Make and Bake Pizza

I stared at my blank computer screen in disbelief. Three hours worth of work had vanished. I was the “lucky” recipient of a new computer at work the previous week. Regrettably, this event was not accompanied by the same unbridled joy that I felt when I waved a happy farewell to my lumpy desk chair or even cracked open the plastic wrapper on a new package of Post-it® notes. The arrival of my new computer was greeted with wailing, tooth gnashing and hair pulling, as library cataloging apps were uninstalled and reinstalled again and again.

Make and Bake Pizza

Returning home from work two hours later than usual because of my technology woes, I scrambled to prepare supper. This recipe for make-and-bake pizza by Norene Gilletz, published in her classic cookbook The Pleasures of Your Food Processor, has been my tried and true pizza dough recipe for the last thirty years. In less time that it would have taken me to place an order for pizza and have it delivered, we were sitting down and enjoying a hot, crispy slice, topped with bubbling mozzarella cheese and roasted vegetables. My computer at work is back up to speed again (hopefully) thanks to the patience and perseverance of our IT department and a heap of heartfelt prayers from this cataloger. But don’t wait for a computer crisis to make this easy to prepare pizza.

Assemble your ingredients.

This pizza dough is made in the food processor. The food processor develops the gluten in this pizza dough faster than if you were to make it in a stand mixer or by hand. This is a New York style pizza dough and includes the addition of both olive oil and sugar in the recipe. Oil coats the individual granules of flour, effectively lowering the total amount of gluten formed resulting in a more tender crust and sugar helps the crust to brown more evenly.

Combine the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the bowl and pulse to combine it with the flour mixture. Slow add one cup of lukewarm water to the bowl. The dough should be soft but not sticky. All the loose bits of dough should gather around the steel blade. I found necessary to add an additional two tablespoons of water to the bowl to achieve the right texture. Remove the dough from the food processor bowl and round it up into a ball.

Place the smooth ball of dough into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for half an hour. You can see that the dough has doubled in size in that period of time.

Spray your pizza pan(s) with cooking spray. Dust the counter with flour. Flatten the bowl of dough and stretch it gently with your fingers. At this point I use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in a large circle just slightly larger than my pizza pan. I have a sixteen-inch pizza pan. If you have a smaller pizza pan, you may want to divide the ball of dough into two equal pieces and make two pizzas. Lay the rolled-out pizza dough on the  pan. Roll the edge of the dough inwards slightly to make a rim around the pie. Spray a large sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and lay it sprayed side down on the dough. Allow the dough to rest for one half hour and up to two hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Remove the plastic wrap and spread the pizza sauce of your choice evenly over the dough. Top generously with shredded pizza cheese or mozzarella cheese. The pizza cheese is a low moisture cheese which prevents the crust from becoming soggy when it bakes. Top with vegetables if desired. I keep a container of roasted vegetables in the fridge for just this purpose. Place the pizza on the lower middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for fifteen minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven when it is crisp and golden. Slice and serve.

Print Recipe

Make and Bake Pizza

Dairy and Meatless Mains

By Norene Gilletz, The Pleasures of Your Food Processor – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 minutes rest – Cooking Time: 15 minutes – Total Time: 25 minutes + 60 minutes rest total

New York style pizza that is tender, chewy, and crisp, with a slick of of tomato sauce, spiced with oregano, garlic and basil, crowned with a layer of bubbling melted cheese topped with smoky roasted vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
• 2 3/4 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup (+ 2 tablespoons) lukewarm water
• Topping
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup pizza sauce of your choice
• 8 ounces or 2 cups shredded mozzarella or pizza cheese
• roasted vegetables or vegetable topping of your choice such as sliced shallots, sliced mushrooms, chopped peppers

Instructions

1

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times to incorporate. Add the olive oil, pulse 2 or 3 times, then add 1 cup of water in a slow stream while the machine is running. It may be necessary to add an additional two tablespoons of water to the bowl to achieve the right dough consistency. Run the food processor until the dough mixture forms a ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer. The dough should be soft but not sticky. All the loose bits of dough should gather around the steel blade. Carefully remove the dough from the food processor bowl and round it up into a ball.

2

Place the smooth ball of dough into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for half an hour. The dough will double in size in that period of time.

3

Spray your pizza pan(s) with cooking spray. Dust the counter with flour. Flatten the ball of dough and stretch it gently with your fingers. At this point I use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in a large circle just slightly larger than my pizza pan.

4

Lay the rolled-out pizza dough on the  pan. Roll the edge of the dough inwards slightly to make a rim around the pie. Spray a large sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and lay it sprayed side down on the dough. Allow the dough to rest for one half hour and up to two hours.

5

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Spread the pizza sauce of your choice on the pizza dough. Top generously with shredded pizza cheese or mozzarella cheese and add the toppings of your choice. Place the pizza on the lower middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for fifteen minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven when it is crisp and golden. Slice and serve.

Notes

This dough can also be made the night before and stored covered in the refrigerator until you roll it out.