Einkorn and Olive Oil Pizza Dough

I’ve been experimenting with Einkorn this month so I decided to make a pizza crust using whole grain Einkorn Flour.

I invited my taste tester over for pizza night, and to get him engaged in the process, I let him choose the toppings. He likes to watch the Food Network Channel so I thought he might have some good ideas.

Turns out, he had some great ideas.

We created a masterpiece if I do say so myself.  The crust was thin and crunchy and the toppings were exceptional. We used Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, chunks of a mozzarella-prosciutto roll, tomato and basil-flavored feta cheese and a blend of Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano cheeses, red and green bell peppers, onions and crushed red pepper.  Delish!

This pizza was submitted to Bread Baking Day #49 hosted by Cravo e Canela – Uma Cozinha no Brasil. The theme was Pizzas & Italian Breads Revisited. I love pizza so any excuse will do.

 

Whole Grain Einkorn and Olive Oil Pizza Dough

This whole grain pizza crust utilizes an overnight sponge and a biga. It’s a very soft and sticky dough so I added 7 tablespoons of bread flour to the final dough.  However, after I added the bread flour, and felt the dough, I realized it probably would’ve been okay without it, but it turned out great so it didn’t matter.

Makes: 5 Individual Pizza Doughs

Adapted from: Whole Grain Breads by Peter Reinhart

Soaker:

• 227g (1 3/4 cups) whole grain Einkorn flour
• 4g (1/2 tsp) salt
• 198g (3/4 cup plus 2 T) water

Biga:

• 227g (1 3/4 cups) whole grain Einkorn flour
• 1g (1/4 tsp) instant yeast
• 198g (3/4 cup plus 2 T) water

Final Dough:

• Use all of the soaker
• Use all of the biga
• 56.5g (7 T) bread flour or all-purpose flour
• 5g (5/8 tsp) salt
• 5g (1 1/2 tsp) instant yeast
• 2 1/4 tsp agave nectar
• 4-5 T Olive oil
• additional Einkorn flour for adjustments

 

Making the Soaker:

Mix the soaker ingredients together until the flour is hydrated and the dough forms a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for 12 to 24 hours.

 

Making the Biga:

Mix the biga ingredients together in a bowl until the dough forms a ball.  Knead the dough in the bowl for a couple of minutes to ensure the flour is completely hydrated.  You’ll need to use wet hands for this part because the dough is really tacky.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then knead it again using wet hands.  Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate it for at least 8 hours. Take the biga out of the refrigerator about 2 hours before mixing the final dough.

 

Mixing the Final Dough:

Combine the soaker, biga, 7 tablespoons of bread flour (or more Einkorn flour), salt, yeast, agave nectar, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium bowl. Mix with a dough whisk or wet hands until the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the dough.  The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.  I had to add more flour to get it to not be so sticky.

 

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and roll the dough in it.  Knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes, until the dough is soft and very tacky.  My dough was definitely tacky, sticky actually.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes while you line a sheet pan with parchment paper, then oil it with olive oil.

 

Knead the dough for another minute and make any final adjustments.  The dough will feel soft, supple and very tacky, sticky if you ask me.  Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces, about 6.25 ounces each.  Form each piece into a tight ball and place the balls on the prepared pan.  Roll the balls in the oil to coat the entire surface.  Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 24 hours.  You can use the dough right away, but it was so sticky, I refrigerated it for several hours until it was time to make the pizza. I left the dough balls in the refrigerator until the last minute and didn’t even worry about letting them warm up to room temperature before shaping them.  They were still really tacky so this helped.

 

Baking the Pizza:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. for an hour with a baking stone on the bottom rack.

Press the dough ball out with your fingers.  I spread the dough out on parchment paper drizzled with olive oil to help the dough spread more easily and keep it from sticking to my fingers.  It also gave the pizza a nice crunch.

 

Parbake the dough for a couple of minutes before adding the toppings.  Then add the toppings of your choice.  As I mentioned earlier, we topped our pizzas with fire-roasted tomatoes, chunks of a mozzarella-prosciutto roll, basil-flavored feta cheese and a blend of parmesan, asiagio, and Romano cheeses, red and green bell peppers, onions and crushed red pepper.  It was a great combination!

 

Bake the pizza until the toppings are done, about 5 minutes.  Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board.  Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set.

 

Thanks to Cravo e Canela – Uma Cozinha no Brasil for hosting BBD#49 and to Zorra, the founder of Bread Baking Day.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy