Crisp Pizza Dough

I have been experimenting for a number of years (since I moved from NYC) trying to perfect Sicilian style pizza. I first started this odyssey because, lets face it, pizza outside of New York is not as good as pizza inside New York. Some say the key is the water, but I have found that not to be the key. This dough is crispier then the usual and I think quite an improvement on the original slices I used buy.

Ready

• 3 ¾ cups bread flour
• 2 ½ Tbl dry active yeast
• 1 Tbl sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups water (use filtered if you have it)
• Olive oil

Set

• Medium bowl
• Large spoon (wooden)
• Plastic wrap
• Firm Spatula
• Rolling pin
• 13 x 18 baking sheet with rims (or thereabouts)

Go

1. Mix flour, yeast, sugar and salt in bowl.
2. Add water and stir with large wooden spoon until mixed.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours.
4. Sprinkle some flour on a clean smooth surface (preferably stone or marble counter or cutting board)
5. Remove dough from bow. Use spatula to get all of the sticky dough
6. Roll dough into a ball. No need to over work it.
7. Divide dough into half.
8. Moisten dough balls with a little water, cover and let sit for ½ hour.
9. Sprinkle more powered on clean surface.
10. Roll first dough ball as close as you can get it into the shape of the baking pan.
11. Oil baking sheet.
12. Lift dough into the baking sheet.
13. Using your hands stretch dough to fit.
14. Top with your favorite toppings and bake at high heat until done.
15. Repeat with second ball of dough.

What you should know

for the picture above I topped the crisp pizza dough with thin slices of prosciutto, homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and chopped rosemary.

There is no need to pre-bake the dough. It gets plenty crispy.

Looking for more pizza recipes?