Thin Crust Pizza for the Home Oven

If you've ever tasted a pizza perfectly baked in a wood-fired pizza oven, you know what an amazing culinary experience it truly is. (If not, I highly recommend a trip to Café Lago in Montlake on 23rd the next time you find yourself in Seattle at mealtime.) The thin crispy crust, beautifully golden on the bottom, topped with just enough sauce and ingredients to tantalize the taste buds, to compliment the nutty flavor of the crust, not make it soggy. Not possessing the luxury of a brick oven on the farm, I've spent many evenings trying to recreate that elusive crust in my home oven. I've been alternately frustrated by the dough--too wet or too dry, the cooking time--too brown on top or too doughy on the bottom, and the appropriate amount of toppings and sauce.

After much reading and experimenting I'm prepared to confidently announce that one can achieve brick oven results in a home kitchen with a good crust recipe, the addition of a baking stone, and a longer than usual oven preheat.

The following crust recipe is an adaptation of Café Lago's crust recipe, which appears in Gwen Bassetti's book Cooking with Artisan Bread. It's an easy recipe that produces gorgeous results. I make it in my KitchenAid 5-qt. stand up mixer but feel free to do it by hand if the ambition strikes you. The dough also freezes beautifully (I have some thawing right now). After the initial rise, gently deflate the dough, coat with olive oil (prevents the dough from sticking to the plastic bag), place in a plastic bag, and toss in the freezer for future use. Pull the frozen dough from the freezer in the morning and thaw in the refrigerator for that night's dinner. Allow the dough to come to room temperature before forming into a crust.

Pizza Dough

Makes 4 10-inch crusts or 6 8-inch crusts

2 cups water between 72° and 75°F

One and one-half tsp active dry yeast

7 to 8 cups unbleached all purpose flour

One-half tsp salt, thoroughly mixed into 1 to 2 cups of the flour (salt deactivates yeast and must be coated with flour before adding to dough)

Olive oil

In the bowl of a large mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine one-quarter cup of the lukewarm water with the dry yeast. Mix to dissolve yeast. Once yeast has activated (tiny bubbles will appear on surface of yeast and water mixture), about 5 minutes, add 1 cup of the flour and mix on low speed. Stir in the remaining one and three-quarter cups lukewarm water on low speed and start adding flour 1 cup at a time (including salt/flour mixture), mixing until smooth after each addition. The dough should pull away from sides of bowl but still be a bit sticky to the touch. Change to the dough hook attachment and knead dough on medium speed for 5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. If dough begins to stick to sides of bowl (sticking a little bit to the bottom of the bowl is fine) add flour, 1 Tbsp at a time, until dough returns to uniform ball. Remember, dough should be soft but not wet.

Divide dough into 4 or 6 equally sized pieces, form into uniform balls, and then flatten each ball with the palm of your hand. Place dough on a well-floured baking sheet, brush tops with olive oil, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Put baking sheet in a warm place and allow dough to double in size, about 2 to 3 hours.

Making Pizza

Pizza or baking stone large enough to bake an 8-inch pizza

Pizza dough from previous recipe

Pizza toppings suggestions:

--Use your imagination

--Red sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil

--Locally produced Italian sausage, roasted peppers, mushrooms

--Olive oil, blue cheese, sliced pears, and fresh sage

--Olive oil, caramelized onions, left-over mashed potatoes, lots of freshly ground black pepper

Pizza Toppings Notes:

--Use sauce or olive oil sparingly-3 to 4 Tbsp sauce or a generous brushing of good olive oil for an 8-inch pizza

--Don't overdo toppings--one-third cup cheese and a generous sprinkling of toppings for each 8-inch pizza--you want to taste the crust too.

--Because cooking time is short, precook some ingredients--sauté mushrooms and peppers, caramelize onions.

--Sprinkle delicate herbs on pizza when it comes out of the oven--try basil, tarragon, Italian parsley, and oregano.

Place pizza stone on rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 500° for 30 minutes. Gently deflate pizza dough, lightly flour hands, and carefully stretch dough into an 8-inch circle. Do not pound or compress dough. If dough resists stretching cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Place the pizza round on a well-floured rimless cookie sheet or peel. Although cornmeal is often used in place of flour to prevent pizza from sticking to the stone, I've found that it often burns and smokes up the house. Brush pizza with olive oil or sauce, and sprinkle with cheese and toppings. Do not overload! With a flick of the wrist, transfer pizza to hot stone in oven.

While waiting, stretch out your next round of dough. Check pizza bottom after 4 to 5 minutes-it should be golden brown. When the entire crust is nicely browned, maybe 2 to 3 minutes more, the pizza is ready. Remove from oven using the baking sheet or peel, toss on fresh herbs if using, cut and enjoy. Cook remaining pizzas the same way.

Kim Bast has cooked meals at the bottom of Grand Canyon, base camp of Mt. Rainier, and many places in between. A graduate of the Culinary Arts Program at the Art Institute of Seattle, Kim is currently a chef at The Bay Café on Lopez Island.

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