Someone asked for my grandma pizza recipe, so here it is. This is inspired by a chain in New York and New Jersey called Krispy Pizza.
Dough formulation is in an attached photo for both a 14x14 pan and 11x17 (standard half sheet). All measurements in grams.
I use Kyrol flour (14% protein), but any bread flour will be OK.
1. Mix dough ingredients in food processor for 45 seconds (or standing mixer on medium-low for 8-10 minutes) and cold ferment for 40-48 hours.
2. Remove dough from pan and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Grease pan with 1 tbsp of Crisco.
4. Drop dough into pan and, with your fingertips, stretch it to about 1-2 inches from the edges of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid.
5. After 30-60 minutes, stretch the dough the rest of the way and up the sides of the pan. Focus on stretching from the middle, or else you'll end up with thin edges and a thick middle. If you have trouble with thin spots, you can use your fingertips to move the dough around and spread the thick spots into the thin spots. You can also do 3-4 series of stretches before getting all the way to the edge of the pan instead of just 2.
6. Let the dough proof for 1-2 hours. Pop any bubbles. It's OK to use your fingertips to even out the dough while this is happening, we're not looking for a lot of rise.
7. While proofing, preheat oven to hottest temperature with pizza stone in it for at least an hour.
8. Parbake crust for 6-8 minutes, until there are just a couple light brown spots on top. Spin it halfway through, and smash it down with a spatula if it's puffing up.
9. Let the crust cool on a wire rack (30 minutes or so is good, but this is flexible).
10. Meanwhile, prepare a cooked sauce with olive oil, garlic, crushed tomatoes, and lots of basil. I like some red pepper flakes and oregano too. Cook the sauce for 10-20 minutes. You want to get the runniest liquid out of it, or it will run all over the pizza and make it less beautiful.
11. Top the parbaked crust with 1 lb of low moisture mozzarella, sliced or shredded. (You can also do 1.25 lbs of sliced fresh mozzarella, about half a centimeter thick. I haven't done this for a while.)
12. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to the pan, put the crust (topped with cheese) back in the pan, and return it to the oven. Bake for 12-18 minutes, rotating halfway through. (I tend to like my pizzas well done, just pull it when it looks good to you.)
13. Spoon the sauce on. (If you want, you can return it to the oven for a few more minutes here. I don't do this anymore, because it's extra work and I don't want my sauce to get to sweet. But if you don't want your cheese to get very brown, put sauce on for more of the bake to protect the cheese.)
14. Top with a hard cheese and lots of basil.
Credits: I learned stuff from
https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=17993. That's for Umberto's grandma, which is not parbaked. Worth checking out, though.
