Recipes

Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer.

By hand stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed.

Add the herbs.

Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough.

The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl (to me it looks like a tornado).

Add a touch of water or flour to reach the desired effect.

The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky.

Transfer the dough to a floured countertop.

Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces and mold each into a ball.

Rub each ball with olive oil and slip into plastic sandwich bags.

Refrigerator overnight.

When you are ready to make pizza (anytime in the next few days), remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before making the pizza.

Keep them covered so they don't dry out.

At the same time place a baking stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (you can go hotter, but I like the results I get at 450). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal and get ready to shape your pizza dough.

Uncover or unwrap the dough balls and dust them with flour.

Working one at a time, gently press a dough round into a disk wide enough that you can bring it up onto your knuckles to thin out - you should be able to pull each round out to 12-inches or so.

If the dough is being fussy and keeps springing back, let it rest for another 15-20 minutes. Place the pulled-out dough on the prepared sheet pan, and jerk the pan to make sure the dough will move around on the cornmeal ball-bearings (you don't want it to stick to the pan).

Add your toppings (less is more!) and slide the topped pizza onto the baking stone. Bake until the crust is crisp and nicely colored. Remove from the oven. I always finish with more freshly grate parmesan and a small drizzle of good quality extra-virgin olive oil.