Here is the basic recipe that I've used:
The Master Recipe: Boule
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulate yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached all-purpose white flour
Cornmeal for pizza peel
1. Warm the water slightly: it should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100 degrees F.
2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl, or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.
3. Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon. You don't have to knead. Add all of the flour at once and mix until there are no dry patches. Dough should be wet and loose (see picture above).
4. Allow to rise: Cover with a lid which is not airtight and which fits well to the container you're using. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. You can use the dough at this stage but it is easier to handle if it is refrigerated overnight.
On Baking day:
5. First, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal (or whatever your recipe calls for) to prevent your loaf from sticking when you slide it into the oven.
6. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit size) piece of dough. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little bit more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the dough as you go. The entire process should take no more than 30 to 60 seconds.
7. Rest the loaf and let it rise on a pizza peel. Allow the loaf to rest on the peel for about
2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl, or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.
3. Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon. You don't have to knead. Add all of the flour at once and mix until there are no dry patches. Dough should be wet and loose (see picture above).
4. Allow to rise: Cover with a lid which is not airtight and which fits well to the container you're using. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. You can use the dough at this stage but it is easier to handle if it is refrigerated overnight.
On Baking day:
5. First, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal (or whatever your recipe calls for) to prevent your loaf from sticking when you slide it into the oven.
6. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit size) piece of dough. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little bit more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the dough as you go. The entire process should take no more than 30 to 60 seconds.
7. Rest the loaf and let it rise on a pizza peel. Allow the loaf to rest on the peel for about
8. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won't be interfere with the rising bread. I placed my pan on the bottom rack.
9. Dust and slash: Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1/4-inch-deep cross, scallop or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated knife (see photo below).
10. Baking with steam: After a 20-minute preheat, you are ready to bake. With a quick forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the preheated baking stone. Quickly pour about 1 cup hot water from the tap into the broiler pan and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.
11. Remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack, for best flavor, texture and slicing.
12. Store the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days.
Olive Oil Dough
2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
2. Mix in the flour without kneading, using a wooden spoon to make sure that all the flour is incorporated and there are no dry patches.
3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately or refrigerated in a lidded (not airtight) container and used over the next 12 days.
2. Mix in the flour without kneading, using a wooden spoon to make sure that all the flour is incorporated and there are no dry patches.
3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately or refrigerated in a lidded (not airtight) container and used over the next 12 days.
Vegetarian Pizza
1. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven with a baking stone at 450 degrees. There is no need for the broiler pan because steam is not needed for this dough.
2. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut of a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece or as much as is needed. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides.
3. Flatten the dough with your hands and a rolling pin on a wooden board to produce a 1/8-inch-thick round. You can use a combination of stretching with your hand and rolling with a rolling pin.
4. Place the rolled out dough onto a pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal.
5. Place toppings of your choice. I used fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced red onion on my dough. I drizzled olive oil over the topping and slid the pizza onto the hot stone quickly ... be careful not to let cornmeal from the peel spill into the oven. I used a wooden spoon to help the pizza slide.
6. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the dough is the brown you like. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly to allow the cheese to set.
Note: The recipes for both doughs can be halved or doubled. For the pizza I only made half of the dough and then used only half of it for a personal pizza (so actually only a 1/4 of the above recipe).
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