Okay, I know Shawn’s birthday was last month, but I’m just getting around to writing this post. And I have to tell you about the awesome pizzas that we made. Last year we were in Kansas. When that happens his birthday is sort of a collaborative effort. Usually he wants his mom to cook him something, and his aunt makes really pretty cakes that don’t involve cursing. This year since we were at home, it was my turn and I was in charge on my own. So I wanted to do something different.
Pizzas on the grill had been on my list of things to do pretty much since the day we bought a grill, but I had been hesitant to try it. We didn’t have a peel (you know, the scoopy thing), so I was worried about transferring the pizzas onto and off of the grill. And the only pizza crust recipe I had ever made took forever with all of the rising and kneading, and it came out all soft and bready. That’s fine I guess, but I really prefer a thin crispy crust on pizza. Not only is it more pleasing to eat crispy pizza, but if you make a really thin crust you can eat a lot more pizza because you’re not full of crust. And everybody wants to eat more pizza. Right?
The solution to the first problem was easy. Buy pizza peel. Wrap in Christmas paper. Give to Shawn for birthday gift. Done! The crust issue, on the other hand, was not so simple. At least I didn’t think it was.
Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks claims that Peter Reinhart’s Napoletana pizza crust recipe makes the best crust ever. And, as usual, she’s right. In fact, after making this crust, I don’t know that I will bother with any other recipes, unless someone knows of one that makes itself.
You wouldn’t know by reading Peter Reinhart’s original instructions (sneaky Peter, sneaky!) how ridiculously easy this is. The instructions are so long I didn’t even want to read them at first. But after making two batches of this crust, I think I could do you a favor and take away most of the reading right now. So here is Peter Reinhart’s thin crust pizza, the abbreviated version.
Crispy Thin Crust Pizza Crust
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice. This recipe also has the weight measurements for the dry ingredients, but I only weigh the flour. You really don’t have to weigh anything if you don’t want to. You could also stop reading this right now and dial 459-22 … Kidding! Don’t do that. Nasty! Shame on me.
Makes 6 thin 12-inch pizza crusts.
4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for oiling the dough
1 3/4 cups water, ice cold
cornmeal for dusting
1. Measure the flour, salt and instant yeast into the bowl of a large stand mixer and whisk them together. Alternately, if you’re insane, you could mix this up by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon, but it’s really not the best idea and you might sweat into the dough.
2. Fill a two-cup measuring glass with cold water to 1 3/4 cups. Add ice cubes and stir to make the water as ice cold as it will get. Fish out the ice cubes and pour off water as necessary to make 1 3/4 cups. Add olive oil to the glass to make two cups.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until combined. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes (or stir it vigorously with your spoon for the same amount of time, rotating directions every minute or so … I told you it was a bad idea).
4. After about five minutes start looking at the dough. It should cling to the bottom of the bowl, but not to the sides. If you’re getting side-stickage add flour, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough only sticks to the bottom. If it’s too dry and doesn’t stick anywhere, add water, one tablespoon at a time.
5. Dump the dough onto a well floured cutting surface and cut it into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece in a bowl with some olive oil in the bottom and make sure the dough is well coated with oil. Wrap loosely in plastic and refrigerate at least 24 hours, or up to three days. The dough will expand in the refrigerator a bit. DO NOT wrap the plastic around the dough tightly or it will explode out of its wrappings all over the place and you will be pissed.
How to Grill Pizza
1. Remove your crust from the fridge preferably two hours in advance. I actually don’t think this part matters that much, so if you don’t have two hours or you forget, don’t let it stop you from making pizza.
2. Assemble your toppings and turn on your grill to medium low. Keep the toppings simple. Too many toppings = soggy pizza.
3. Over a well floured surface, begin to stretch the crust out into a circle. Its final size should be about 12 inches across. Stretch it out about two-thirds of the way and then transfer it to a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal.
4. Finish stretching the crust out as thin as you can make it without creating holes. Do not cry if you get a hole. It will be okay, I swear.
5. Using the peel, carefully slide the crust onto the grates of the grill making sure it doesn’t fall in the cracks. Do not touch it until it begins to set up. Once it starts to brown it will release itself from the grill and will become easy to handle. Flip it over and lightly brown the other side. This pre-cooking helps ensure a crispy pizza.
6. Remove the crust from the grill with the peel. Add toppings (don’t put toppings over holes) and carefully slide the pizza back onto the grill. Close the lid and grill until the cheese is melted and all the toppings are hot.
TIP: If you’re making the pizzas consecutively, like for a crowd of ravenous monsters guests, and if your grill is large enough, you can time your pizzas so that every time you put a pizza crust on the grill, you have a finished pizza to take off. Get it? It eliminates the waiting between pizzas.
