Thin Crust Cheese Pizza

Wowsers, this was such a great recipe! I'm a huge thin-crust pizza fan, but have yet to find a good at-home thin crust pizza dough recipe, until now.

I loved that you can make this dough up to 3 days ahead of time and that it freezes beautifully. The one potentially tricky thing is that you do need to make it at least 24 hours ahead of time. So it's not a same day recipe, but if you plan your menus for the week or know a day or 2 in advance of when you're making it, it's really quick to throw together and stick in the fridge and then get on with your planned dinner for that day. The idea behind the long and refrigerated rise time (plus the use of ice water as opposed to warm water), is that the less quickly it raises and the more minimal the volume of rising that occurs the thinner the crust will be. It works!

Now normally I like a lot of stuff on my pizza, plenty to entertain my palette. But when I saw the picture of this plain cheese pizza on Annie's Eats, I knew I just wanted pure, unadulterated cheese pizza. No frills. And it delivered! So satisfying despite the lack of toppings (although it would be a great candidate for any toppings one might hope for). And the pizza sauce was fantastic too. We ate it twice in a week's time!

Thin Crust Cheese Pizza

{Recipe from Annie's Eats. Do plan ahead as the dough needs to raise at least 24 hours and as much as 3 days. Dough Yield's 2-13 inch pizzas, Sauce-plenty for up to 4 pizzas and it's freezer friendly just like the dough, yay!}

Crust:

3 cups bread flour

2 t sugar

1/2 t instant yeast

1 1/3 cups ICE water

1 T veggie oil

1 1/2 salt

Sauce:

1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained

1 T olive oil

1 t red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 t salt

1 t oregano

1/4 t ground black pepper

Topping: (Note: In this instance it's better to grate your own cheese fresh, no pre-grated. It will melt way better)

Olive oil, for brushing

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella (the softer the better, I usually go for the ball of mozz. as opposed to the brick)

To make the dough, combine flour, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a food processor*. Pulse just to combine. With machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube and process just until dough is combined and all dry ingredients incorporated, about 10 seconds. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

Add oil and salt to the dough. Process until the dough forms a smooth, tacky ball that clears the sides of the bowl, 30-60 seconds. Remove from the bowl and knead for about 1 minute on a lightly oiled work surface. Transfer to lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at 24 hours and up to 3 days. (If planning to freeze, after the initial 24 hours at least of refrigeration time is the time to do this--note to follow)

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend briefly till smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Leftover sauce may be frozen for later use)

One hour before baking the pizza, remove dough from fridge and divide in half. (This is the time to wrap and freeze dough for another time. Just wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag for later) Form each half into a ball and place on lightly oiled baking sheet, spray dough balls with cooking spray, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temp for 1 hour.

To assemble pizza, place pizza stone or sheet on second highest rack position in oven. Preheat oven to 500. Transfer dough ball to a well floured work surface. Flatten into an 8 inch disk. Using hands or rolling pin gently stretch and roll into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a well-floured and large cutting board (something that will be easy to slide the made pizza off of and onto the hot pizza stone waiting in the oven). Lightly brush all around the outer edge with olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup + pizza sauce over dough. Sprinkle evenly with grated parmesan and shredded mozzarella cheeses. Carefully transfer to the preheated baking stone or sheet. Bake until the cheese is bubbling and slightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Let cool 3-5 minutes before slicing and serving.

*A stand mixer may be used, just keep in mind the idea is to avoid warming the dough so it will be thin after baking.