Make Ahead

Thin, Herbed Pizza Crust

March 29, 2012
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  • Makes 6-8 personal sized pizzas
Author Notes

This is really only a pizza crust by virtue of the fact I put toppings on it and bake it. Thin (though I wouldn't call it cracker-like) and rolled out rather than stretched, it bears little resemblance to the chewy Neapolitan of your favorite pie shop.

But oh how I love it.

I assemble the whole thing in a food processor, but you could mince the garlic and assemble in a bowl just as well. Up to half of the AP flour can be replaced with whole wheat, just reduce the water slightly. —PhillipBrandon

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/4 teaspoon Yeast
  • 1 cup Warm Water
  • 3-4 Cloves Garlic
  • 3 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Coarse Salt
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
  • 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
  • 1 teaspoon Rosemary
  • some Course Cornmeal (for rolling out)
Directions
  1. Sprinkle yeast onto the warm water and set aside.
  2. Peel garlic cloves and give them a couple of good pulses in your food processor (everything is going in here, so be sure to use the large bowl).
  3. Add flour, salt, and herbs to the food processor, and pulse a few more times to combine. Adjust the herbs to your liking. Fresh herbs are always preferred, but about a teaspoon each of dried works pretty well for me. If the rosemary isn't crushed 1.5-2 teaspoons is probably a better starting place. Sometimes I also will include a few grinds of black pepper here.
  4. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and very slowly pour in the yeast and water mixture. The dough should form a large ball and start rolling around bowl. If this doesn't happen, just press it all together and shape by hand.
  5. Remove from your processor, divide dough into 6 equal parts and knead into balls. These can be covered and left to proof for a while (the won't rise much) or used right away. You can also freeze at this stage and defrost at your convenience for individual pizzas.
  6. On a counter dusted with cornmeal roll out your dough. When divided into 6, I get mine to about 12"-13" rounds.
  7. Heat your oven and pizza stone as hot as you can, 500-550 is about as high as I've managed.
  8. Transfer to a peel dusted with more cornmeal depending on how sticky your dough feels. For a crispier crust, pre-bake for about a minute. Otherwise, top as you wish and bake for 5-7 minutes.
  9. Pre-baked but un-topped crusts can also be frozen for super-fast pizza making later. I've kept them for about a month this way.

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