Best 2 Tavern Style Pizza Crust Recipes

CRISPY BAR-STYLE PIZZA RECIPE

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer. Alternatively, combine ingredients in a stand mixer and mix on low speed for ten minutes.
• Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. Transfer to a gallon-sized zipper lock bag, seal, and place in the refrigerator. Allow to ferment for at least one, and up to 5 days.
• At least two hours before baking, remove dough from refrigerator and divide into four even balls. Shape into balls by gathering dough towards bottom and pinching shut. Flour well and place each one in a separate bowl (cereal bowls or small mixing bowls work well). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise at warm room temperature until roughly doubled in volume.
• Meanwhile, adjust oven rack with pizza stone to top position and place a second rack one position below it. Preheat oven to 550°F for at least one hour.
• Turn single dough ball out onto floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 12-inch circle, lifting and stretching by hand if necessary. Grease an aluminum baking sheet with 1 tablespoon canola oil. Transfer dough to baking sheet. Spread about 1/2 cup of sauce evenly over entire surface of pie. Sprinkle with 1/4 of parmesan. Spread 1/4 of cheese in even layer over surface. Top with additional toppings as desired.
• Place in oven on rack immediately under the baking stone. Bake until edges are just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven (close oven). Using a thin flexible metal spatula, careful separate the pizza's edges from the pan (the pizza should slide around freely). Carefully slide pizza off of pan and onto baking stone. Continue baking until bottom is deep golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly. Transfer pizza to a cutting board with a pizza peel. Cut into 8 slices, and serve. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with remaining pizzas.

OLD WORLD CHICAGO-STYLE THIN CRUST PIZZA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the milk, water, yeast and sugar. Lightly whisk and let sit until bubbly and the yeast is bloomed, about 5 minutes. Add the oil.
• Mix the all-purpose flour and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Set the mixer to medium-low speed and slowly add the yeast mixture until entirely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl to get everything homogenous. Knead on medium low until the dough is glossy and forms a rough ball, about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set it in a warm part of the kitchen until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
• Split the dough into 2 balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the balls of dough as THIN as possible with a rolling pin. To get an even "trimmed" circle, use a large round lid to trim a rim around the dough. Sprinkle some semolina flour on a pizza peel. Carefully transfer the round of dough to the peel. Dock the crust with a fork or docker, poking holes all over the surface to keep it thin and crispy.
• Working quickly, add half of the pizza sauce almost all of the way to the edge of the crust, leaving about a 1-inch border. For the pepperoni side, place an even layer of pepperoni directly on top of the sauce on half of the pizza. Combine the skim- and whole-milk mozzarella in a large bowl and top the entire pizza with half of the cheese. Top the pepperoni side with some more scattered rounds of pepperoni. For the sausage side, spread half of the giardiniera on top of the cheese, then dollop with hunks of the Italian sausage on top. Transfer to the pizza stone in the oven and bake until golden and bubbly, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board with the pizza peel. Make another pizza with the remaining ingredients.
• Let the pizza rest for 4 or 5 minutes, then cut into small squares--never triangles. This is called the party cut. Why? Because no matter what's going on, when you're eating Chicago thin crust, it's always a big ol' party.