Pizza Galletta’s Galley style
I have been asked to write about and pass along our family recipes for Homemade Pizza. I have made Pizza for years and the crust is always good but it is never quite the same. Some time xtra crispy and some times too bread like, so I decided to go right to the source. My brother. He worked with our Uncle Adriano Mastrangelo for years in his bakery so this was the repsonse I received: the below paragraph is a text from my brother (a side note Adrianne is my sisterinlaw many thanks).
“? At the restaurant we used Uncle Henry’s 5% recipe. So 2 make math easy, for 100 lbs of flour u use 5 lbs each of yeast, salt, sugar, shortening. So scaling down, for 20 lbs would be 1 lb of each & for 10lbs 8 oz of each & 1 lb .8oz of each.
Kind of needs a bit more with greater volume & a bit less with less volume
Adrianne’s pizza dough @ Home recipe is 24oz flour (5 1/2 cups) two 1/4 oz packs of new refrigerated yeast, 1 oz sugar, salt & olive oil. 2 cups of water give or take to consistency for good spreading. Important doe needs to stay cool (<65 degrees f) while mixing or will activate the gluten too much & will get rubbery & hard to spread / spin. -Divide & roll into balls before rising -Put dough covered @ room temp til doubled in size
-Spread or spin
-If in pan let rest a few, top it, then in oven
-If on a peal into stone or hearth top & in oven without rest.
Have fun?
Love
A”
So there you have it in a nut shell. I can’t tell you how many times he has told me this recipe and I have blocked it because of the large numbers. He was kind enough to give me the household version of 5 1/2 cups!
Now onto the fun part… The process! It really isn’t as hard as you think. Just a little time management and you will be good to go.
I have found that making the dough the morning of or even the night before helps, you can also pre-bake the crust’s and then the actual cooking time before dinner is shortened.
So the first step is to make your sauce, or if you have a favorite store bought kind that will work as well (but let me say that sauce made with fresh tomatoes is so delicious once you try it you will be hard pressed to go back to the store bought brand). I used a simple Marinara sauce so it allows the flavors to blend with the pizza toppings. The recipe is below, I make the sauce first so it has time to cool. When you are putting your pizza together hot sauce makes it just that much harder to work with the pizza dough.
Next step will be to prepare the dough, don’t panic it is very simple. If you have a stand mixer this is the easiest way to mix the dough, you can do it by hand but it is unnecessary. Something I have learned just recently from my brother is you need to keep the dough cool. So when you start the process use cold water. This will slow the raising process and give you that perfect texture. Start with you liquids and then add your flour a third at a time. (This will help your machine to work properly). In regards to the type of flour there is a variety out there. There is a flour made for pizza and breads. It has a higher gluten content so you need to make sure you don’t over work the dough or it will be very difficult to stretch. ( it will feel like a rubber band)I found a very interesting blog about the many different varieties of flour if you are interested What’s the difference between North American and Italian Pizza Flour
Now I make 4 to 5 pizza’s out of one recipe if you do 4 the crust will be a little thicker and if you do 5 your crust will be a little thinner. I have a pizza stone that I use and I highly recommend using them. The crust will be just like your favorite pizzeria!! Pizza stone. I have attached a link to just one of many, this happens to be Lowe’s it is like the one I have and it comes with the peel, which you can use if you feel adventurous!!! Seriously using the peel allows you to pre heat the stone which gives your crust a nice texture.
My Pizza Stone is 14″ and round. They do make square and rectangle stones as well. Please don’t worry about your stone getting dark. The more seasoned it is the less sticking occurs.
Next you will have to create the crust. You will simply take the dough and place it on a FLOURED BOARD OR TABLE SPACE. Working in a circle. Spread the dough out if you have floured the work space then the dough should move with you in a circle. You want to do this so your dough stays round. You can also use a rolling pin once you have the circle started. Now I spin the dough, but it isn’t necessary. Once you have stretched keeping it in a circle form you can use a rolling pin to make it the size you want.
Once you have the dough to the size you like (try and go a little bigger than you need. It does shrink once you place it on the board or stone) I can’t stress enough to use corn meal on your board. This will allow your pizza crust to slide off the board when you are putting it in the oven. Now this does take some practice. If this is the first time you are trying this I suggest you try par baking the dough (this way you don’t have sauce and cheese all over the oven. Once you have the board dusted with corn meal place the dough on it and shimmy the peel around so the dough moves on it, then you will do the same motion in the oven to remove the dough from the peel to the stone, pulling the board away from the stone and oven (it will be a fairly quick motion, to slow and it will not come off). When you try this with the sauce and toppings, keep the sauce a good 1/2 inch away from the edge. When the sauce gets on the board it prevents the pizza dough from sliding off onto the pizza stone.
It is now time to put your sauce and toppings!!! There are so many different toppings it would be impossible to list them all but let me say let your imagination take over.
