Very Crispy Thin Crust Pizza 

Ingredients for the crust:

-        3 ½ cups or 450 grammes High Grade (high Gluten) flour and 1 cup for dusting.

-        1 ½ teaspoon or 5 grammes instant yeast

-        1 cup warm water

-        1 tablespoon olive oil

-        1 ½ teaspoon caster sugar

-        1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1.      Mix the yeast, sugar, salt and warm water together well in a mixing bowl. Put the mixture in a warm area till froth is developed on the surface, about 10 minutes.

2.      Sieve in the flour and mix well to make a firm dough ball, add water or flour if needed, but only add a small quantity at a time. For thin crust, you do not need to knead the dough.

3.      Put the dough into a large bowl, cover it tightly with cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours.

4.      Take the dough out the next day an hour or 2 from the fridge to cool down to room temperature before rolling. Preheat the oven to 250 – 260 C or 500F at least an hour before baking with the metal baking sheet or baking pan on the rack closest to the bottom of the oven.

5.      Cut the dough into 2 or 4 even portions. Half of the whole dough will make a 35cm or 14 inch crust, a quarter of the dough will make a 20cm or 8 inch crust.

6.      Dust your work top with flour, Use your hand to roll each portion into a ball, press it flat, sprinkle some flour on top and roll the ball out with a heavy rolling pin.

7.      After you roll one side for several times, turn to the other side, sprinkle flour on the surface and roll a few times.  Repeat this at least 4 times each side and till the dough becomes a thin round sheet of 20cm or 35cm.

8.      Prick the sheet with a fork thoroughly. When the oven is ready, slide the sheet onto the metal baking sheet preheated in the oven and bake for 4 minutes.

9.      Take the pizza crust out after 4 minutes and pop all air bubbles that may have formed. Spread the pizza sauce, sprinkle the grated mozzarella and add the toppings you have prepared (some ingredients of the toppings should be added just before serving)

10.   Slide the pizza back into the oven and bake till the crust is brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Take the pizza out and put it on a wire rack when ready, put the rest of the ingredients onto the pizza if any, cool the pizza down for 2 – 3 minutes before transferring to a board and cut it into wedges and serve.

 Hints:

-        Thin crust dough does not need kneading. It is important to wrap the dough tightly in a big bowl and put it in the fridge for 24 hours if you want crispy result. The dough will expand double the size overnight.

-        When rolling out the dough, it is important to sprinkle flour on top of the surface several times on each side when you roll. This is to incorporate more flour into the sheet and make the crust crispier.

-        Pricking the sheet thoroughly is very important, this is to avoid large air pockets developed when baking.

-        Precook the crust for 4 minutes before adding sauce and toppings will help the crust to “crisp up” before being “weighing down” by the toppings.

I can never finish a standard 35cm/14inch pizza, therefore I put up some toppings recipes for a 20cm/8 inch or half of a 35cm/14 inch pizza so that you can share with your family members. Please see separate posts in the blog