my earliest meaningful memory of pizza is of waiting in line with my mother at papa murphy’s take and bake, bogo coupon in hand, ordering two supreme pizzas. then, there was the costco food stand. our family of 4 would pile into the car, do our shopping, walk out with the largest supreme pizza available, and eat the leftovers over the next few days.

if there’s one thing my mother believed in, it was value. getting anything short of whatever gave you the most amount of toppings was unthinkable. and thus, i was raised on a string of supreme pizzas.

then, the singular experience at 17 that redefined pizza for me: a classic margherita from punch pizza.

for one, it was a topping-less pizza. i remember it coming out, the bare cheese staring back at me, bits of tomato sauce peeking through, naked, like it forgot to put its clothes on.

second, we each got our own individual pizza, as if one entire pizza was an acceptable serving size my parents conveniently forgot to mention to me, a young susceptible mind and a very hungry almost adult.

but most importantly, it was nothing like i had tasted before. the thin base, the wood fired flavor, the satisfying chew of the crust. it was hard for me to believe that we lived in a world where the pizza i knew and loved could coexist with this new pizza i didn’t know and quickly became infatuated with.

i’ve had way more pizza memories than i’d like to admit over this past decade of pizza discovery and re-discovery. pizza seems to hold the constant of re-inventing itself for me just as i keep re-inventing myself.

my newest favorite way to eat pizza is to make a big batch of dough, invite a small group of friends over, and make a couple of pizzas together while we catch up. it’s as collaborative as it is creative, as easy as it is fast, as humble as it is impressive.

i hope these will soon become your favorite pizza memories too.

notes

i have a stiff starter that’s 80% hydration. please adjust amount of water in final dough to account for your starter’s hydration.

we might not get to gather in groups again for a while, but luckily this dough keeps well for a few days in the fridge. in fact, this dough needs a long cold proof. you’ll find it becomes easier to work with and the flavors become more complex the longer it’s been in the fridge. it bakes up quick enough to make for a reasonably achievable weekday work from home lunch.

pizza like this does its best baking at very high temps. unfortunately most home ovens don’t go as high as commercial ones. just crank it to as high as it will go, and make sure your oven is clean. i may or may not have set off my smoke detector at least 5 times over the course of 3 bakes.

this recipe makes enough dough for 3 – 12″ skillet-sized pizzas or 4 – 9″ skill-sized pizzas. scale up or down as needed. i can pretty easily eat an entire one of these.

this recipe is just for the crust. some toppings inspiration:

• du’s: mozz, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, spinach. to prevent burnt ends, put the caramelized onions on post bake or hide beneath spinach. drizzle with honey & chili flakes right before serving.
• margherita: tomato sauce & mozz. put basil on right before serving.
• tie dye: ricotta & mozz, tomato sauce & pesto
• shakshuka: tomato sauce, egg, mozz, feta. top with pepper and arugula post bake

baker’s percentage & basic timetable

the percentages for water and flour only account for the final dough build, and do not include the levain formula build.