Full question
Would the dough from the Old-Fashioned Sandwich Loaf recipe work for forming pizza bases? If so, at what stage in the proving would I need to shape and spread the dough into the customary rounds before adding the toppings?
Our answer
Nigella's Old-Fashioned Sandwich Loaf (from COOK, EAT, REPEAT) is a soft white loaf that is perfect for sandwiches and toasting. The dough is made with soured milk and butter (or just sour cream) and the fat in these ingredients helps to weaken the gluten in the flour. Also the dough is not kneeded much or left for a long time to prove (proof). Both of these factors contribute to giving the loaf its tender crumb, which is ideal for a soft sandwich loaf but not particularly good for pizza bases, as the weaker gluten structure means that the dough will not stretch out that easily to form a pizza crust.
It may be better to consider using a dough similar to the Nigellan Flatbread. This dough is kneaded to develop the gluten in the flour and is much more suited to rolling out and shaping. You don't need the glaze and nigella seeds if you are making pizza crusts. You could also mix and knead the dough (in steps 1- 2) and then cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough overnight. This can make the dough slightly easier to roll out into pizza crusts as the dough has plently of time to relax. Roll out the dough into discs after proving. If refrigerating the dough overnight, take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature (about 1 hour) before rolling. Use the shaped discs of dough immediately to make pizzas.
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more questionsYour comment has been submitted.