January 10, 2022

Shyam’s Pizza Dough

My brother, Shyam makes the best homemade pizza. In my opinion, his pizza taste better than a pizzeria. That’s why whenever I come back to NJ, I ask him to make pizza. It took him a year to perfect this recipe. I finally was able to write down a recipe and watch him make the pizza dough when I came home for Christmas. The videos with tips are saved in my highlight called Pizza on my Instagram page

Below are some tips from Shyam on how to create perfect pizza dough:

The type of flour you use matters in how the pizza dough turns out. He prefers King Arthur’s all purpose and King Arthur’s bread flour.
Use cold water when kneading the dough.
Make sure to stretch the dough before adding it to the dough box to create a “pizzeria-style” bubbles in the pizza crust.
Put olive oil on the bottom of the dough pan so it is easy for you to remove the dough after it rises. You don’t want to kill the bubbles that have formed overnight.
Form a crust and then press and pull the dough out. Do not roll the dough.

Print Recipe

Shyam’s Pizza Dough

homemade pizza dough

Prep Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: homemade, italian, pizza, pizzadough

Servings: 10 people

Equipment

1 pizza steel or Ooni oven either is recommended
2 pizza trays
3 dough container can use big Tupperware boxes
1 Pizza Cutter

Ingredients

14 grams active dry yeast this is equivalent to 2 packets of Red Star Active Dry Yeast
2.5 cups bread flour King Arthur brand is recommended
6.5 cups all purpose flour King Arthur brand is recommended
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp diastatic malt powder King Arthur brand is recommended
4 cups cold or ice water
1.5 cups warm water for yeast

Instructions

Mix yeast with warm water and cover. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the bread flour, all purpose flour, salt and malt.
Add in the yeast water. Then, add in the cold water.
You can add the ingredients in a stand mixed OR knead the dough by hand.
Adjust the dough as needed by adding more flour or water until it becomes smooth.
Poke the dough and see if it bounces back. That is when it is ready.
Cover the dough with a damp paper towel loosely because it will expand.
Let the dough sit for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, uncover the damp paper towel and cut the dough evenly. This recipe is good for 6 pizza pies.
Stretch the dough horizontally and then fold it back into itself. Repeat this step 3-4 times. This process helps create air pockets and creates bubbles in the dough.
Add oil to the dough box/Tupperware and then place dough instead, making sure there is enough room for the dough to expand.
Refrigerate the dough for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the dough box gently and dust all purpose flour on either side.
Create a crust using your fingers and gently press out the dough. Press and pull the dough until you have a 16 inch pizza pie.

The pizza sauce recipe is very simple. Shyam does not recommend cooking the pizza sauce because it will create more acidity. He also does not think that it is necessary since the sauce will just cook on it’s own while the pizza is cooking. He likes to add Tillamook mozzarella cheese to the pizza because it melts well. The brand of cheese matters because the some brands will release too much water when the pizza cooks creating a more “soupy” pizza. Fresh mozzarella cheese does release water when baking, so keep that in mind when choose toppings.

There are so many toppings that you can add on pizza, such as jalapenos, spinach, pineapples, bell peppers, olives, etc etc. Shyam likes a fake meat called vegan happy ham, which you can probably buy at the local Asian market. We have tried a variety of different pizzas over the years, such as pesto pizza, Mexican pizza, and paneer pizza, just to name a few. Be creative, try something new!

You can bake the pizza in a pizza steel (525 – 550 degrees F for 5-7 minutes) or the pizza oven called the Ooni. Each has their pros/cons and the pizzas turn out differently as well. If you like New York Style pizza or crispy pizza, a pizza steel will be your friend. 3/8 inch pizza steel is the one you will want to get if you are making multiple pizzas at a time so it can retain the heat. If you prefer Neapolitan style pizza and enjoy making pizza or entertaining guests, then consider getting an Ooni.

Hope this recipe was helpful to you.