, pulling it toward you with one hand and pushing it away from you with the other. Fold the dough back over itself (use a bench scraper or a wide knife to help scrape dough from surface). Repeat until it's easier to handle, about 10 times. Finish kneading normally until dough is smooth, elastic, and soft, but a little tacky, about 10 minutes.
• Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with plastic, and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, 2 hours. Press it with your finger to see if it's done; an indent should remain.
• Scrape dough out of the bowl onto floured surface, and cut it into 4 pieces. Shape into balls. Dust with flour, and cover with plastic. Transfer to refrigerator, let rise overnight.

QUICK BASIC PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk sugar, oil, and salt into yeast mixture. Add flour and stir until a sticky dough forms. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and brush top with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 1 or 2 times before using.
• Dough can be stored in an oiled bowl, covered with plastic, in refrigerator up to 2 hours. To freeze, wrap dough in plastic and freeze in a resealable freezer bag up to 3 months. If you plan to use it in a recipe that calls for half a batch, divide it before freezing.

GRILLED PIZZA FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• Make the pizza dough: Whisk together the bread flour and salt in a large bowl. Combine the water, oil and sugar in a second large bowl; add the yeast, and let sit until it begins to foam, about 5 minutes. Add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture, and use your hands to combine until it comes together into a rough, shaggy ball. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside for 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle a work surface with flour and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Clean the bowl and lightly coat it with oil. Return the kneaded dough to the bowl, brush with oil, cover and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Transfer the dough to the work surface, and punch it down. Quarter the dough, and cut each quarter into 4 for a total of 16 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Evenly space the dough balls on the work surface, cover and let sit until they poof slightly, about 30 minutes. (To make ahead, after cutting the dough, wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, then let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling.)
• Prepare a grill for medium-high heat and brush the grill grates with oil.
• Roll out the dough: Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment, and sprinkle with cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking. Roll out each ball of dough into an 8-inch circle on the work surface (keep the other balls covered as you work). Arrange 2 to 3 rounds without overlapping on the parchment. Repeat with layers of parchment, cornmeal and dough rounds.
• Par-grill the dough: Working in batches, brush the top of each dough round with oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill, oiled-side down, until grill marks just form and the dough starts to bubble up, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Turn the dough over and repeat. Transfer to a cooling rack or another baking sheet to cool. The dough shells will be underbaked and flimsy (they finish cooking when guests top and grill them). Stack the shells, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and set aside until ready to use. (The shells can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Or tightly wrap each one in plastic and foil, then freeze for up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature for a few minutes before topping and grilling.)
• Set up the pizza bar: Prepare a grill for medium-high heat and brush the grill grates with oil. Set out a large cutting board with a knife or pizza cutter nearby. Set out a stack of the pizza shells and any combination of the suggested sauces, cheeses and toppings.
• Grill the pizzas: Let your guests add their desired toppings to the dough shells. Transfer the pizzas to the grill, cover and cook until the bottom of each is slightly charred, the cheese has melted and the toppings are cooked through. Remove the pizzas from the grill, slice them and encourage your guests to top them with some of the finishings.
• One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• For the red sauce: Combine the tomato sauce, basil, oil, garlic and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. The sauce can be made up to 1 day ahead.
• For the arugula-pistachio pesto: Pulse the arugula, basil, parsley, pistachios, capers, 3 tablespoons water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until a paste. The sauce can be made up to 1 day ahead; refrigerate.
• For the ricotta spread: Stir together the ricotta, Parmesan, oil, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. The sauce can be made up to 1 day ahead; refrigerate.

ROBERTA'S PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• in a large mixing bowl combine the two types of flour and the salt.
• In a small mixing bowl, stire together 200 grams (a little less than 1 cup) lukewarm tap water, the yeast and the olive oil. Then, pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands until well combined, approximately 3 minutes, then let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.
• Knead rested dough for 3 minutes. Cut into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with dampened cloth and let rest and rise for 3 - 4 hours at room temperature or for 8 - 24 hours in the refrigerator. If you refrigerate the dough, remove it 30-45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.
• To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Brush surface of each spread out pizza dough with olive oil, then top it with favorite toppings and bake. The olive oil helps keep the sauce from soaking into the dough and making it soggy.
• I suggest arugala on top of the pizza when it comes out of the oven.
• Cook at 450 deg F for 10-15 minutes or better yet, as hot as the oven will go for something less than that.

PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• In large bowl, dissolve yeast and brown sugar in the water.
• Let sit for 10 minutes.
• Stir the salt, oil and italian seasoning into the yeast mixture.
• Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
• Turn dough out onto a clean, dry surface and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
• Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth.
• Let the dough double in size.
• Should take about 1/2 hour if in warm spot.
• Punch down and let rest a minute.
• Roll out, and prepare your favorite pizza.
• I use a pizza stone sprinkled with a bit of corn meal.
• Once I have the dough shaped I bake it plain for about 5-10 minutes, then pull out of oven and add toppings, just seems to work better every time.
• Bake in preheated oven 425 degrees until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 20 minutes.