PIzza Dough | Ask Dear Gaby

Fresh Pizza Dough

By DearGaby, on July 9th, 2009

I love making my own pizza dough. I first started making the dough with all purpose flour. (Feel free to substitute all purpose flour in this recipe). Being into healthy eating I decided to not use white flour anymore. Next, I tried using whole wheat flour. Unfortunately, pizza dough made with whole wheat flour isn’t very exciting and the dough doesn’t have the elasticity it needs. I guess you can add gluten to it but I decided against that. Next, I tried using various combinations of all purpose and whole wheat flour–still not great. This is when I got serious about making pizza and started buying my “00″ (double zero) flour via the internet. What an amazing pizza it makes. Yes, there are several brands of flour but decided on Caputo. It makes an amazing pizza.

Ingredients

18 ounces of warm water ( 100-105°)
1 tsp of active dry yeast
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 2.2 lb bag of “00″ flour (approximately 6 1/4 cups)

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Let it sit for 10 minutes. It should start to get foamy on top. Stir the mixture and add to it the olive oil and salt. Stir. In a large mixing bowl add the flour. Using your mixer with the dough hook on slow speed, gradually add the water mixture to flour. Once combined, put mixer on low-medium speed. Mix for 10 minutes or so. The dough should start to move away from the bowl and stick to the dough hook. Turn mixer off. Cover bowl. Let rest for 10 minutes. Turn mixer back on (low-medium speed) and knead for approximately 10 more minutes. The dough should be smooth and warm. Remove flour from bowl. Shape into a ball. Lightly oil it and put it into a large bowl for rising and cover. I put the dough into the refrigerator overnight. In the morning I punch it down and shape into 4 smaller balls. At this point I freeze the balls indivudally and put one back into the refrigerator so I can make a pizza that evening for dinner. Each ball makes one pie enough for two. When preparing pizza, bring dough up to room temperature before using.

I order my Cavuto “00″ flour from www.PennMac.com. You can usually find “00′ flour in any italian gourmet food shop. But if you want the best– try Caputo flour– direct from Naples Italy. “00″ flour is packed with protein (usually around 10-12%) so it is healthy.

About Gabrielle:
Gabrielle Ottavio is certified as an International Image and Style Consultant. She is a member of AICI, which is the leading and largest professional association of personal and corporate image consultants worldwide. She possesses several years consulting experience in the areas of staffing, one on one executive coaching, career couseling and image consulting. Gabrielle is also on the board of ISACA, an international organization comprised of professionals and students, IT Women, and the Fashion Group International, comprised of professionals in the fashion business.