Pizza Dough

At the request of J, from Germany Doesn’t Suck, I am going to have a Queer Chef moment and talk a bit more expansively about cooking!

Here is the recipe my Mother suggested for pizza dough:

The first thing I did was measure out the flour and add the small pinch of salt, then mix the two together. Here in Germany I used a mix of Weizenmehl type 1050 (roughly half the flour) combined with another flour. The first time I used generic Weizenmehl 405; the second time I used some Weizen Vollkornmehl. Of the two, I preferred the Weizen Vollkornmehl mix as it seemed to have a much hardier taste.

Next I measured out just under a cup of water—but not too far under. In that I added the yeast and stirred to dissolve, before adding the tablespoon of olive oil.

After that I pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir the ingredients until I have a massive lump of something that resembles bread dough. You might need to add a tiny bit more water if the dough seems dry, or add a tiny bit more flour if it appears too moist.

Once it is at the “resembling dough” stage, I put it on a floured board and kneaded it for a few minutes until it was dough. I put it in a bowl, coated it with olive oil, covered the bowl with a towel and left it alone for an hour, letting it double.

In the meantime I prepared my tomato sauce for the topping, as well as sliced olives, and made sure I had my mushrooms and spinach ready as well. I also preheated the oven to about 425°F/220°C.

Once the dough doubled, I punched it down and then kneaded it for a few more minutes. I let it rest for a minute or two while preparing my cookie sheet (a small US one, large for Germany) with a bit of olive oil coating the bottom. I then spread the dough across the cookie sheet, added my sauce, toppings, and cheese, before sticking it in the oven until it was ready. I think it took my oven about 15-20 minutes to cook, maybe a bit longer. I didn’t take notes on that step.

Guten Appetit!