This is a new pizza sauce I'm playing with. It's a "bigger" taste than a light and bright summer sauce from fresh tomatoes and herbs.

It has warm notes, sweet notes, umami notes.

12 oz tomato paste
6 oz crushed tomatoes (alternatively, warm water for a smoother sauce)
6 oz warm water
3 tbsp grated pecorino (or parmesan)
3 tbsp honey
3 tsp dried oregano (leaf, not ground)
1 tsp dried basil (lead, not ground)
1 tsp ground marjoram
2 tsp kosher salt
.5 tsp ground fennel (optional)
.25 tsp red pepper flakes
.25 tsp chile coban (or cayenne pepper)

Mix all ingredients together and let the flavors blend for an hour before using. No cooking necessary!

This is the pizza dough recipe I've had a number of people ask about. So here you go.

A couple of thoughts before you dive in. I'm at least as impatient as the average cook. However this recipe is optimized for flavor. It's not particularly difficult, but it does call for some accuracy, pre-planning, and patience.

It has slowly evolved from numerous experiments and recipes over the years. The slow rise process owes a great deal to techniques from Peter Reinhart - if you haven't read his book, American Pie, it's definitely worth checking out.

Also, if you're one of those who likes to understand why they're doing some and not just blindly follow the recipe, check out the separate Pizza Dough FAQ blog entry.

Dough Mix
The following is for one 12" crustYou size may vary depending upon your preferred crust thickness).

1. Combine liquids
130 grams chilled water
8 grams olive oil
1 gram liquid smoke
2 grams salt (yes, I know it's a solid, but it will dissolve)

2. Combine dry ingredients
160 grams King Arthur bread flour, chilled
30 grams King Arthur white whole wheat flour, chilled
3 grams vital wheat gluten
1 gram dry yeast (active dry, quick rising, etc. is fine)

3. Mix together and knead.
I like to use a bread maker on dough setting for 30 minutes (typically liquids on bottom, dry mix on top). But you can also do this by hand. Slowly stir liquids into dry mix until dough forms. Need for approximately 8 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Don't overwork the dough at this stage. It should still be cool to the touch at this stage - if warm, you're probably working too hard.

4. Slow rise.
Form dough into a smooth ball. If making several doughs at the same time, now is a good time to divide into individual balls (approximately 330 grams each).

Lightly oil each ball -- olive oil works, or for convenience use a kitchen spray oil. Place each dough into a a refridgerable container you can seal. Personally, I like to use 2 cup RubberMaid containers with lids.

Put in refrigerator. Ideally, the dough should stay in the fridge for 3-5 days. It is possible to use the dough the same day you make it. You just won't get all the flavor benefit. If you won't be using the dough for more than 5 days, you can also freeze it and then thaw it out when you need it.

At our house, Friday night is typically pizza night. So we'll make the dough over the weekend when we have time, put it in the fridge and then it's ready to pull out the following Friday.

5. Rise and Form
The day that you want to make pizza, pull the dough out of the fridge 2 hours before you plan to bake. Once the dough is at room temperature, take it out of the container, lightly flour the surface and form into a 5 inch (approximately) disc and let continue to rise.

Baking the Pizza
Probably the most important thing I've discovered in the pursuit of the ideal pizza is temperature -- high and even.

This is best accomplished in your average oven by the use of baking stones. If you already have a fancy baking stone, that will work just fine. Otherwise, just go to the local hardware stone and got a box of unglazed terra cotta tiles (you know, the orange kind). They cost less and give you more surface area to work with.

1. Preheat oven and baking stones
Arrange your baking stones or tiles in the oven. I typically arrange two racks in our oven at the 1/3 and 2/3 mark with tiles on each so we can do two pizzas at once.

Set the temperature to 500 degrees and preheat the oven and stones (this will take at least an hour). This is usually the time I will use to prepare toppings, sauces, and assemble the pies.

2. Make the crust
Lay out a piece of parchment paper on the countertop (much cheaper at your local commercial food service like Gordon's). Then sprinkle corn meal on the paper.

Generously dust your countertop with flour next to the parchment paper. Flour your hands then put your dough on the floured surface and work out you disc of dough to a 12" circle. Don't worry about making it perfectly round - that's how you know it's artisan!

If it insists on springing back to a smaller size, let the dough relax for another 10 minutes and try again.

Once you dough is nearly full-sized move it onto the parchment paper and finish shaping it.

2.Assemble the pizzas
Toppings and sauce are a whole other topic, so we'll save that for a separate blog entry. But here are a couple of thoughts...

Lightly oil the top of the crust before applying sauce - this will keep it from soaking the dough and make for a better rise.

Keep you sauce thick (closer to paste than liquid) and apply it thinly.

If you're using good ingredients, let is more. You don't need a ton of sauce and stick to a couple of compimentary toppings.

Likewise keep the cheese light, but get the good stuff. Whole fat mozzerella and provolone both melt well and provide a creamy base. If you like, mix in a little hard cheese (Parmesan or Percorino are good choices) for interest.

3.Into the oven
Once assembled, you need to get the pizza into the oven. If you're cooler than I am, you may have a pizza peel. I just use a cookie sheet without edges.

Slide the pizza and parchment paper onto the cookie sheet, then slide it off -- paper and all -- onto the baking stones. It's helpful to have someone else open and close the oven door for you -- this will minimize the heat lost from the oven.

If properly preheated, it should only take 5-6 minutes for your pizza to cook.

4. Chow time
Once the cheese and the crust have taken on a nice golden brown hue, they're ready. I find it easiest to grab an edge of the parchment paper and pull it onto the cookie sheet.

Then it's off to the table -- give it a minute and then slice.

Enjoy!

So here's why I do what I do...

Does it have to be King Arthur Flour?
Of course not, but after trying many others I have found their flours to be quite high quality and consistent. And they have white whole wheat flour- not many do. They're also 100% american grown and employee owned.

What is white whole wheat flour?
It is a type of whole wheat flour make from a white strain of the grain (rather than the typical rad). It has all of the nutritional value of whole wheat flour, but since it doesn't have the tannins of red wheat, it doesn't possess the stronger taste that some people find objectionable.

What's with all of the chilled ingredients?
Since we're doing a very long, slow ferment or rise, we don't want to activate the yeast during the mixing and kneading process. Keeping the temperature down does that until we get the dough in the fridge.

Once you've tried it - it's also really easy to do. I'll typically put my mixing bowl on our digital kitchen scale and zero it out (called taring). Add the first ingredient up to the required weight, tare again and add the second ingredient, etc.

What's the advantage of the slow rise?
The short version is it tastes better. With the low temperature and very small amount of yeast, the dough will grow very slowly. But this is a good thing. By slowing the yeast down, it allows certain bacteria that came along for the ride to get a head start in producing extra flavor without the yeast over-rising. Want to know more.. check out Peter Reinhart's books for detailed explanations.

Why the baking stones and why such a high temperature?
There are two challenges with pizza... first getting as much rise out of the dough as possible and second, get the top and bottom to finish at the same time.

Almost all of the rise of the dough occurs in the first 30-60 seconds, before the outside of the dough gets crusty and the yeast dies. The higher the temperature, the higher the "pop."

The stone absorbs large amounts of heat during the preheat and then releases it evenly during the cooking. Plus it helps keep the oven at temperature when the door is opened and closed.

By being in direct contact with the bottom of the crust (other than the parchment paper), the stones cook the dough all the way through from the bottom in the few short minutes that it takes the cheese to melt and brown.

Over time, you may want to experiment with the height of the rack in the oven until you find the spot when the top and bottom arrive at the perfect doneness at the same time.