Overnight Refrigerator Pizza Dough

Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice”

Makes six 6-ounce pizzas

4 ½ cups unbleached bread flour

1 ¾ teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 ¾ cup cold water

¼ cup olive oil

Stir the dry ingredients together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the water and oil until the flour is absorbed. Using a dough hook, mix on medium speed for 5 minutes, or until you have a smooth, sticky dough. This can also be done by hand. The dough should be springy, elastic and sticky, and clear the sides of the bowl, but stick to the bottom.

Flour a cutting board, lay the dough on and cut it into 6 equal pieces. A metal dough scraper works great. Lay the dough pieces on a parchment lined and floured sheet pan, cover with a food grade plastic bag and refrigerate overnight, or up to three days.

Remove the desired number of dough balls from the fridge. Press the balls into flat disks on a floured covered board and allow them to rest for two hours.

45 minutes before baking, preheat the oven and a baking stone to 500 F. If you don’t have a baking stone, use a pizza pan, but don’t preheat it. Either toss and stretch your dough into a 12-inch shape, or use a rolling pin. Dust the pizza peel or sheet pan with cornmeal, and lay the formed dough on. Use the less-is-more philosophy, lightly coat with sauce, then three or less other toppings, and cheese. Slide onto the baking stone, or bake on the pan. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes: Try using a combination of cheeses—1 part hard cheese like Romano, Asiago or Parmesan. 2 parts melter like mozzarella. Try adding a few teaspoons of fresh or dried herbs like basil, rosemary or oregano and fresh garlic. After the overnight fermentation, the dough balls can be frozen. Lightly coat with oil and put them into separate bags. Transfer to the fridge the day before you plan to bake.