You should preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cook the pizza approximately 15 to 20 minutes. It really depends on how brown and crusty you like it. You will use the peel to remove it from the oven as well. 
One last note. You can most certainly cook your pizza on the grill!!! With or without the stone. I have some pictures that my nephew in Colorado so graciously allowed me to use. Anthony Galletta Jr.
If you are going to do it directly on the grill, you will first take your dough and stretch it to the size you want and then place it on the grill on a medium high heat. Once it begins to cook put your sauce and toppings. Keep your eye on it. It will cook much faster than your oven and the bottom will burn if you don’t move it a few times. The peel will come in handy for this. And as I always say.
Enjoy the Journey!!!
CATEGORIESFOOD, MAIN COURSE, MEALS, RECIPES
Pizza Galletta's Galley Way!!
A family recipe dating back to my Uncle Henry Mastrangelo's Bakery M&M. Given to me by my Brother Anthony Galletta who worked with our uncle for many years, and finally adapted for use in a kitchen setting by my sister-in-law Adrianne Galletta.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 5 cups Flour
- 2 cups Water
- 1 oz sugar
- 1 oz salt
- 1 oz Olive Oil
- 2 1/4 oz packages of refrigerated yeast
Marinara Sauce
- 9 pounds Fresh Tomatoes
- Fresh Basil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 3 TBSP Olive Oil
Toppings
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Pepperoni
- Cooked Mushrooms
- Cooked Peppers and Onions
- Sausage
Instructions
Dough
-
First and fore most... You must keep the dough cool, if it gets to warm the gluten with activate and the dough will become very rubbery and hard to stretch. Combine Cold or even ice Water, Yeast, Sugar, Salt, and Olive Oil in a Large Mixing bowl (or your Kitchen Aid Bowl). Add Flour in 3rd's mix on low speed (use the hook beater on Kitchen Aid) If you don't have a Kitchen Aid or a standing Mixer, it is easier to use a spoon and then your hands to mix together. Once the flour is combined turn the mixer on medium high and mix until the texture is smooth and springs back when you touch it.
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Next, cut the dough into 4 or 5 Pieces, on a 14 inch pizza stone, 4 will give you a slightly thicker crust, and 5 will give you a thinner crust. Roll each piece into a ball and place in a greased bowl
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Cover the dough with saran if you are refrigerating, or a towel if you are leaving on counter to use in the near future.
Marinara Sauce
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First step will be to clean and then blanch tomatoes. Boil water in a large pot and lower the tomatoes into the water for about 60 top 90 seconds, remove from water and place in a cold water bath. Once all the tomatoes are blanched and cool, core and remove the skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.
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In a large sauce pan place your Olive Oil and Garlic, saute for a few minutes on medium heat. Once garlic is slightly browned add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Cook tomatoes on medium heat for 1 hour, stirring every so often.
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After the tomatoes have cooked 45 minutes to an hour, you can now blend them if you like your sauce smooth, or if you like chunky tomato sauce then just let it cook down and lower the heat. Once the sauce is cooked turn off heat and let it cool.
Creating Your Pizza
-
Next you will have to create the crust. You will simply take the dough and place it on a FLOURED BOARD OR TABLE SPACE. Working in a circle. Spread the dough out if you have floured the work space then the dough should move with you in a circle. You want to do this so your dough stays round. You can also use a rolling pin once you have the circle started. Now I spin the dough, but it isn’t necessary. Once you have stretched keeping it in a circle form you can use a rolling pin to make it the size you want.
Once you have the dough to the size you like (try and go a little bigger than you need. It does shrink once you place it on the board or stone) I can’t stress enough to use corn meal on your board. This will allow your pizza crust to slide off the board when you are putting it in the oven. Now this does take some practice. If this is the first time you are trying this I suggest you try par baking the dough (this way you don’t have sauce and cheese all over the oven. Once you have the board dusted with corn meal place the dough on it and shimmy the peel around so the dough moves on it, then you will do the same motion in the oven to remove the dough from the peel to the stone, pulling the board away from the stone and oven (it will be a fairly quick motion, to slow and it will not come off). When you try this with the sauce and toppings, keep the sauce a good 1/2 inch away from the edge. When the sauce gets on the board it prevents the pizza dough from sliding off onto the pizza stone.
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Once your crust is ready, take 1 large ladle of sauce and spread it on the crust from the middle to the edge. Little is better here, you can always add more sauce. Next is your cheese and then your Toppings
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Now I have listed the obvious toppings for your pizza but the list is endless, I love Artichokes, Spinach, Feta, combination!! Let your imagination fly!!!
Recipe Notes
This is probably one of my most favorite meals to make. It allows you to make everyone happy!!! I hope you take a chance and make your next pizza from scratch. Like I always say..... ENJOY THE JOURNEY