Today, we are making a pizza from scratch in under two hours. No-knead pizza takes at least 7-8 hours, a classic Neopolitan pizza dough ferments for up to 3 or 4 days, but what if you want pizza tonight? This is the pizza recipe for you. For toppings, we’ll be doing a spicy, garlic pie, one of my favorites. Fresh sliced garlic is placed on top and a garlic butter is spread on the crust. For the spice, I add Calabrian chiles to a basic tomato sauce to provide a subtle spice while eating.

Note: I do use a pizza peel and stone for this recipe, but it can be easily done in a cast iron pan or sheet pan as well.

PIZZA DOUGH

8 g instant yeast
320 g water (~105 F)
400 g all-purpose or bread flour
8 g salt
15 ml olive oil (for drizzling over the dough)

METHOD

Mix the Dough - 5:30 to 5:55 PM
- Add the yeast to the warm water along with a spoonful of the flour. Stir until dissolved. Let stand for 5 minutes until a light foam surfaces and little bubbles are visible.
  - Note: Proofing is done to test the viability of the yeast. If there is no foam surface or little bubbles the yeast is likely dead and should be discarded for new yeast.
- Meanwhile, add the flour, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Once the yeast is proofed, pour in the mixture and vigorously mix the dough with your hands until no dry flour remains in the bowl and a cohesive mass forms, about 2 minutes. The dough will be very sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
  - Note: Resting will allow the flour to start hydrating all on its own, and make the dough a little bit easier to work with when we start kneading.
Slap & Fold + Bulk Ferment - 5:55 to 6:40 PM
- Once rested, dip your fingers in some cold water and gently stretch and fold the dough over onto itself in a circular pattern rotating the bowl 90 degrees each time. Flip the dough out onto the counter. The dough will still be quite sticky.
- Perform a slap and fold by picking the dough up and forcefully slapping it on the counter. Lift up the side closest to you and fold it the dough over. Repeat the slap and fold for about 5 minutes until the dough starts to feel more elastic, stretch further without tearing. The dough will still be fairly sticky during this stage, but it should start to stick more itself rather than your hands or the counter.
- After 5 minutes of slap and folds, test for gluten development by stretching up the dough very thin to see if it is slightly translucent before tearing.
  - Note: The gluten window test is the key to understanding if the flour has been hydrated enough. If the dough tears before getting to a slightly translucent window, keep doing the slap and folds. See the video for an example.
- Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the covered dough rise for 40 minutes, it should be close to, but not quite doubled in size.
  - While resting this is a good time to prep toppings, mine are listed after the dough recipe.
Divide into Balls + Proof (Second Ferment) + Preheat Oven - 6:40 to 7:15 PM
- Drizzle a 1/3 of the oil over the top of the dough and work the dough into a large ball while still in the bowl. Turn the dough onto the counter and divide it into two 360 gram portions. Using your hands, spin/twist each piece of dough into a taut dough ball. The dough ball should be fairly smooth all over and have some captured air bubbles on the outside. Drizzle a little more olive oil into the bowl and place the dough balls inside. Cover and let proof for 30 minutes.
- Place a baking stone on the second-highest rack and preheat the oven to 550 F convection (or the highest it will go).
  - Note: If you don't have a baking stone, the pizza can also be cooked in a cast iron or sheet pan.
Shape, add Toppings, and Bake - 7:15 to 7:30 PM
- Generously flour the counter. Turn one dough ball onto the counter. Using your fingertips, gently press the dough out into a circle from the center out to keep the slightly thicker crust intact. Once about 6 inches across, lift up the underside of the dough crust and gently stretch out to the right. Be careful not to tear the dough, you should be able to feel how much stretch it has. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and stretch again. Continue rotating and stretching the dough until you have roughly a 12-inch pizza.
- Sprinkle some cornmeal over the wooden pizza peel. Transfer the dough to the peel and perform once final set of stretching and rotating to your desired shape.
  - Note: If you don't have a baking stone or steel, and a pizza peel, this can be cooked in a cast iron or sheet pan. Perform the same above process to fit the requisite shape.
- Add the spicy tomato sauce, a large sprinkle of low-fat mozzarella cheese, the sliced garlic, and the dried chile. Slide the pizza onto the steel baking stone or steel and bake for 4-6 minutes until the cheese is melted and starting to brown and the crust is crisp on the bottom.
  - Note: If done in the cast iron or sheet pan it will take longer in the oven, about 10-12 minutes.
Final Accouterments + Enjoy - 7:30 PM
- If using, grate over some fresh parmesan and rub the garlic butter on the crust. Slice and Enjoy.