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Easy Peasy Pizza Dough Ball

The Pizza Bible Master Dough Recipe with Starter

Todd Mitchell
This pizza dough is a copycat recipe of Tony Gemignani's recipe from his book The Pizza Bible but using his own artesian flour from Central Milling company.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Resting Time 2 days
Total Time 2 days 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 3 9 ounce dough balls
Calories 642 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Stand Mixer Optional
  • 1 Dough Scraper (Or spatula)

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 2 ½ ounces water between 75°F and 80°F
  • ¼ cup warm water between 100°F and 110°F
  • 3 ½ cups Tony Gemignani Flour (High protein, high gluten flour)
  • 1 tbsp diastatic malted barley powder (not required if using a high temp pizza oven)
  • 7 ounces water ice cold
  • 3 ounces Poolish (Biga or Sourdough starters are suitable substitutes)
  • 2 teaspoons salt fine grain, sea salt preferred
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin

Instructions
 

  • If you don't already have a pizza starter  (Poolish, Biga, our Sourdough), you need to make it 1 day in advance.
    Biga Pizza Starter

Day 1 - Making the Dough

  • Warm the small portion of water to 80°F to 85°F and add it to your stand mixer bowl.
  • Add the yeast and whisk for 30 seconds. The yeast should dissolve and bubble – if it doesn’t, the yeast is dead and you need new yeast.
    Bubbling yeast signals its alive and well!
  • Add the flour and the malt (if you’re using it) to the mixing bowl and start the stand mixer with a dough hook attachment on the lowest speed setting.
  • Slowly add almost all of the ice water while the mixer continues to spin at the slowest setting for about 15 seconds. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of water for the moment.
    Ice water
  • Stop the mixer and add the Poolish (or Biga or Tiga – or even sourdough starter if you are so inclined).
  • Restart the stand mixer at the slowest speed for 1 minute.
  • Stop the mixer, wet your hands and pull the dough off the hook and manually mix any large bits of dough stuck to the bowl into the main dough ball. You may want to use a dough scraper or spatula for this, but I generally just use my fingers.
  • If the dough feels dry and isn’t staying together in one ball, rewet your hands and knead the water from your hands into the dough.
  • Add the salt to the dough and restart the mixer at the slowest speed for another minute.
  • Stop the mixer. Manually reform the dough ball.
  • Add 1 teaspoon of oil to the dough and restart the mixer for 2 minutes. You’ll likely stop the mixer a couple of times to make sure the dough ball is actually being mixed and not just “going for a ride” on the dough hook.
  • Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl to a clean, unfloured work area. The dough should not be overly dry so it stays together while kneading (otherwise wet your hands and work the moisture into the dough) but it is also not pulling itself apart by sticking to the work surface (in which case you’ll need to dust the dough with a little more flour and work it in).
  • Knead by hand for 2-3 minutes until the dough is smooth.
    After 20 minutes, the dough now looks smooth.
  • Cover with a damp cloth or tea towel for 20 minutes.
  • Separate the dough into 3x 9 ounce pieces and form into balls. Place the dough balls into an air tight container at least 3″ apart and store in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours.
    This recipe makes 3x 9 ounce dough balls.

Day 2 (or 3):

    Transfer the Dough to your Work Surface: Tony Gemignani's Method

    • Remove the pizza from the fridge and let warm in the sealed container at room temperature until ~60°F.
    • At this time, preheat your outdoor pizza oven, which generally will take 30+ minutes depending on if you use wood or propane.
    • Dust your work area and also your pizza peel with Tony’s “Dusting Mixture”:
      - A 50/50 combination of the flour used in the pizza (Tony Gemignani Flour) and fine semolina flour.
      - If you don’t have semolina flour, you might want to use any fairly coarse flour (even whole wheat).
      - You can also use a 2 parts flour to 1 part cornmeal. But if you use cornmeal, do not flip the dough over – you don’t want the cornmeal under the toppings.
      Floured pizza peel
    • If there are large air bubbles in the dough, pinch them with your fingers to pop them.
      Pinch the air bubbles in the dough
    • Using your fingers or a dough cutter, lift the dough ball away from the bottom of the container. If the dough is very sticky, Tony recommends wetting the dough cutter to get underneath. I generally dust my hands in flour and gently lift it with my fingers.
    • Transfer your dough to the dusted work surface as gently as possible – try hard not to distort the shape.

    Stretch the Dough: Tony Gemignani's Method

    • Dust your hands with only the Tony Gemignani flour.
    • Press your hands into the center of the dough trying to leave about an inch ring around the outside. You want to make an impression in the center but leave a 3/4″ lip.
      Use your hands to begin stretching the dough.
    • Flip the dough between your hands:
      - Lay the dough across the open palm of one hand.
      - Gently flip it onto the open palm of the other hand.
      - Rotate the dough a little and repeat “a few more times”. I think 6 is as high as you should go!
      - The more gently you do this step, the more tender the final crust will be.
      Tossing the dough between your hands
    • Stretch the dough by draping it over your hands and rotating:
      - Drape the dough over your two loosely clenched fists with your fingers facing each other.
      - Move your fists apart a little (maybe 1″) and toss the dough up with both fists to turn it slightly.
      - You’re NOT THROWING the dough in the air like on TV! Just an inch in the air so that it will turn.
      Stretching the dough on your fists.
    • When the dough is thin enough to see light through it, you’ve stretched it enough. The pizza disk is probably 12″ to 13″ in diameter.
      Final pizza dough is 12" to 13" in diameter

    Prepare to Cook the Pizza: Satisfying Slice Style!

    • Ensure your pizza oven is between 600°F to 650°F.
      Pizza oven should be between 600 and 650 F
    • Gently transfer to the pizza peel, which has been dusted with flour.
    • Top with your favorite toppings.
    • Launch the pizza into the oven.
    • The pizza will take 5-6 minutes to cook, but monitor throughout. Rotate a quarter turn 4 times.
      Gemignani pizza cooking in the pizza oven.
    • Rest for 5 minutes before cutting and eat immediately.

    Notes

    Note that the nutrition facts relate to one dough ball only - no toppings.
    No Starter Option:
    Tony offers a version of the recipe that does not use Poolish or Biga. Instead, it uses double the active dry yeast and add the following steps:
    • Instead of resting the dough for 20 minutes, increase the resting time to 1 hour.
    • Press the dough down and wet the dough ball.
    • Seal in an air tight container and refrigerate for 24 hours.
    • Return the dough to the stand mixer and mix for 30 seconds on the lowest speed to remove the air from the dough.
    • Separate into individual dough balls and seal in an air tight container with each dough ball at least 3" apart.
    • Refrigerate again for 24 to 48 hours.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 9ouncesCalories: 642kcalCarbohydrates: 108gProtein: 20gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 1557mgPotassium: 19mgFiber: 5gSugar: 0.04gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 0.03mgCalcium: 6mgIron: 2mg
    Keyword Pizza Dough
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