Recipe: My new favorite pizza dough

For years, I have touted the recipe for pizza dough that we used to teach in our Pizza Party Cooking Class as the one and only. It was very simple, perfect for having friends over and most of all delicious. It produces 4 smallish, thinner crust pizzas, which is great for when people want different toppings. I still love it (recipe can be found here), but alas, it was time for a change. I’m in a season of life, where I want my cooking to be simpler and more hands off. While our older recipe honestly isn’t difficult, it does require kneading and shoveling several small pizzas in and out of an oven. This recipe only requires a quick mix with a spoon and is cooked on a large baking sheet. It can ferment in the fridge for up to 3 days, which I actually recommend if you can plan ahead. It’s a thick crust large pizza, with an oily crispy crust somehwhat resembling a Pizza Hut pan pizza. In a nutshell… it’s SO easy and SO good. I think I’ll be sticking to this one for quite some time.

Thick Crust Party Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients

• 500g (about 3 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 10g (about 2 teaspoons) kosher salt
• 5g (about 1 teaspoon) instant or RapidRise yeast
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus 1/4 cup olive oil for assembly.
• 347g (12.25 ounces; 1.5 cups) water

Directions

1. Add flour, salt, and yeast to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add olive oil and water and stir with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. Dough will be quite wet. Do not add more flour. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator at least 12 hours and up to 3 days.
2. When ready to assemble, pour half of oil in the bottom of a rimmed aluminum baking sheet. Carefully remove dough from bowl and form it into a ball. Pour remaining oil over the top and coat with your hands. Let rise at room temperature for 2 hours. Dough should spread to mostly fill the pan. Gently stretch and shape it to fill out to the edges. Place a baking stone directly on the bottom of your oven and preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).Let rise another 30 minutes.
3. Carefully spread a generous layer of sauce to within 1/4-inch of the edges of the dough, taking care not to deflate the dough excessively. Add a layer of grated cheese and whatever toppings you desire. Bake directly on the stone until top is golden brown and bottom is crisp and bubbly when you peek with a metal spatula, about 25 minutes total, rotating once halfway through cooking.
4. Remove from the pan using a thin metal spatula and transfer to a cutting board. Serve immediately.