Lynchburg Living

Departments

From the Kitchen of: Andrea Tomlinson, Lynchburg Living Account Executive

This recipe makes 1 lb. of dough, enough for 2 (9-inch) pizzas.

INGREDIENTS

1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 3/4 to 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading and dredging
3/4 cup warm water (105-115 F)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

**For a shortcut, use frozen pizza dough from your grocer’s freezer section.

Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/4 cup warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until mixture appears creamy on surface, about 5 minutes. (If it doesn’t, discard and start over with new yeast.) Stir together 1 1/4 cups flour and salt in a large bowl, then add yeast mixture, oil, and remaining 1/2 cup warm water and stir until smooth. Stir in enough of remaining flour 1/4 to 1/2 cup) for dough to come away from side of bowl.

Knead dough on a work surface with floured hands until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 8 minutes. Divide dough in half and form into two balls, then generously dust balls all over with flour and put each in a medium bowl. Cover bowls with plastic wrap and let dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 hours. Dough can be allowed to rise, covered and chilled, for one day. Bring to room temperature before kneading.

To form pizza rounds:

Do not punch down dough. Gently dredge one ball of dough in a bowl of flour to coat, then transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Holding one edge of floured dough in the air with both hands and, letting bottom touch work surface, carefully move hands around edge of dough (like turning a steering wheel), allowing weight of dough to stretch round to roughly 7 inches in diameter.

Lay dough round flat on floured surface and continue to stretch by pressing dough with your fingertips, working from center outward to edge, stretching it into a 9-inch round. Transfer to a large, floured tray and make another round in same manner. Lightly rub a long sheet of plastic wrap with flour, then invert loosely over pizza rounds and let them stand to puff slightly while preparing grill, 10 to 20 minutes.

To prepare gas grill:

Preheat burners on high, covered, for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderate.

To grill pizzas:

Remove plastic wrap from both rounds of dough and lightly brush dough with some oil. Carefully flip dough rounds, oiled sides down, with your hands onto middle of lightly oiled grill rack and brush top of each with oil. Grill crusts, uncovered, until undersides are golden brown (rotate them if one side of grill is hotter than the other), 2 to 3 minutes on gas grill or 4 to 6 minutes on charcoal grill.

Flip crusts over with tongs and a spatula. Drizzle top with garlic olive oil, then add shredded mozzarella, fontina and parmigiano-reggiano cheeses and a few spoonfuls of ricotta cheese. Drizzle top again with a little more olive oil and fresh, chopped oregano. Continue grilling pizzas, covered with grill lid, until undersides are golden brown and cheese is melted, about 3 minutes on gas grill or 5 minutes on charcoal grill.