So I’ve been on a quest for the perfect pizza dough recipe for some time now. I used to buy Bertucci’s dough at the restaurant until they tripled the price. Since we now live in the middle of nowhere, it’s definitely not worth trying to figure out how to get there when they’re open and when I’m heading home so the dough doesn’t sit in the car for hours. However, I did discover that the dough makes all the difference once I started using their professional dough over my less-than-amateur kind. So the quest for how to get restaurant-quality dough at home…from scratch began.
We made pizza tonight and I must say it was the best so far. Here’s how I did it…
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 c. lukewarm water
4 c. flour (Secret #1: Use high gluten/protein flour. It gives the dough that stretchy texture which provides that nice chewy crust)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Dissolve yeast in water; set aside for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine flour, salt, sugar and oil in bowl; make a well in the center. When water/yeast mixture is bubbly, pour into center of well. Start kneading dough, bringing flour toward center of bowl; gradually increase kneading motion. If dough feels dry, add a little more water; if it feels sticky, add more flour. Knead vigorously until dough is smooth and elastic. Secret #2: Knead the heck out of the dough to toughen it up. Roll into ball; cover with a damp cloth. Let rest for about 10 minutes in warm place. Beat dough with your palm to expel gas formed while fermenting. Roll dough again into ball; place in large greased bowl…remember it needs to have room to expand. Baste with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap; store in refrigerator. Secret #3: Make the dough at least 24 hours in advance but 36 to 48 is even better. It allows the yeast to ferment and really flavors the dough.Remove dough about an hour before ready to use. Split dough into two balls (each will make about a 14 inch pizza). Stretch onto high quality pizza stone that has been sprinkled with corn meal. Cover with desired toppings. (We made a BBQ chicken one with leftover grilled chicken). Bake in hot oven (475 to 500 degrees) until golden brown. Secret #4: Bake one pizza at a time on bottom rack to avoid soggy crust.
ENJOY! If you try it, I’d love to know how it goes.
It used to be that Bertucci’s published their recipe on the web. I printed a copy once upon a time. Now they have removed the recipe. Unfortunately it was a two page recipe and I have lost the second page somewhere in the past 5 moves…
You are right though that THE big secrets are good flour (They recommended Arrowhead mills and King Arthur ) and long rise. The recipe calls for preparing the dough the night before and then allowing it to rise again overnight at low temp which gives the dough a slightly sourdough like flavor (even though made with traditional bakers yeast). The original recipe gave the temp they use which is slighly warmer than a regular fridge, but overnight in the fridge works pretty well too for those of us without a separate fridge we can dedicate to rising dough. The recipe was scaled back to home proportions. The ingredients are simple:
4 C unsifted, unbleached, unbromated all purpose white flour*
1 envelope (1.4 oz) active dry instant yeast
1 1/2 C lukewarm water (ideally about 75 if you’re making dough for next day use and somewhat warmer – approx 100 – if making dough for same day use
1/2 t salt
1/4 t sugar
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
*Arrowhead mills and King Arthur are good brands.
The procedure had instructions for hand mixing and kneading but also recommended mixing in a food processor. The machine will give you a good jump start on dough making…
I was hoping to find a copy of the Bertucci’s recipe so I could reclaim the second page of instructions, but it is pretty close to what you describe. So thanks for your advice and I hope you like getting the amounts they recommend. Now you can see if yours are even BETTER!!!
We are going to try your pizza this week. Looks great.
I wanted to let you know that I put my dance that I did and dedicated to Grace is on my blog….Check it out…Grab the Kleenex!
http://www.thestorffjourney.blogspot.com