Making home-made pizza can be a great bonding moment for the family. Typically, making pizza is relatively easy once you have everything ready. Pizza requires layering, which you can do in a breeze. However, before we come to the cooking process, let’s go back to the first step- the pizza dough. If you are new in the kitchen, this might be the most daunting task. After making it from scratch, the next question would be how to roll out pizza dough?
Rolling Out the Pizza Dough
Using a rolling pin can be too overwhelming the first time. You can end up with a flat or rubbery dough, which might end up too tough to eat. So, how to roll out pizza dough? Luckily, we have a few fool-proof steps to help you roll out your dough to perfection.
Warm-up your dough.
The process of how to roll out pizza dough begins with bringing your dough to room temperature. You can do that by leaving your dough to sit for 30 minutes on your countertop. Warming the dough can lessen gluten, which is the key ingredient that makes tough chewy. It will loosen up the dough to prepare it for stretching.
If you bought a frozen ready-made dough from your local grocery, take it out from the packaging and let it set in an oiled and covered mixing bowl for about 30 minutes. Additionally, if you made pizza dough from scratch, you can use it after the rise time, which usually takes 1.5 to 2 hours.
Grease your countertop with olive oil.
After letting your dough warm-up, the next step is to prepare your workspace. If you want to prevent your dough from sticking, instead of using flour, grease your countertop with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Excess flour can make the pizza dough tough. Olive oil not only prevents sticking, but it also encourages crisp and golden crust.
Another way to ensure your dough does not stick is to line your pan or pizza peel with parchment paper. You can also use a bit of cornmeal if you don’t have parchment paper handy.
Press your pizza dough.
After prepping your workspace and warming your dough, you’re now ready to shape your pizza dough into a flat disk. To do so, press down the dough using the palm of your hand. Carefully press and stretch the dough in an outward motion. Continue this step until your dough reaches about 6 inches in diameter. Your dough should be stretched enough not to shrink back when pressed. Rest the dough as needed.
If the dough is still pliable, let it sit again for about 15-20 minutes. When the time is up, repeat step 3 again until you get the desired shape.
Stretching your dough.
If you know how to stretch the dough by tossing it up like a pro, then go ahead. But, if you’re as normal as most of us are, then you can use a simpler technique instead. Start pulling the dough to ensure an even crust. Using both your hands, pick up one edge of the dough, and let it hang. Gravity will help stretch the dough as you rotate in one direction. Stretch the pizza until it’s about 11 inches wide in diameter. Make sure not to make the crust too thin; 1/3 of an inch is the ideal thickness.
Utilize your pizza peel and pan.
After stretching the dough, transfer it over to your pizza peel or sheet pan. This last step on how to roll out pizza dough is the time you fix any imperfections like holes or too much thinness. Stretch or press any thick areas and pinch a little those with holes. Don’t stress over imperfect pizza dough; that’s totally normal! All the toppings will eventually weigh down the dough, and in no time, you’ll have a perfect-crusted pizza.
Before topping your pizza, make sure that the dough does not stick on the pizza peel or pan. You can do so by giving the dough a gentle shake. Know more about pizza doughs.
Conclusion
Making your own pizza allows you to personalize the flavors depending on your preference. It also gives you room to get creative and experiment on different complementing ingredients. However, to do so requires a bit of effort, especially during the dough preparation.
Pizza dough does require not only the right ingredients but also the right stretching process. That’s why learning how to roll out pizza dough will ensure you’ll have a successful and flavorful pizza to indulge in.