Pizza Dough and Margherita Pizza Recipes from the Foodie Classroom with Dave Terrazas

These recipes—the pizza dough and Margherita pizza—are part of the Foodie Classroom activities developed by Chef Dave Terrazas for our Charter a Summer of Learning guide.

Lesson 1: Pizza Dough

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 11 ounces by weight)

¾ cup warm water (about 6 ounces by volume)

1 packet active dry yeast (about 2 teaspoons if you have a jar)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon Kosher or sea salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

To prepare pizza dough:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Add olive oil and warm water and stir with the spoon until it become difficult. From this point, lightly dust one or both of your hands with some flour, and begin kneading the dough with that hand until the dough is smooth and tacky (not sticky), and form a smooth dough ball that springs back when stretched gently.

Remove the dough ball temporarily and drizzle in the second portion of olive oil, add the dough ball back to the bowl, and turn the dough ball to coat it evenly with the oil; as well as to lightly coat the walls of the bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in a warm place. Some great places to let the dough rise include on top of the refrigerator, or by a window with sunlight coming in.

Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, or until it doubles in size.

Lesson 2: Margherita Pizza

Ingredients

1 portion pizza dough from lesson 1 (above)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1½ cups water

½ cup tomato paste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 pinch Kosher or sea salt

1 pinch black pepper

1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or you can slice a fresh mozzarella ball into ¼-inch coins)

1 handful fresh basil leaves

To prepare Margherita pizza:

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Transfer the dough made in Lesson 1 to a parchment paper lined sheet pan.

Using a rolling pin, gently roll out the pizza dough into a circle or rectangle (depending on the size of your sheet pan, or as you desire the dough to look).

Fold or roll about ½ inch of the dough’s edge inward, forming what will become the crust.

Drizzle the first portion of olive oil listed over the pizza dough (including the crust edge) and with a pastry brush or your fingers, brush the entire surface of the pizza with the drizzled olive oil.

Using a fork, poke holes (this is called “docking”) all over the the pizza dough except for the crust part. This will keep the dough from forming large bubbles when it bakes . . . unless you want to see that!

Place the dough in the oven and allow it to bake for 11–13 minutes, or until it begins to brown on top. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, but leave the oven on.

In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the next nine ingredients (from the water to the re pepper flakes) and mix them together well to create the pizza sauce.

Spread the pizza sauce over the cooled dough except for the crust.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the sauce, and return the pizza to the oven, baking it for another 6-7 minutes, or until the cheese melts evenly across the pizza, and begins to brown and bubble slightly.

Remove pizza from the oven, and allow to sit two minutes. Toss or arrange the fresh basil leaves on top of the pizza, slice it into desired size slices, and serve immediately.

Visit the Foodie Classroom

Find more recipes in the Foodie Classroom activities developed by Chef Dave Terrazas for our Charter a Summer of Learning guide.