Molly Yeh Pizza Dough Recipes

ZUCCHINI PIZZA WITH BASIL MINT PESTO

Steps:

• For the pizza dough: Mix together the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl, then stir in 350 grams (1 1/2 cups) water until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and put it down for an 18- to 24-hour nap at room temperature until it's doubled in sized and bubbling.
• For the pizza toppings: Preheat the grill with a pizza stone over medium-high heat. (If you don't have a pizza stone, you can use a baking sheet.)
• Combine the pine nuts, garlic, basil, mint, crushed red pepper, juice of half a lemon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, a few turns of black pepper and the Parmesan in a food processor and pulse to a coarse crumb. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired.
• Divide the pizza dough in half. On a floured pizza peel or baking sheet, flatten out one half of the dough into a 10- to 11-inch round. Spread with a thin layer of the pesto and top with half of the mozzarella. Bring it out to the grill. Grill the zucchini and remaining lemon half on the grates until charred, a few minutes. Add half the zucchini to the pizza and slide it onto the pizza stone. Close the grill and cook until the bottom is browned and cheese is melty, 6 to 9 minutes. Drizzle with more pesto, squeeze with juice from the charred lemon and add more Parmesan, crushed red pepper and basil and serve.
• Repeat with the other half of the pizza dough and ingredients.

SAUSAGE PAN PIZZA

Steps:

• For the dough: In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the water, sugar and yeast. Let it sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer running on low speed, add the oil and salt, then gradually add the bread and whole-wheat flours. Increase the speed to medium high and mix, adding just enough additional bread flour so that the dough no longer sticks to the bowl, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky, 7 to 10 minutes. (Alternatively, mix by hand and knead on a lightly floured surface.) Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn it once or twice to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place for 2 hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
• For the pizza: If the dough was refrigerated, let the dough sit at room temperature for about an hour before shaping.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place a 14-inch cast-iron pan into the oven to preheat while you prepare your other ingredients.
• Add the sausage to a medium pan over medium-high heat. Cook, breaking it up into crumbly pieces, until browned throughout and no longer pink, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside.
• Flour a work surface and rolling pin, then roll out the dough to a 14-inch round.
• Remove the cast-iron pan from the oven and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil to coat. Carefully place the dough into the pan and push the edges up against the side of the pan. Drizzle the dough with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Top with the tomato sauce in an even layer. Then, sprinkle on the kale, sausage, mozzarella, grated Parmesan, thyme, lemon zest and some salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then slice and serve straight from the pan!

SAUSAGE, PEPPERS AND ONION DEEP DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Add the water and oil and mix to combine (you may have to get in there with a spatula to help everything incorporate). Turn the mixer to medium-high and knead the dough until it is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl without sticking, adding more flour 1 tablespoon at a time if needed, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Coat a large bowl with oil and transfer the dough to the bowl. Toss a few times to coat the dough. Cover and let sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• Once the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Liberally coat two 10-inch cake pans with the softened butter. Divide the dough into two balls and place each one in a pan. Cover loosely and let sit for about 20 minutes while the oven preheats and you prepare the other toppings.
• Place the tomatoes in a strainer and sprinkle on a couple good pinches of salt; let drain for 10 minutes. Flatten out the dough all over the bottoms of the pans and about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Top with cheese slices, overlapping them. Tear the sausage into golf ball-size pieces, then press on top of the cheese and flatten, leaving little holes for the cheese to poke through. Top with the tomatoes, peppers and onions. Sprinkle over the Pecorino-Romano and oregano.
• Bake until the crust is a deep golden brown, the cheese on top is turning golden and the sauce has begun to bubble, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper, if desired.

SHEET PAN RATATOUILLE PIZZA

Steps:

• For the dough: Combine the bread flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with the dough hook attachment to combine. Add the water and olive oil and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix, adding just enough additional flour so that the dough no longer sticks to the bowl, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky, 7 to 10 minutes. (Alternatively, mix by hand and knead on a lightly floured surface.) Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn it once or twice to coat it in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• For the garlic oil: Meanwhile, combine the garlic cloves, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, bay leaf and oil in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over the lowest heat and cook until the cloves are light golden and completely tender, about 30 minutes. Let cool. Remove the herbs and stir in the red pepper flakes.
• For the pizza: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Punch the dough down. Brush a half-sheet pan with the olive oil (not the garlic oil) and pat out the dough to the edge. (This might seem like a lot of olive oil, but it'll make it good.) Set aside to rise, uncovered, for another 20 minutes or so.
• Combine the tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, squash and zucchini in a large colander. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and toss well. Let drain in the sink while the dough rises.
• Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons garlic oil and spread the marinara over the top in a very thin layer. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary and thyme (reserved from making the garlic oil). Fish the garlic cloves from the oil and smooth and scatter them over the top. Pat the vegetables dry, then alternate the slices of the tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, yellow squash and zucchini over the sauce, shingling them in a pretty pattern. Tear the burrata in small shreds over the top. Drizzle with another tablespoon or two of the garlic oil. Bake the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven until the bottom crust is crisp and the top is golden, about 25 minutes.
• Scatter the basil and arugula over the top. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil and sprinkle with the Parmesan and flaky salt.