With the discovery that my oven can go hotter than 450°F, I am newly obsessed with making pizza at home. My lastest quest: cracker-thin crust. Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg, the culinary minds behind Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day, share a few secrets of the trade.
Most surprising to me, François and Hertzberg recommend using a dough made with at least some amount of whole grain. This isn't just for the added nutrition; whole grain doughs have less gluten and are therefore easier to roll out.
They also recommend choosing just a few spare toppings for these cracker-thin pizzas. Too many toppings and you wind up with soggy dough in the middle. Equally important is not using to too much sauce on the pizza; François and Hertzberg use a pastry brush to get just the right amount.
For the rest of their tips and a full walk-through of the process, check out the full article:
• Secrets of a Cracker-Crust Pizza from Bread in Five
Have you had success making thin-crust pizzas?
Related: Weeknight Dinner: How to Make Pizza on the Stove Top
(Images: Jeff Hertzberg)
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I've been trying to get a good thin-crust pizza for a while! Love the tips!
To me, the perfect thin crust pizza is thin while still having a hint of breadiness and some bite to it. Once it's too thin and cracker-like it's still tasty, but it just doesn't register as 'pizza' to me. I find that using a really wet dough works well.
This is a major cheat, but I love making tortilla pizza! If I need to whip together a quick snack or light dinner, I top my tortilla pizza with veggies or turkey pepperoni. Yum!
I have to second the tortilla pizza as a quick cheat for the perfect cracker like crust
Most every Friday is pizza nite here and almost always thin crust. I use parchment and spray w cooking spray. It makes no logical sense to me, but the cooking spray minimizes any springing back of the dough as it is rolled out.
Does this mean you can eat like, 3 of them though?
The whole grain theory makes sense to me. When I make pizza dough, I usually replace 1/4 cup of the AP flour with wheat germ. I also find that I have good luck if I roll the dough out on a lightly-floured surface dusted with corn meal.
Whole wheat pitas work surprisingly well, if you cook the pizza in a hot-enough oven. They crisp up on the edges and are sturdy enough to hold toppings when put on with enthusiastic teenage hands.
We tried slicing them through the middle to make thinner crusts, but there's not enough time in the world and it turned okay anyway.