The secret of good pizza crust

Homemade sourdough pizza can be truly great!

Do you make pizza every Friday, like I do? (It’s a meatless meal everyone loves, and it has stuck here, even with kids gone.)

First, my bona fides: I spent my childhood in New Haven, CT, the acknowledged world capital of pizza (in the 60s and 70s for sure, and yes, that includes New York and Naples, just quoting the New York Times here).

So I have a strong memory of wood-fired, blazing hot, crisp-crusted, tender-crumbed, giant-holed pizza crust. And I really reject most of what passes for pizza, whether in a restaurant or homemade. I’m super picky about pizza!

In theory you need to get that Tipo-00 Italian flour with a certain protein content and fine-milled texture for the crust. I have used it; it still isn’t what I really love. I have tried pastry flour, AP flour, and all bread flour.

In busy-mom reality and more in line with my memory, here’s my secret, after much experimenting:

Substitute a bit of whole white wheat (or just whole wheat) flour for bread flour in your recipe. The bread flour gives you the gluten development needed for the chewy crispness; the whole wheat gives the tenderness and good flavor.

About 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour to 2 1/2-3 cups of bread flour will do the trick.

Two tips:

• The whole wheat flour needs to be very fresh. I actually grind my own. Check the expiration date if you’re buying, and store in the freezer — it can easily go rancid and that’s the taste people don’t like.

• Use the whole wheat to wake up your starter for about an hour; then add the rest of the ingredients.

• Make your dough quite high hydration — use more salt and a bit more water than you might think, and add a little bit of non-virgin olive oil.

Here’s a post, and another, with my pizza method from before discovering natural fermentation. Another day I’ll spell out how I do it now; it’s otherwise very similar!

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As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, coming from my experience of 45 years of marriage and raising seven children, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!