The Ultimate Homemade Pizza Crust

In this case “ultimate” means easy, quick, and extra thin and crispy. If you are looking for deep dish, be gone with you, call Jet’s. I came across the goodness that is the recipe whilst browsing Lesley Eats who in turn learned of it from Fearless Homemaker who adapted it from The Kitchn (so goes the blogosphere), so this thing is tried and true. I followed the original instructions here which were simple and produced great results (no equipment other than a rolling pin needed). And now I pass this wisdom on to you!

Ingredients

3/4 cups (6 ounces) lukewarm water
1 teaspoon active-dry or instant yeast
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

 

Preheat oven to 500°F or as hot as it will go and let stand for a half hour. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the lower-middle part of the oven now. Combine the water and yeast in a mixing bowl, and stir to dissolve the yeast.

Looks like miso soup

Add the flour and salt to the bowl and mix until you’ve formed a shaggy dough.

Shaggy Dough

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface along with any loose flour still in the bowl. Knead until all the flour is incorporated, and the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. The dough should still feel moist and slightly tacky. If it’s sticking to your hands and counter-top like bubble gum, work in more flour one tablespoon at a time until it is smooth.

Dough ball

If you have time at this point, you can let the dough rise until you need it or until doubled in bulk (about an hour and a half). After rising, you can use the dough or refrigerate it for up to three days.

Cover the dough with the upside-down mixing bowl or a clean kitchen towel while you prepare the pizza toppings.

When ready to make the pizza, tear off two pieces of parchment paper roughly 12-inches wide. Divide the dough in two. Working with one piece of the dough at a time, form it into a large disk  and lay it on the parchment paper. Gently press and stretch the dough until it’s about 1/4 of an inch thick or less. For an extra-thin crust, roll it with a rolling pin. If the dough starts to shrink back, let it rest for five minutes and then continue rolling.

Now here come the toppings. Use the back of a spoon to spread your sauce out to the edges, then add the rest of your goodies.

Slide your pizza (still on the parchment) onto the baking stone in the oven. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the pizza on the back side of a baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes and then rotate the pizza, removing the parchment from under the pizza as you do so. Bake for another 3 to 5 minutes until the crust is golden-brown and the cheese looks toasty.

Remove the pizza and let it cool about five minutes before slicing on a wire rack. Repeat with the second pizza.

Ours was a little different from the original magarhita style since I had been eyeing this recipe on the back of Chobani’s Greek Yogurt for a few weeks now. It combines sauteed onions and garlic with a mix of greek yogurt and ricotta cheese topped off with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. Delizioso!