Falco's NY Style Pizza Dough using a Preferment
One of the things I miss the most about living in NYC is the pizza. But of course…who wouldn’t? Anyways this recipe, and any of Pizza expert Anthony Falco’s recipes, will get you as close as you can get to NY pizza in your own kitchen. This is a great recipe if you don’t have a sourdough starter, as the preferment will develop some flavor as it sits.
Servings: Makes 7 250g balls of dough, to make less, see *bakers percentage below.
Recipe Resource: Anthony Falco’s NY Style Dough
Adapted by: Tierney Larson
Ingredients:
For the Preferment:
80 grams (½ cup) high protein or bread flour
70 grams (6 tbsp) water
0.5 gram (¼ teaspoon) instant yeast
For the Dough:
All the of the preferment listed above
1000 grams (8 cups) Flour-50% high protein bread flour 40% all-purpose 10% freshly milled whole grain (If you don’t have whole grain, you can sub bread flour)
600 grams (2 ½ cups) of lukewarm water around 72F
40 grams (4 tbsp) of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
30 grams (2 tbsp) of sea salt
Start with the preferment:
Ok so..In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the yeast and water until the yeast has dissolved. Then add the flour and mix until it comes together, scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover and let sit at room temp for anywhere from 3-15 hours. The longer you let it sit, the more flavor it will develop.
For the dough:
Mix the flours in a large bowl and set aside. Then in a medium bowl, break the preferment up with 590g of the water, leaving the extra 10g of water to the side for later. Make a crater in the center of the flour and pour the starter mixture into the center. Using your hand like a claw, slowly mix the starter in a clockwise motion, pushing a small amount of flour into the starter mixture (almost like making pasta) and stirring until a rough ball of dough forms. Pour in the extra virgin olive oil, and squeeze it into the dough until it’s incorporated and the bowl is clean. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
After 30 min, pour the remaining 10g of water into the dough, and add the salt a little at a time, squeezing it into the dough. Make sure you can’t feel anymore of the granules of salt, and form the dough into a ball. Then place in a lightly oiled container and cover for 5 hours at room temperature, doing a stretch and fold half way through.
Carefully remove the dough and place onto a lightly floured surface, and portion it out into 250g balls. Cinch the bottoms of the balls by folding the dough into the center and pinching it together, then gently pull the ball, seam side down along the counter to tighten it a few times turning the dough as you pull it towards you. Place the all of the portioned dough seam side down on a floured rimmed sheet pan and then sprinkle flour on top of the dough as well. Cover them with plastic and then an upside down rimmed sheet pan. Let the doughs rest at room temp until doubled in size, around 12-18 hours depending on how warm your house is. Then make pizza or store in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
To bake: Preheat the oven with a pizza stone on the middle rack, to the highest setting, usually 550F.
When you’re ready, sprinkle a ball of dough with flour and using a bench scraper move it carefully to a floured surface. Using your fingers, press down from the center out, leaving an edge where the crust would be. Continue to press the dough until you have an even circle with a crust around the edge. Then cup your hands and toss the dough back and forth turning the dough 45 degrees each time, until you have a 11-12 inch circle.
Place the dough onto a floured peel and give it a shake to make sure it will slide off when the time comes. Quickly top with whatever toppings you like and then slide onto the pizza stone. Bake for 6-7 minutes until bubbly and deep golden/charred.
