GMA Recipe: Rao's Pizza Dough

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Rao's Pizza Dough
From Rao's restaruant, Frank Pellegrino
November 2, 2004

Frank Pellegrino of New York's famous Rao's restaurant, joined Good Morning America to share the latest recipes from his new book, "Rao's: Recipes From The Neighborhood." Here's one of the fabulous recipes he shared with GMA.

Frank Pellegrino said, "In addition to pizzas, you can use this dough to make Calzone (page 48) and Spinach Pie (page 47)."

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose unbleached flour, plus additional flour for kneading

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1 package rapid rise yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Oil the inside of a large bowl and set aside. Combine the flour and salt in another large bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of the warm water, the yeast, and the sugar and let the mixture stand for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast blooms and bubbles appear. Gradually add the yeast mixture to the flour, mixing with your hands to combine. Gradually add the remaining water and finally the oil, mixing until the dough is soft and sticky. You may need a little more water to make the dough soft and elastic.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, working in more flour as needed. Or use an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in the oiled bowl. Turn it to coat with the oil, cover it with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise for about an hour, until it is one and a half times its original size. Punch down the dough and let it rest for about 1 hour.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin to the size and shape to fill your pizza pan. Let it rise in the pan approximately 20 minutes before adding toppings and cooking.

Makes enough dough for two 16-inch pies, or one 12 x 18 inch Sicilian pie

Recipe from Rao's: Recipes From The Neighborhood by Frank Pellegrino, St. Martin's Press, copyright © 2004