Why do so many people order pizza from a restaurant instead of making it at home? I don't think that it is the trouble of making homemade dough or pizza sauce. And it certainly isn't the trouble of grating a little cheese or chopping some mushrooms or other toppings.
No, the big barrier to good pizza at home is shaping the crust.
Getting a ball of dough into a thin, round pizza crust is a lot more intimidating than getting a ball of bread dough into the shape of a loaf.
"I know it scares people. It scared me before I got into the business," said Mario Alessio, a co-owner of the five Mario's Pizza locations in Forsyth County and Greensboro.
Most people who have watched pros toss pizza dough high into the air, think, "What if I missed?"
But you don't have to toss it into the air to get a great crust.
"It's just for show," Alessio said. "It's actually better not to throw it. It gets too thin in the middle."
Though you can skip the tossing, Alessio and other pizza experts do recommend shaping the dough by hand.
Occasionally, recipes call for a rolling pin. But using one will press air out of the dough, which tends to make it tough.
Shaping by hand is actually easier. A couple of minutes spent pressing the dough with your fingertips and stretching it to the proper size and shape will produce good results.
If the dough gives some resistance when shaping -if it's too elastic and keeps pulling back into its old shape -take a break for 5 or 10 minutes. This happens often in first attempts because people handle the dough too much. Just letting the dough rest will make shaping easier.
In general, the dough should be shaped quickly -without too much handling.
It's not hard, but it takes some practice.
Brian Ricciardi, the manager of the Mario's at Cloverdale Shopping Center, demonstrated his shaping technique.
Before you start, flour the pizza peel -a large flat spatula big enough to hold the pizza -or baking sheet. If the peel isn't floured, the pizza may stick when you try to slide it into the oven, Ricciardi said.
He also said to not let the dough sit on the peel too long before baking or it will start to stick even if it has been floured. Though it's not too hard to get it unstuck when sliding it into the oven, it can lead to burnt fingers and hands. Also, sticking may misshape the dough so you will no longer have a perfectly round pizza.
To shape the dough, first flour the dough and your hands.
Next, flatten the dough with your hand. Using the fingers of both hands and starting in the middle, push the dough gently toward the outside of the circle. Ricciardi uses a rapid but gentle poking motion to evenly work the dough toward all the edges until the circle is about a third of the desired size of the pizza. "I don't go to the edge because that's going to be your crust," he said.
Turn the dough over so the smooth side faces up. Flour your hands again, if necessary. Flatten your hands, and place them parallel to the work surface. Press your hands onto the dough, and use a slightly circular motion to stretch the dough, gradually pushing the dough outward. "I'm not doing anything to the middle," Ricciardi said. Keep moving along the edge so that the all the crust is stretched evenly. Stop when the pizza is about two-thirds the desired size.
Next, again with floured hands, pick the up the pizza and drape it over your two fists. "It will stretch the dough, just hanging on my hands," Ricciardi said.
To make the work go faster, he pulls his fists apart. He works quickly, but he does it gently and just moves his fists a few inches at a time to avoid tearing the dough.
At the same time, he is turning his fists a little so that the round of dough is rotating. "I'm feeling it to make sure it's even (thickness) all around," Ricciardi said as he turned the dough with his fists. As soon as he reaches the desired size, he stops and places the dough on a floured peel.
Putting the dough on your fists is the trickiest part, and the most likely time when the dough will tear. A lot of times it's possible to simply stretch the dough, as directed above, to its full size without hanging it on your fists.
If the dough tears -and it may well the first time or two -stop and pinch the dough to patch it.
Neapolitan Pizza Dough
Adapted from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed Press). This recipe is unusual in calling for cold water. The original recipe even calls for chilled flour.
Reinhart explains that cold slows down the yeast, allowing the enzymes to get a head start in breaking down the starch in the flour into sugar.
Thus, when the yeast goes to work, it has more sugar to work with, and some of that sugar stays in the flour to help enhance the final flavor and texture.
4 ½ cups unbleached, high-gluten bread or all-purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for coating
1 ¾ cups water, ice cold (40 degrees)
1. Mix the flour, salt and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the oil and water and stir until all the liquid is absorbed. Mix at a low speed for 5 to 7 minutes. If mixing by hand, wet your hands or a metal spoon and use it to stir the dough like a mixer's dough hook would. The finished dough should be smooth, sticky, elastic and springy.
2. Transfer to a lightly floured cutting board or other work surface. Cut the dough into six pieces. Shape each into a ball. Lightly coat with olive oil, and place on a tray or other container, allowing plenty of space in between each piece. Let sit for about 30 minutes, then cover and place in the refrigerator at least 12 hours, or up to 3 days. After the initial 12 hours, unused dough may be lightly recoated with oil, then individually wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. (Thaw overnight before using.)
For more recipes, including no-knead dough and pizza sauce, see the Dishing It Out blog at www.journal.com/dishingitout.
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