Frozen pizza dough that rises to the occasion
The frozen-food aisle may not be a place that the true pizza aficionado — one who's mastered of the art of constructing the perfect crust — looks to for help. But for the rest of us, the East Coast Dough Co. packages a frozen pizza crust that's as close to homemade as we can have without messing up our kitchens. It's the same dough prepared and baked into crusts for the pizzas sold at A New York Pizza Place in Seattle's Maple Leaf neighborhood.
The 18-ounce dough balls, in either white or whole wheat, make one 18-inch or two 8-inch pizzas. They're priced at $4.50 and are sold at Metropolitan Markets, Whole Foods and QFC.
Here are a few tips for working with the dough:
• A day before making the pizza, transfer the dough from the freezer to the refrigerator so it's ready to go.
• Set the dough on the counter 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees at the same time.
• If the dough is at room temperature much longer than 30 minutes, air pockets may form that will rise higher than the rest of the crust.
• Don't flour the rolling surface too heavily; a light film of flour is enough. The dough needs a little traction to keep it from sliding around or it will be difficult to roll. Lift dough off the surface and stretch it gently in all directions, which relaxes the dough and makes it easier to roll.
• The dough can be cut in half before rolling for individual pizzas.
• Dust a heavy pizza pan or baking sheet with a little yellow cornmeal for a crunchier crust, or grease with olive oil.
• Before removing the pizza from the oven, lift an edge with a wide spatula and check the bottom of the crust. If it needs a little extra browning, place pan on bottom oven rack for about 4 more minutes.
• The pizza will be easier to cut if set aside 5 minutes after it comes out of the oven.
