Overnight Pizza Dough (a.k.a. the best pizza dough ever!)
This is a low-knead pizza dough but it takes 24 hours for the first rise so plan accordingly. The recipe seems like it makes a lot of dough (well, it does) but you can keep the dough in the refrigerator for a few days. Just let it come up to room temperature before using.
Adapted from a recipe on http://www.evilmadscientist.com/.
Ingredients:
6 cups bread or all-purpose flour (or 5 cups white & 1 cup whole wheat)
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
2 1/4 teaspoons table salt
2 3/4 cups milk (whole is better than non-fat here)
Instructions:
1. Whisk dry ingredients together, then pour in milk.
2. Mix together and then fold over once or twice (yes, it is very sticky) until it combines to form a nice lump.
3. Cover with plastic wrap (if it is not clingy enough, weight down with a dish towel) and allow to rise at room temperature for about 24 hours (you could probably get away with just 20 hours).
4. After the 24 hour rise, scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured board and fold dough onto itself a few times. Cover again and allow to rise for 1-2 hours.
5. Divide dough in two (or more depending on the size of the pizza you want) and place on a lightly floured board. Roll into balls and let them rest under a clean towel for 15 minutes.
6. Then, start shaping into disks by slowly pulling and stretching. You should stretch it until it's pretty thin. I usually let gravity do the work by holding on the edge and letting it hang down as I slowly rotate the dough through my fingers. Avoid using a rolling pin because you will pop all of the nice air bubbles around the edges. Plus, I usually like the edges to be a bit thicker than the inside.
7. Put a generous layer of cornmeal or flour on your pizza pan or peel before transferring the dough. Top as desired and bake at 450 (or higher if your oven allows it) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust has browned nicely.
This pizza was the best that I have ever made. I attribute my success to the crust but it could have also been due to the fact that I'm using a really old Acme gas stove that heats up to 500+ degrees.