Here are a few pics from last night’s dinner.
I used Nancy Silverton’s pizza dough recipe from her Mozza book. I made a few adjustments with fermentation times, but for the most part, it’s the same.
I’ve had the pizza at Mozza and I think it’s one of the best (if not, the best) pizza in Los Angeles. This recipe is not supposed to be an exact duplicate of the pizza dough at Mozza, but rather, a home baker’s version. I think it came out pretty darn good.
The pizza pictured above has a pesto base, with string beans, feta, and lemon zest.
Ingredients
* 22 ounces warm tap water (2 cups, 6 ounces)
* 1⁄2 ounce (1 Tbsp) compressed yeast or 1 tsp active dry yeast
* 26 ounces unbleached bread flour, plus more as needed
* 1⁄2 ounce (1 Tbsp) dark rye flour or medium rye flour
* 1 1⁄2 tsp wheat germ
* 1 1⁄2 tsp barley malt or mild-flavored honey, such as clover or wildflower
* 1⁄2 ounce (1 Tbsp) kosher salt
* Olive oil, grapeseed oil, or another neutral flavored oil, such as canola oil, for greasing the bowl
Directions
To make the sponge, put 15 ounces of the water and the yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and let it sit for a few minutes to dissolve the yeast. Add 13 ounces of the bread flour, the rye flour, and the wheat germ. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. Wrap the bowl tightly in plastic wrap and tightly wrap the perimeter of the bowl with kitchen twine or another piece of plastic wrap to further seal the bowl. Set the dough aside at room temperature (ideally 68 to 70 degrees) for 1 1⁄2 hours.
Uncover the bowl and add the remaining 7 ounces of water, the remaining 13 ounces of bread flour, and the barley malt. Fit the mixer with a dough hook, place the bowl on the mixer stand, and mix the dough on low speed for 2 minutes. Add the salt and mix on medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Note that the dough will not pull so much that it completely cleans the bowl, but if the dough is too sticky and is not pulling away from the sides at all, throw a small handful of flour into the bowl to make it less sticky. While the dough is mixing, lightly grease with olive oil a bowl large enough to hold the dough when it doubles in size. Turn the dough out of the mixer into the oiled bowl. Wrap the bowl as before. Set the dough aside at room temperature for 45 minutes. Dust your work surface lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Acting as if the round has four sides, fold the edges of the dough toward the center. Turn the dough over and return it, folded side down, to the bowl. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and set it aside for 45 minutes.
Dust your work surface again lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Divide the dough into six equal segments, each weighing approximately 7 ounces. Gently tuck the edges of each round of dough under itself. Cover the dough rounds with a clean dishtowel and let them rest for 5 minutes.
Lightly flour your hands and use both hands to gather each round of dough into a taut ball. Dust a baking sheet generously with flour and place the dough rounds on the baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with the dishtowel and set them again at room temperature for 1 hour to proof the dough. (Or leave the dough on the counter to proof instead.)
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