Margherita Pizza (dough adapted from Peter Reinhart's Neo-Neopolitan Pizza Dough in Artisan Breads Every Day)
For the Dough:
5 1/3 cups (24 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon bread machine yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons (17 ounces) filtered water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
For the Dough � Ahead of Time: Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add olive oil and water; mix until well blended for about 1 minute using Danish Dough hand whisk, or large spoon. The dough should be coarse and slightly sticky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate the flour.
Continue mixing by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough is smoother, but still soft, supple and somewhere between tacky and sticky.
Spread 1 teaspoon of olive oil on a large piece of parchment paper, then use a bowl scraper to transfer the dough to the oiled surface. Rub your hands with the oil on the work surface, then stretch and fold the dough one time, reaching under the front end of the dough, stretching it out, then folding it back onto the top of the dough. Do this from the back end and then from each side, then flip the dough over and tuck it into a ball. Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces, each weighing slightly less than 8.5 ounces. Form each piece into a ball; roll in olive oil, and place into a quart-size ziploc bag. Seal the bag and refrigerate overnight or for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for several months.
For the Tomato Sauce:
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium high heat until shimmering. Add the garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds, or until fragrant (do not brown the garlic). Add the crushed tomatoes; continue cooking over medium high heat just until the mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool.
For the Pizza:
1 piece of dough from above recipe
½ cup tomato sauce from above recipe (more or less according taste)
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, coarsely chopped
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded whole mozzarella cheese (more or less according to taste)
About 90 minutes before you plan to bake the pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator; place dough ball on a lightly oiled piece of parchment paper. With oiled hands, stretch and round the dough into a tight ball. Place the ball on a lightly oiled surface; loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature until ready to form the pizza.
About 1 hour before baking the pizza, preheat the oven and a baking stone at 450° F. While the oven is preheating, prepare the cheese, tomato sauce and topping(s).
When ready to assemble the pizza, dust a piece of parchment paper with flour; place the pizza ball on the parchment paper and sprinkle top with additional flour. Gently tap the dough down with your fingers to form a disk. Slide the backs of your hands under the dough, then lift it and begin to rotate it, using your thumbs to coax the edges of the dough onto a large circle. Don't stretch the dough with the backs of your hands or knuckles, but rather let your thumbs do the work. If the dough starts to resist and shrink back, place it on the floured surface and let it rest for a minute or two.
Transfer the dough to a reusable piece of parchment paper and continue forming it until it is about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. It should be thicker at the edges than in the center, and the center should be thin, but not paper-thin.
Top the crust with tomato sauce to within about 1-inch of the edges. Then sprinkle on chopped basil. Finish with shredded mozzarella cheese. Carefully slide the pizza and parchment paper onto the peel, and then carefully slide the pizza and parchment paper onto the baking stone. Bake for 8 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. Carefully remove from oven onto the peel; transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve. Yield: 1 10 to 12-inch pizza.
