As February, the proverbial ‘month of love’ nears, we’re getting saucy and focusing on a different kind of love this year – pizza!
February 9, also known as Pizza Day, is right around the corner, and Pizzeria Libretto has got the perfect thing for you to celebrate from the comfort of your own home.
As we’re truly in the middle of one of our infamous Canadian winters, it’s inevitable to resist the urge to stay in and avoid the snow and chill.
Luckily, this doesn’t mean that your Pizza Day celebrations are ruined, as Pizzeria Libretto has the perfect at-home dough recipe to make an authentic, Neapolitan pie.
Made with just five ingredients – flour, water, salt, olive oil, and dry active yeast – this recipe is perfect for cooks of any expertise.
And the best part is that you can customize your toppings to whatever you’re in the mood for – we love a traditional Margherita with fresh mozzarella and a few basil leaves.
Our tip: embrace the mess!
Pizzeria Libretto At-home Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 500 g Flour (Bread Flour)
- 350 g Water
- 15 g Salt
- 15 g Olive Oil
- 7 g Dry Active Yeast
Method
Active Dry Yeast Pizza Dough Process:
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand. (or use mixer if you have one) until all ingredients are mixed together.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until you have a smooth dough, (light dust with flour as needed), and let rest in a lightly oiled bowl for 30 mins.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut the dough into 300 g portions (you should get 3 doughs total).
4. Fold each portion into itself, then cup the dough and roll it on the counter until it comes together into a tight ball.
5. Place each dough in a bowl or tray that has been lightly oiled, cover with saran wrap, and let sit for 30 mins.
6. After the last 30 min rest period, place the dough in the fridge overnight.
7. The dough can be used up to 2 -3 days after being made.
8. Remove the dough for at least 30 mins before using.
Stretching the dough:
1. Flour a clean surface and place the dough ball on the surface. You want to make sure you have enough flour on your surface to ensure the pizza doesn’t stick when transferring to the oven.
2. Start by working in the centre of the dough ball pressing lightly outwards to increase the area of the dough. Keep pushing outwards until you reach the edge of the dough leaving about 1 inch for the crust.
3. Once your crust has been achieved put both hands in the middle of the dough turning the dough and pulling your hands away from each other to stretch the dough until it is roughly 12 inches in size
Dressing the Pizza Dough (for a Margherita pizza):
1. ¼ cup canned tomato evenly spread out on the pizza dough (simply lightly pureed with a touch of salt (usually 10 g salt for a 50 oz can of tomato)
2. 4 – 6 leaves of fresh basil (or more if you like) evenly distributed
3. 2 tbsp of grated Parmigiano cheese
4. 70 – 80 g of fresh mozzarella – roughly one ball of fior di latte mozzarella broken into pieces and evenly distributed.
5. Drizzle the pizza with 1 tbsp of olive oil before placing it in the oven to cook
Cooking the Pizza:
Having a pizza stone is the best way to cook pizza in a home oven. If you don’t have a pizza stone a large cast iron pan or sheet pan turned upside down would work.
1. Preheat the oven to 550 F with the pizza stone in it.
2. Dress pizza once the oven is to temp. If you dress your pizza and have to wait for the oven, there is a good chance that the dough will stick to the surface and be harder to pick up and put in the oven.
3. Cook the pizza for 5 – 7 mins (it will depend on your oven and how hot it gets) Until the crust is a nice golden and has slight blistering.