Make Ahead
Thin, Herbed Pizza Crust
- 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
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1 teaspoon
Dried Basil
-
1 teaspoon
Rosemary
-
some
Course Cornmeal (for rolling out)
Directions
- Sprinkle yeast onto the warm water and set aside.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- On a counter dusted with cornmeal roll out your dough. When divided into 6, I get mine to about 12"-13" rounds.
- Heat your oven and pizza stone as hot as you can, 500-550 is about as high as I've managed.
- 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.
- 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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