1 cup warm tap water (110 to 115 degrees)
1 package active dry yeast
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
1. Pour the water into a medium-sized mixing bowl and sprinkle in the
yeast. Stir gently with a fork until the yeast has dissolved and the
liquid turns light beige in color.
2. Add 1 cup of the flour and the salt. Mix thoroughly with a wooden
spoon. Add a second cup of flour to the bowl and mix well. After the
second cup of flour has been mixed in, the dough should start coming
away from the sides of the bowl and should begin to form a
soft,sticky mass.
3. Measure out the third cup of flour. Sprinkle some over the work
surface and flour your hands generously. Remove all of the dough from
the bowl and begin to work the mass by kneading the additional flour
in a bit at a time.
4. To knead the dough, use the heel of your hands to push the dough
across the floured work surface in one sweep. Clench the dough in
your fist and twist and fold it over. Use the dough scraper to help
gather the wet dough that sticks to the work surface into a ball
while kneading. Repeat this action over and over again, adding only
as much flour as it takes to keep the dough from sticking to your
hands. Work quickly and don't be delicate. Slap and push the dough
around to develop its gluten and to facilitate its rolling out.
(Kneading pizza dough is a great way to relieve pent-up aggression!)
5. When the dough no longer feels sticky, push the heel of your hand
down into it and hold it there for 10 seconds. This will test its
readiness;if your hand comes up clean, the dough is done. If it
sticks, a bit more kneading will be necessary. Once the dough is no
longer sticky, do not overwork it by adding more flour. Continue
kneading only until the dough is smooth and elastic (it should spring
back when pressed) and no lines of raw white flour show. The whole
process should take 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Lightly oil a 2 quart bowl with vegetable oil. Roll the ball of
dough around in the bowl to coat it with a thin film of oil. Tightly
seal the bowl with plastic wrap to trap in the moisture and heat from
the yeast's carbon dioxide gases. This will help the dough rise
faster.
7. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise
for 30 to 45 minutes.
8. Once the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down by pushing your
fist into it. All of the gases will quickly escape, and the dough
will collapse. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it again for
about 1 minute.
9. The dough is now ready to be patted and rolled into pizza, or to
undergo additional rising.
10. To raise dough a second time, add a bit more oil to the bowl and
repeat the procedure indicated for the first rising. Then the dough
is ready to be shaped.
Source: The Pizza Book by Evelyne Slomon posted by Linda Davis
Servings: 6 servings
Basic Pizza Dough (Slomon) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; Italian; Pasta; Pizza
The History of Recipes
We are able to trace the history of meal recipes back into distant history, certainly as far back into history as the early Egyptians, and maybe even further. In practice though, generally, these early cook books were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing food.
Interestingly, the oldest recipe in existence, according to experts in ancient history is a series of tablets in Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel `blissful`. Closer to modern times, there were a couple of recipe books published in the fourteenth century - a book called `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Amusingly, these books are nothing to do with the indian curry that appears on menues today, but instead accounts of the types of meals on the menues of the nobility of that time. During the succeeding few centuries, the upper-class families of the West competed to serve up the most extravagent banquests, and as a consequence, the best chefs and their recipes increased in prestige. Even so, it wasn`t until the 1800s that cookery and recipe publications rose to prominence. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated years of their lives to collating, verifying, and recording recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. By the time we get to the twentieth century, cookery publications were highly popular as a result of more people being able to read, people having increased spare time and a general increase in wealth. Like it or not, the introduction of TV brings us TV cooks and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting everybody to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Basic Pizza Dough (Slomon) recipe.
