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How to
Make Pizza
A guide by Sam Sifton

Before You Start

Robertas Pizza Dough
Storing the Dough
Shaping the Pizza
Toppings
Cooking the Pizza

You can make pizza at home. In fact, you can make pizza that will equal some of the best on the
planet. With planning and practice, you can become good at it even if you are a relatively
novice cook. We are here to help that happen.

Before You Start

1. Plan ahead. Make the dough at least a day before you intend to make pizza, to give it
enough time to rise.
2. Buy a food scale on which to weigh the ingredients for dough and toppings. Its a smart
investment: In baking, weight is a more accurate measurement than volume.
3. You will need a cooking surface. This could be a pizza stone or steel, or four to six
unglazed quarry tiles measuring 6 inches by 6 inches from a building supply store.
Whichever you use, heat in a very hot oven for at least an hour before cooking.

Robertas Pizza Dough

YieldTwo 12-inch pizzas

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Food By Brandon Cruz 3:45 How to Make Great Pizza Dough

Melina Hammer for The New York Times pizza dough

Our best recipe for pizza dough is adapted from the one used at Robertas, the pizza utopia in
Bushwick, Brooklyn. It provides a delicate, extraordinarily flavorful dough that will last and
improve in the refrigerator for up to a week. As ever with breads, rise time will depend on the
temperature and humidity of your kitchen and refrigerator. But we generally allow it to go at
least overnight. Those seeking gratification more quickly can turn to Mark Bittmans recipe for
basic pizza dough, which rises in just a couple of hours.

Ingredients

153 grams 00 flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)

153 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons)
8 grams fine sea salt (1 teaspoon)
2 grams active dry yeast (3/4 teaspoon)
4 grams extra-virgin olive oil (1 teaspoon)

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt.

2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together 200 grams (a little less than 1 cup) lukewarm tap
water, the yeast and the olive oil, then pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands
until well combined, approximately 3 minutes, then let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.
3. Knead rested dough for 3 minutes. Cut into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball.
Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with dampened cloth, and let rest and rise for 3
to 4 hours at room temperature or for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. (If you refrigerate
the dough, remove it 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.)
4. To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to
stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Top and bake.

Like this recipe?

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Adapted from "Roberta's," by Carlo Mirarchi, Brandon Hoy, Chris Parachini and Katherine
Wheelock

Storing the Dough

Allow for a minimum of three to four hours for your dough to rise. But planning further ahead
pays dividends: You can store that dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook, which
means any weeknight can be pizza night.

Melina Hammer for The New York Times pizza dough..Published 04-09-2014

1. We put our pizza dough in the refrigerator to rise, placing the balls of dough on a
floured baking pan covered loosely with a clean, damp kitchen towel. The chill leads to a
slow rise, so we generally allow it to go overnight, or for at least six to eight hours. For a
 faster rise, leave the dough out on a countertop, similarly covered. It should be ready
that is, roughly doubled in size in three or four hours.

Time imparts a marvelous tanginess to pizza dough, but it extracts a price as well. What
you want to avoid is a skin developing on the dough. When the dough has risen, if you
are not going to use it right away, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, or place it in a quart-
size plastic bag. Pizza dough so wrapped will last in the refrigerator for three days or so.

Another option is to freeze the dough using this incredibly easy freezer dough recipe.
Make it, put it in the freezer in a freezer-safe plastic bag, and then move it to the
refrigerator on the morning of the evening you want to cook.

If you end up making pizza at least once a week, consider investing in a few pizza dough
pans, available in restaurant supply stores.

Shaping the Pizza

Shaping a pizza takes practice. The goal is to make a thin circle of dough, with a raised edge
around circumference of the pie. Dont worry if that doesnt happen the first few times. Pizzas
shaped like trapezoids or kites taste just as delicious.

1. Working on a floured surface, with floured hands, softly pat down the risen ball of dough
into a circle, rotating it as you do.

Using the tips of your fingers, push down gently around the perimeter of the pie, rotating
it as you do, to create the edge.

Pick up the dough and lightly pass it back and forth between your palms, trying to rotate
it each time you do, using gravity to help the dough stretch. At approximately 12 inches
in diameter, the pizza is ready to go.

Return the pizza to the floured surface, making sure that the side that you first pressed
down upon remains facing upward, and gently slide the pie back and forth a few times to
make sure that it does not stick. Add a little more flour to the surface beneath the pie if it
does.

Gently slide a lightly floured pizza peel beneath the pie, or place it carefully on a
floured cutting board or the back of a baking pan. Make sure again that the dough can
slide back and forth. If it does, the pie is certified for topping.

Toppings
The act of topping a pizza is a gentle one. Use a light touch. Above all, try not to overload the
pie, particularly its center, which will lead to an undercooked crust. Two to three tablespoons of
sauce are all you need, and perhaps a small drizzle of olive oil, accompanied by a couple of other
toppings.

