I like making homemade pizza but I get pretty close to good sauce but a good crust fails me.
Any good ideas?
Maybe I already asked this!! :smack:
There’s a great forum for that: pizzamaking.com. Has pretty much every style discussed under the sun and recipes for it all. For me, sauce is just crushed tomatoes, oil, a little garlic, maybe some hot pepper flakes, salt, and maybe oregano. Sometimes, it’s just straight crushed tomatoes (6-in-1 brand being my favorite). Dough is just a regular bread dough, around 70% hydration. Or just pick up some dough from the grocery or local pizza place that sells it.
I get rave reviews for this recipe:
PIZZA SAUCE
[ul]
[li]1(28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes (No Salt Added), drained and liquid discarded[/li][li]1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil[/li][li]1teaspoon red wine vinegar[/li][li]2medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)[/li][li]1teaspoon table salt[/li][li]1teaspoon dried oregano[/li][li]1/4teaspoon ground black pepper[/li][/ul]
Blend all until smooth in small blender or food processor. Refrigerate until use.
PIZZA DOUGH
[ul]
[li]3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling (Chef’s Note: Using bread flour will give you a much crisper crust. If you can’t find bread flour, you can substitute it with all-purpose flour which will give you a chewier crust.)[/li][li]1 teaspoon sugar[/li][li]1 envelope instant dry yeast[/li][li]2 teaspoons kosher salt[/li][li]1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F[/li][li]2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons[/li][/ul]
Directions- Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor and combine.
While the mixer is running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.
Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces.
Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.
When assembling the pizza, I sprinkle 1/4 cup or so of good Parmesan cheese on top of the sauce.
Then whole milk Mozzarella (Polly-O is a good brand) for the main cheese.
Bake on large pizza stone well-preheated in oven set to 525 degrees for 12-13 minutes.
The yeast package I buy has a great pizza crust recipe on it. The recipes on packaging are usually well tried and tested. I always trust them. I’d give you the recipe but I aint gotta package of yeast handy. Sorry!
for a quick tomato sauce I find a spoonful of pesto stirred into some tomato puree loosened with a bit of water is very effective.
What kind of crust?
I’m a fan of this one.
100% all purpose flour (300 grams for this attempt)
75% tap water (not filtered, straight from the Detroit system)
1 packet of instant yeast
1.5% salt
Mix, knead 8 minutes, rest 20 minutes, pour into your square pan, let rise until tripled, top, and bake for 15 minutes.
The other thing that should be pointed out is that the pan should be well-oiled. Like, you basically want your dough to fry as much as bake in it for a Detroit-style crust.