Slumber Party Pizza Dough
Gather ‘round
Issue 19: From Sara Kate
To me, pizza is full-on summer food. Yes, it’s warm (usually) and heavy (well, sometimes) but ever since building a wood-fired pizza oven for my fortieth birthday party, gathering around the pizza and making it with friends has become the place to be in the summer.
The scene is not magazine-perfect (not my style) but I do have dreams of putting in a full kitchen set up with a sink, countertops, and storage. For now, the party vibes come from the big disco ball hoisted above it, and two sawhorses with a 4’ x 8’ sheet of plywood on top that becomes a makeshift kitchen counter where sheet pans full of toppings and bottles of wine spread out, and where I love for each of my guests to learn to toss and top their own pie.
Back at The Dynamite Shop, we’ve been teaching pizza since the beginning. When we taught in person we’d prepare giant tubs of overnight pizza dough (inspired by my bread muse Ken Forkish and our Brooklyn neighbor Gio of Luigi’s Pizza) that the kids would use to make individual-size pizzas. When we switched to online learning, we’d give our recipe to families ahead of time and tell them to mix it the night before and then tuck it in for the night. Some even brought it into their bedrooms: slumber party pizza dough!
Now, when it comes to what you put on the dough, things get very personal. When I set up a pizza-making party, I tend to over-deliver on the toppings. But if you’re just getting started with the homemade pizza game, I suggest you start simple with just a few.
Here are a few favorites:
Tomato sauce (of course): just blitz some canned San Marzano tomatoes in the blender with a little salt, pepper and olive oil.
Pesto
Cheeses: Mozzarella, Ricotta, Parmesan, Pecorino, Gorgonzola, Fontina, Asiago
Pickled stuff: red onions, Hungarian wax or banana peppers,
Thinly sliced stuff: potatoes (par-boil first), lemon (with peel!), fennel, hot peppers, zucchini, garlic
Protein: sausage, cured meats like prosciutto and salami, anchovies
After it’s cooked: honey, black pepper, shower of Parmesan, greens like basil and arugula
This week we’re teaching pizza to our Dynamite Dinner Club students, but we hope some of you who aren’t in our classes will share this recipe with a friend and discover from scratch pizza-making together. On Friday, paid subscribers of our newsletter will get a run-down of all the ways to make pizza, from our back-of-the-sheetpan method we’re teaching this week, to building your own outdoor oven, like I did. No matter which way you go, people will gather ‘round. Just watch.
Slumber Party Pizza Dough
Adapted from “The Elements of Pizza” by Ken Forkish (Ten Speed Press)
Makes two 15-ounce balls, which makes two 16-inch pizzas
1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F to 110°F)
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 2 teaspoons fine salt)
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose or “tipo 00” flour
In a large bowl, mix the water and salt until dissolved. Add the yeast to the water and stir until dissolved. Add the flour to the water-salt-yeast mixture.
Using a wet hand to prevent the dough from sticking, stir the mixture by moving your hand around the inside of the bowl to mix the flour, water, salt, and yeast into a single mass. Then use your fingers to cut the dough in sections, alternating with folding the dough to develop it back into a unified mass. Make 2 to 3 folds in this manner.
Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, covered loosely with a cloth or plastic wrap. Knead it on a lightly floured work surface for about 1 minute until smooth. Place the dough ball seam side down in a lightly oiled container. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or plastic wrap. Leave the dough to rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, then transfer to the refrigerator to rest overnight. One hour before class, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter.
Take the dough out of the container and shape it into a slightly tightened ball, working gently and being careful not to tear the dough.
Place the dough ball on a lightly floured surface, divide into two equal balls, sprinkle flour over the top, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes for the second fermentation.
Make your pizza anytime in the 4 hours following the second stage of fermentation.
Timeline Note:
This recipe’s fermentation timeline has been designed so you can prepare your dough the night before wanting to make pizza, but there are several ways to adjust it to have perfect dough whenever you want it. Below are some alternative rise times for the initial fermentation (the rise that happens after you shape the dough and hold it in a bowl) and the second fermentation (after the dough has been divided and shaped). Next time you make pizza, try out a different timeline and see if you notice a difference in flavor or texture!
Initial fermentation:
- After shaping, let the dough rest for 2 hours at room temperature, then proceed to the next step.
Second fermentation:
- After shaping, let the dough rest for at least 6 and up to 12 hours at room temperature
- After shaping, let the dough rest for 4 hours at room temperature, then hold in the fridge for up to the next evening (Note: if you refrigerate the dough, let it come to room temperature for an hour or so before making your pizza)