Sauce

Cheese

Meats, Seafood and Eggs

Vegetables, Fruit and Herbs

Pizza sauce does not need to be cooked ahead of time, and is so simply prepared that
there is no reason to use the store-bought variety. Instead, use a food processor to
combine a can of whole, drained tomatoes with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Spread the sauce out on the dough using the back of a spoon, stopping approximately 1/2
inch from the doughs edges. Do not use too much; two or three tablespoons is enough.
Keep leftover sauce refrigerated.

Cooking the Pizza

We cook most of our pizzas in the oven, on top of a stone or a steel. But you can bake pizza in a
sheet pan as well, or grill it outdoors. You can even cook a pizza on a stovetop.

1. Baking in the Oven

 To bake a pizza in an oven, youll need either to do it on a stone or metal surface, or in a
sheet pan. Either way, you should set the oven to its highest temperature and let it heat
it for a full hour before you intend to cook.

If you are using a pizza stone, steel or a set of tiles, begin by placing it on the middle
rack of the oven before you turn it on, allowing it to preheat for a hour.

When youre ready to cook, carefully place your shaped dough on a lightly floured pizza
peel or cutting board, or on the back of a baking pan. Gently shake the peel, board or pan
back and forth a few times to make sure the dough can move, then add your toppings.

Pick up your pizza peel with the topped pie on top of it, and gently slide the pie onto the
stone or tiles, starting at the back of the oven and working your way toward its front.
Bake for about four to eight minutes, until the edges are a beautiful golden brown, and
the sauce and cheese are bubbling nicely. Slide the peel back under the baked pizza to
remove it from the oven, and then slide the pizza onto a cutting board, where it can be cut
into slices.

If you are using a sheet pan, lightly oil the pan, then stretch the risen dough into the
shape of the pan, then top and place in the oven until golden brown and bubbling.

2. Pan-Frying on the Stovetop

Cooking a pizza on top of the stove is a simple way to get started in the pizza-making
game, and a single ball of dough will yield two pan pizzas.

Simply heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, then film it with olive oil.
Take one half of a ball of risen pizza dough and press it out into a circle just smaller
than the pan.

When the oil shimmers, put the dough in the pan and adjust the heat so it browns evenly
without burning. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork. Cook this round in the
pan for a minute or so, then turn it over with the bottom is browned and cover with
toppings. Either top the pan with a lid to melt the cheese or run it under a broiler to
achieve the same result.

3. Grilling Outdoors

Grilling pizza really means grilling one side of a flatbread over fire, then turning it over
and topping it. And while you can certainly use our essential pizza dough recipe to do
that, a sturdier dough recipe that is less prone to ripping will yield a better result.

To cook a pizza on a grill requires some planning. You need to cook one side of the pizza
before turning it over and topping it, and cooking the other side. So take time to
assemble all the ingredients youll need to make the pizzas beforehand.
 Prepare a hot fire; if your grill grate is clean, you shouldnt need to oil it. Slide the pizza
dough from the peel onto the rack. After a few minutes, use tongs to lift the dough and
check whether its browning on the bottom. Watch closely so it doesnt burn. When its
nicely browned, use the tongs to flip the dough over, then brush it with olive oil and
cover it with toppings. Place the lid on the grill for a few minutes more until the cheese is
melted.

Our Greatest Pizza Recipes

Pizza Margherita

By Sam Sifton

Quick Pizza Dough

By Suzanne Lenzer

About 30 minutes

Green and White Pizza

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Cheeses Pizza

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A Plain Pizza Pie

By Sam Sifton

1 hour

Classic

Pizza With Caramelized Onions, Figs, Bacon and Blue Cheese

Robertas Pizza Dough

By Sam Sifton

Healthy

Mussel Pizza

By Martha Rose Shulman

45 minutes
Healthy

Pizza Margherita

By Martha Rose Shulman

45 minutes

Pizza Rustica

By Alex Witchel

2 1/2 hours
Rick Easton's Pizza With Potatoes

By Mark Bittman

1 hour, plus rising

Healthy

Pizza on the Grill

By Martha Rose Shulman

Polenta Pizza With Pancetta and Spinach

By Mark Bittman

45 minutes

Pizza Marinara with Tuna and Capers

By Martha Rose Shulman

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1 hour 10 minutes

Gluten-Free Pizza

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Pan-Fried Pizza

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Pizza With Green Garlic, Potatoes and Herbs

By Martha Rose Shulman

About 3 hours

Healthy

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By Martha Rose Shulman

45 minutes
Easy

Tartine's Pizza or Pita Dough

By Chad Robertson

18 minutes

Healthy

Provenal Onion Pizza

By Martha Rose Shulman

1 hour 15 minutes
Healthy

Pizza With Caramelized Onions, Ricotta and Chard

By Martha Rose Shulman

1 hour 30 minutes

Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Pizza

By Jacques Pepin

2 hours
Pizzapiazza Deep Dish Spinach Pizza

By Florence Fabricant

About 1 hour

Asian Lamb Pizza

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Easy

Green Tomato Pizza

By Mark Bittman

40 minutes

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By Florence Fabricant

Rick Eastons Pizza With Peppers

By Mark Bittman

1 hour, plus rising

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