Ryan has perfected his pizza recipe over the years. It really is the best. Here it is in his own words:
Pizza Recipe.
For the dough:
This crust is crispy and chewy with added depth of flavor from the sourdough starter. (If you don’t have sourdough starter just replace it with another an extra Tsp of active dry yeast).
Also, I know I should do these measurements by weight, but I’m going volumetric because I’m the bad-boy of pizza dough.
3-3 1/2 Cups of Flour
1 Cup Lukewarm Water
1/2 Cup Very Active Sourdough Starter (Preferably one made in the deepest doldrums of the pandemic)
1 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer*, whisk together the water, oil, yeast and sourdough starter.
2. Next add the flour and salt and stir it with a wooden spoon until it forms a shaggy dough. Connect the bowl to the stand mixer with the dough hook. I usually run it for 10 minutes at the lowest setting so as to not overwork the dough. It should be smooth and sticking to the bottom of the bowl.
*If you don’t have a stand mixer you could do this by hand but honestly that sounds exhausting. My advice would be to find a friend with a stand mixer or find somebody else to knead the dough. If all else fails I suppose you could knead it yourself until it is smooth and slightly sticky.
3. Divide the dough into 3 balls, and cover them with olive oil. Place them on a sheet pan or a roasting pan or a kiddy pool or whatever you happen to have and cover them with plastic wrap (sorry, environment) or a kitchen towel. I like to do this a day ahead and let the dough proof overnight in the fridge, but you can totally let the dough rise on the counter for 1-2 hours.
4. After the dough has proofed, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Take one of the dough balls and dip it in flour. Gently stretch the dough by gripping it one on side and turning it like you are driving a race car, making car noises if necessary. If you want to get fancy try throwing the pizza over your head. Go ahead, you can do it. I believe in you.
5. Once it is more or less pizza-shaped, you can place it on a prepared pizza pan. Oh by the way, you should prepare a pizza pan. I should have told you that earlier. Just spray a pizza pan with some non-stick spray. Or don’t, I’m not your mother.
6. At this point you can add sauce, cheese, and toppings and bake it but I like to pre-bake the pizza for an extra crispy crust. Just bake the pizza for 4-5 minutes before adding toppings.
7. If you’re a rebel at heart and want to skip the pre-bake step you can go ahead and bake your pizza now for 10-12 minutes.
Sauce
Any good canned pizza sauce will work for this but I recommend getting a can of San Marzano tomatoes with a good looking picture on the label and pureeing them with a little salt, a clove of crushed garlic and a pinch of oregano.
Cheese
Sure, you can buy pre-grated cheese, we’ve all done it, but if you want this pizza to be really exceptional get good mozzarella and grate it yourself or better yet, tear it up into pretty little cheese chunks.
Pepperoni
Dry cured pepperoni is best. Also put them ON TOP of the cheese. How do you expect to get cute little pepperoni cups if you bury them under the mozzarella.
Parmesan
Fresh grated tastes best*. I like to drizzle the edge of the pizza crust with olive oil and sprinkle it with Parmesan.
*Note - I actually love shaker Parmesan on top of a slice of pepperoni pizza.
For the dough:
This crust is crispy and chewy with added depth of flavor from the sourdough starter. (If you don’t have sourdough starter just replace it with another an extra Tsp of active dry yeast).
Also, I know I should do these measurements by weight, but I’m going volumetric because I’m the bad-boy of pizza dough.
3-3 1/2 Cups of Flour
1 Cup Lukewarm Water
1/2 Cup Very Active Sourdough Starter (Preferably one made in the deepest doldrums of the pandemic)
1 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer*, whisk together the water, oil, yeast and sourdough starter.
2. Next add the flour and salt and stir it with a wooden spoon until it forms a shaggy dough. Connect the bowl to the stand mixer with the dough hook. I usually run it for 10 minutes at the lowest setting so as to not overwork the dough. It should be smooth and sticking to the bottom of the bowl.
*If you don’t have a stand mixer you could do this by hand but honestly that sounds exhausting. My advice would be to find a friend with a stand mixer or find somebody else to knead the dough. If all else fails I suppose you could knead it yourself until it is smooth and slightly sticky.
3. Divide the dough into 3 balls, and cover them with olive oil. Place them on a sheet pan or a roasting pan or a kiddy pool or whatever you happen to have and cover them with plastic wrap (sorry, environment) or a kitchen towel. I like to do this a day ahead and let the dough proof overnight in the fridge, but you can totally let the dough rise on the counter for 1-2 hours.
4. After the dough has proofed, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Take one of the dough balls and dip it in flour. Gently stretch the dough by gripping it one on side and turning it like you are driving a race car, making car noises if necessary. If you want to get fancy try throwing the pizza over your head. Go ahead, you can do it. I believe in you.
5. Once it is more or less pizza-shaped, you can place it on a prepared pizza pan. Oh by the way, you should prepare a pizza pan. I should have told you that earlier. Just spray a pizza pan with some non-stick spray. Or don’t, I’m not your mother.
6. At this point you can add sauce, cheese, and toppings and bake it but I like to pre-bake the pizza for an extra crispy crust. Just bake the pizza for 4-5 minutes before adding toppings.
7. If you’re a rebel at heart and want to skip the pre-bake step you can go ahead and bake your pizza now for 10-12 minutes.
Sauce
Any good canned pizza sauce will work for this but I recommend getting a can of San Marzano tomatoes with a good looking picture on the label and pureeing them with a little salt, a clove of crushed garlic and a pinch of oregano.
Cheese
Sure, you can buy pre-grated cheese, we’ve all done it, but if you want this pizza to be really exceptional get good mozzarella and grate it yourself or better yet, tear it up into pretty little cheese chunks.
Pepperoni
Dry cured pepperoni is best. Also put them ON TOP of the cheese. How do you expect to get cute little pepperoni cups if you bury them under the mozzarella.
Parmesan
Fresh grated tastes best*. I like to drizzle the edge of the pizza crust with olive oil and sprinkle it with Parmesan.
*Note - I actually love shaker Parmesan on top of a slice of pepperoni pizza.