Your home pizza-making journey starts by making your dough from scratch.
Just ask Marc Schechter, founder of Square Pie Guys, and co-author Gabi Moskowitz, who share their tips in their forthcoming cookbook, “Square Pie Guy: Detroit-Style Pizza at Home.”
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They recommend this same-day recipe for getting that airy, tender crumb that Detroit-style pizza is famous for. Using a stand mixer is recommended.
Same-Day Dough
Yield: One 10-by-14-inch pizza crust
INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup warm water
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for oiling hands
DIRECTIONS
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, on the lowest speed, stir to combine the flour, salt and yeast.
Slowly stream in the water, then continue to mix for approximately 1 minute, or until shaggy.
“Square Pie Guy: Detroit-Style Pizza at Home” by Marc Schechter and Gabi Moskowitz is set to come out Oct. 27. (Courtesy of Weldon Owen)
Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and mix for 30 seconds, or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and mix for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
Let the dough rest in the bowl for 5 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and form into a ball. Lightly coat the dough and a mixing bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl, seam-side down. Tightly cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes, just until the dough begins to expand.
Return the dough to the work surface and reshape it into a ball. Coat the ball with 1 tablespoon of oil.
Use the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to grease a 10-by-14-inch Detroit pizza pan (or a similarly sized baking pan) and place the dough ball in the center. Use your hands to gently flatten the ball of dough. Don’t worry about stretching it; you’ll do that later, once it’s relaxed.
Tightly cover the pan with plastic wrap. Let proof 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
With lightly oiled hands, push the dough to the edges of the pan.
Tightly re-cover the pan with plastic wrap or a fitted lid and refrigerate for at least 12 hours (or as long as 48 — the longer it rests in the fridge, the more flavor the dough will have).
When ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.
Top and bake as directed in each recipe for optimal results.
Courtesy Marc Schechter and Gabi Moskowitz, “Square Pie Guy: Detroit-style Pizza at Home” (Weldon Owen, $35), out Oct. 27.
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