Ingredients

(Makes two 10-12" pizzas, recipe can be doubled)

155 grams '00' flour (extra finely milled flour), can substitute AP flour
155 grams all-purpose flour
200 mL water (200 grams), warmed between 100-110F
1.5 tsp table salt (a little more if kosher/flaked) about 7.5 grams
1 tsp of active dry or instant yeast
2 Tbls olive oil

Pizza sauce (I like Muir Glen Pizza Sauce in a can - you can find on Amazon or at New Seasons)

Assorted favorite toppings

Pizza peel (I use a wooden one that has no finish - holds on to flour nicely)

Pizza stone, steel or cookie sheet large enough to hold a 10-12" pizza

Directions

Note: This is one to plan ahead and make the day before you want to make pizzas.

The '00' flour is a highly milled traditional Italian-style flour to make pizza dough. It's more expensive than regular flour (King Arthur 00 is about $7.50 for 3 lbs in 2022), but I encourage you to try it. It is apparently excellent for making pasta as well. If you can't find it in your store you can get it from Amazon.

MIX THE DRY:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours and salt, mixing well.

MIX TO COMBINE THEN REST:
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the 200 mL warm water and the yeast. If using active dry yeast, let the mixture proof for 5 minutes and look for activity. If using instant yeast (also sold as "rapid rise") the granules are smaller and don't need extra time to dissolve and you can skip the proofing step. Mix in the olive oil then pour it all in to the flour mixture. Mix with your hands or a spoon until well combined, a few kneads but we are just mixing to combine and hydrate. Cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap and let mixture rest for 20 minutes. It will not look very smooth at this point.

KNEAD, FORM DOUGH BALLS AND REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT:
Knead the rested dough for 3 minutes until it is looking smooth. Cut into two equal portions and shape each into a ball. Tip: Hold the dough in both hands and use your fingers to keep tucking the sides under, rotate the dough and repeat several times until you have a nice ball with a smooth top. Place on an oiled cookie sheet or dish, brush a little oil on top, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours. 24-36 hours will give the best results, as the long, slow ferment develops a more complex flavor and the dough will stretch easily without snapping back. If you're short on time then 3-4 hours at room temperature will work, it just be a bit more elastic and won’t stretch as easily.

LET DOUGH WARM BACK UP (AND PREHEAT YOUR OVEN OR GRILL):
Retrieve your refrigerated dough and let rest at room temperature for a full hour prior to making your pizzas. Room temperature will make stretching much easier.

After you bring your dough out of the refrigerator, place your pizza stone or cookie sheet in a cold oven (or grill) and preheat to 500F (or even 600F if using a grill). It takes longer for the stone to get to temperature than the rest of the oven, so we need a long preheat time. We want the crust to get done at the same time as the toppings, and a cold stone will interfere with that. Also, never put a cold pizza stone in a hot oven or you'll crack it.
A 1/4” pizza steel will come to temperature faster, about 30 minutes.

FLOUR THE PEEL:
Now flour your pizza peel! You'll want a good amount on there so things won't stick when you build up your pie. Do this step now so you have a place to put your formed dough in the next step.

FORM YOUR PIZZAS:
Now put a dough ball on a heavily floured surface (not the peel) and GENTLY use your fingers to form it into a circular shape. Don't mash the dough down, you want all those little air pockets intact if possible. Once you have a circle, put the dough on the backs of your hands and let gravity help with the stretch. This is just a learned technique to practice. Just move your hands out and around so the circle is fairly even. If it comes out oddly shaped, just call it ARTISAN pizza. Try to keep the thickness even, but if you get a tear, don't worry too much about it, you can pinch that section back before you build your pizza.

TOPPINGS
Put the dough on your peel and top with your favorites. Go easy on the sauce - too much will prevent the crust from cooking properly. You want to see the crust underneath. Keep it simple and it will turn out nice and crispy. As for your meats/veg/cheese, don't press down, just lay them on else your dough might stick to the peel.

NOTE ON CHEESE:
Not required but just a tip: Use whole-milk mozzarella and grate it yourself. Freshly grated parmesan is also recommended if you like that on your pizza. Parmesan can be added after the cook if you wish.

BAKING:
Bake in a HOT oven (500-525F) or grill (575-600F) on a pizza stone or steel. I find that my grill temperature knobs are set to just a little higher than medium on the dial. Some trial and error will help you figure out your best setting. Preheat a good 60 minutes or more for stone, or 30 minutes for a steel to ensure the temperature is stable. Use an infrared thermometer to check the stone temp. If you're at 650F it will likely burn the crust before you get the top properly baked. 600F seems about right for a 5-6 minute bake, and I would rather be below 600F than above. You want the top baked and the bottom of the crust to be crisp and show early signs of charring...a little smoky colored in places.

GETTING THE PIZZA FROM PEEL TO STONE:
It's a learned technique to get that pizza onto the stone. I set the tip of the peel near the back edge of the stone, let the dough slide off enough to get the far edge on, then gently pull the peel out, allowing the dough to just lay down in place as your remove the peel. If you use a cookie sheet, you may need to hold the near edge of the pan steady as you slide the peel out.

Bake time varies. I find that they cook in 5-7 minutes on a 600F grill, and maybe 10 minutes or more in a 500F oven. Check it at 5 minutes adjust time accordingly. These cook so quick that you can cook for a group and no one will be waiting long.

Take the pizza out and cut into slices BUT NOT ON YOUR PIZZA PEEL. Use your cutting board.
You want to keep that pizza peel nice and dry, floured and most importantly: smooth!

Despite your efforts, your dough may stick to the peel on occasion. Welcome to the club, it happens. Usually it's because some sauce escaped and got on there. Just use a spatula to lift that area and try dust some flour under there to help get it moving again.

Another note on logistics: Don't start building your next pizza until after you've taken the earlier one out of the oven (unless you have two pizza peels). This is a comical mistake I've made more than once. You can get the pizza out with a spatula onto a cookie sheet or cutting board if you forget. If you have a thin, metal pizza peel then you might be able to build the pizza on a floured surface and then scoop it up, but my wooden peel is too thick (I've tried, and my round went narrow oval in a hurry), so I just build them on the peel.

Now that's-a-pizza pie!