Making Pizza Dough - The Signature Dish

Ingredients:
Serving: Makes 8 dough balls, for 10inch pizza
For the Dough
8 cups (1kg) ‘00’ flour or strong Canadian bread flour with a high gluten content
1/2 tsp (2 grams) fresh baker’s yeast
2 1/2 cups (600ml) cold water
3 tbsp (40g) table salt

Directions:
Preparing the Dough
1. Tip the flour onto your work service and make a well in the centre. Dissolve your yeast in the water and pour into the middle of the well a little at a time whilst using your fingers to bring the edge of the well into the water, so that the water begins to thicken. Once you’ve reached the consistency of custard, add the salt and bring in the rest of the flour until it comes together as a dough. Knead for 10–15 minutes.

2. Cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes before kneading again quickly for 10 seconds (this helps to develop the flavor and the gluten).

3. Divide the dough into 230g balls and leave to rest overnight or for at least 8 hours (24 hours is optimal, 48 hours maximum) in a sealed container or a deep baking dish sprinkled with flour and covered in cling film. Remember to leave space for each of your dough balls because, as the gluten relaxes, they will spread out to take up twice the diameter that they do initially.

Preparing the Pizza Base
1. Scrape a dough ball out of its container using a spatula and as much flour as you need to ensure it doesn’t stick. The rounder the dough ball comes out, the rounder the final pizza base.

2. Put the dough ball onto a well-floured surface and using your fingertips, press out the dough ball firmly, starting at the centre and working out to the edge. Ensure you leave a centimeter around the rim of the pizza untouched.

3. Turn the dough ball over and repeat the pressing out process on the other side.

4. Using the palm of your hand, do one firm push in the centre of the dough ball to ensure the thickness of the base is consistent (not counting the raised edges).

5. Take the newly flattened dough ball on the back of your hands, ensuring the weight is on your knuckles and that your fingertips and nails are not going to poke a hole in the dough.

6. Using the back of your hands, stretch the dough out as far as you can without tearing it. Turn the dough through 90 degrees and repeat this stretching. Do this a few times.

7. You should now have a disc of dough around 10 inches in diameter, consistently thin but with a slightly thicker rim, which is ready to cook.