PERFECT PIZZA RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 500 degrees, with a 16-inch diameter pizza stone placed on lowest shelf position, for at least 30 minutes.
• Pour warm water into a small bowl. Add sugar, and sprinkle in yeast. Using a fork, stir the mixture until yeast is dissolved and water has turned a tan color. Let yeast stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. In a food processor, use blade to combine the 2 3/4 cups flour and salt, and pulse three to four times. Add yeast mixture and 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Pulse until the dough comes together, adding more flour as needed until dough is smooth, not tacky, when squeezed. Transfer to clean surface; knead four or five turns into a ball.
• Brush the inside of a medium bowl with olive oil, and place the dough in the bowl, smooth side up. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and place in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 40 minutes. Remove plastic wrap, and press your fist into the center of the dough to punch it down. Fold the dough back onto itself four or five times. Turn dough over, folded-side down, cover with plastic wrap, and return to the warm spot to rise again until the dough has doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Punch down the dough, and transfer to a clean surface. Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife, divide the dough in half, and knead each half four or five turns into a ball. Place one of the dough balls back in the oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Lightly flour a clean surface, place the remaining dough ball on top, pat into a flattened circle, cover lightly with plastic wrap, and let rest 5 minutes. Using your fingers, begin to flatten and push the dough evenly out from the center until it measures about 7 to 8 inches in diameter. Do not press the dough all the way to the edges. Leave a slightly raised border, about a half-inch wide, around entire circumference of pizza dough.
• Sprinkle cornmeal all over the surface of a pizza peel, and set aside. Lift the dough off the surface, and center it on top of your fists. Hold your fists about 1 to 2 inches apart. Begin to rotate and stretch the dough, moving your fists until they are 6 to 8 inches apart and the dough is several inches larger. Then place your fists under the inside of the outer edge, and continue to stretch the dough a little at a time until it reaches about 12 inches in diameter. The dough will drape down over your forearms. At this stage, it is important to keep your fists along the inside of the outer edge and watch that the dough does not get too thin or tear in the center. At the same time, make sure to maintain the slightly raised border on the edges. The dough is surprisingly resilient and will not tear if this step is done carefully and slowly.
• Arrange the pizza dough into a circle on top of the cornmeal-dusted peel. Leaving the raised edge uncovered, pour 9 tablespoons of the pizza sauce onto the dough. Using the back of a tablespoon, evenly spread the sauce leaving a half-inch border of dough uncovered. Arrange half of the mozzarella slices on top of the sauce.
• Lift the pizza peel and, using a slight jerking motion, slide the pizza about one inch back and forth on the peel to loosen it. Slightly tilt the peel, and place the front tip of peel on the back side of the stone. Slide the pizza off the peel, centering it on the stone. Bake until the crust is golden brown and crisp on the edges and the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes, turning the pizza halfway through baking. While first pizza is baking, shape and assemble a second pizza using remaining dough. Using tongs, lift the edge of the first pizza, and slide the peel all the way under to remove it from the oven. Using a pizza wheel, slice the pizza into eight pieces, and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Mix High Mountain flour, freshly milled flour, salt, and 600 g all-purpose flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook just to combine.
• Whisk starter and 660 g room-temperature water in a large measuring glass to combine, then add oil and yeast and whisk until well blended.
• Make a well in dry ingredients and pour in starter mixture. Mix on low speed, increasing speed to medium as dry ingredients are incorporated, until well combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and fold in any flour, if needed. Remove bowl from mixer and scrape dough from hook. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Uncover dough and fit bowl back onto mixer. Mix on medium speed until you're able to pinch and stretch a small piece of dough between your fingers until translucent and doesn’t rip, about 10 minutes (dough should look sticky but cohesive, and it should be very elastic and jiggly). Transfer dough to a very large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot (near the oven is great) until 50 percent expanded in volume, about 3 hours.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour your hands, scale, bench scraper, and 2 small rimmed baking sheets.
• Divide dough into 200 g portions. Working one at a time, form each portion into a tight, even ball, rotating on counter and tucking under and pinching on bottom of ball to seal. Try to handle the ball as little as possible to keep dough from deflating. Using bench scraper, place balls seam side down on floured baking sheets, spacing evenly apart. Lightly sprinkle dough with some flour and cover baking sheets tightly with plastic as you go. Chill at least 24 hours and up to 48 before using.
• Do Ahead: Dough can be made 2 weeks ahead. Wrap balls tightly with plastic wrap and freeze. Let thaw in refrigerator overnight. Note: The frozen dough won't bake with as many bubbles or be as light as the fresh dough. It might also be stickier and harder to work with. Because of the idiosyncrasies of using starter, the success of using frozen dough will vary.
• Place tomatoes (without juice from can) in a colander to drain. Pass tomatoes through a food mill (using the medium disk) into a medium bowl (you should have about 2 cups purée). Mix in garlic, oil, and salt. Let sit at least 30 minutes before using.
• Do Ahead: Sauce can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.
• Preheat a Breville Pizzaiolo oven to 700°. Place mozzarella and fior di latte in a fine-mesh sieve set over a medium bowl and let sit 30 minutes to drain.
• Drizzle a little oil in a large skillet and swirl pan to lightly coat. Heat over medium-high. Add mushrooms in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until lightly browned underneath and starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and toss mushrooms. Continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until lightly browned all over and softened, about 3 minutes more. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Place chiles in a small bowl and mix in just enough oil to make a tight sauce; set aside.
• Use a bench scraper to swiftly lift a ball of Pizza Dough from baking sheet, then invert it into a large bowl of flour, seam side up. Pass dough back and forth between your hands to knock off some flour. Place domed side up on work surface and use your fingertips to press dimples in dough, working from the center toward the outer edge and maintaining a circular shape. Stop dimpling 1" before outer edge of dough (this will become the crust, and you want it to rise and puff higher than the center of the dough). After dimpling, stretch dough over the backs of your hands, moving in a circular pattern to create a 10" round. Place onto very lightly floured peel.
• Spoon Pizza Sauce onto center of dough. Working in a spiral from the center outward, use spoon to spread sauce all the way to the inner edge of the crust.
• Top pizza with drained mozzarella and fior di latte, then garlic. Scatter several pieces of reserved mushroom around and sprinkle 1 Tbsp. Parmesan over. Slide pizza into oven and cook, rotating halfway through, until crust is puffed and charred in spots, cheese is melted, and underside of crust is golden brown with some darker leopard spots, 3 minutes. Remove pizza from oven. Drizzle with reserved chile sauce and sprinkle with another 1½ tsp. Parmesan. Arrange basil on top and finely grate a light dusting of lemon zest over.