Mimi’s Pan Pizza Dough, Two Ways (The Mimi & The Papa) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

American

by: Erin Jeanne McDowell

January27,2021

4.5

2 Ratings

  • Prep time 12 hours 30 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • makes 1 large pan pizza

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Author Notes

Pizza is one of my mother’s specialties in the kitchen. The style she makes is somewhere between a classic “Grandma style” pizza, and a typical pan-style pizza. Its crust is neither thin or thick—it's somewhere in between, with crisp edges and a fluffy interior. Since the dough can be made ahead (see step 2), and it’s baked on a sheet tray, it’s as weeknight friendly as it is weekend worthy.

My mom is known as “Mimi” to my brothers’ children, so in honor of Grandma pies everywhere, I proudly present a recipe passed down to me that can only be called “Mimi’s Pizza.” I asked my mom to share her favorite pizza toppings (below as “The Mimi”) but she was concerned her preferred flavors could be polarizing (though everyone who’s tasted it finds it delicious). But in case you’re looking for more classic toppings, try the one inspired by my dad, known to the kids in the family as “Papa." —Erin Jeanne McDowell

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

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Mimi’s Pan Pizza Dough, Two Ways (The Mimi & ThePapa)

Ingredients
  • Mimi's Pizza Dough
  • 1 cup(163g) semolina flour
  • 5 cups(600g) bread flour
  • 2 cups(453g) warm water
  • 1 tablespoonextra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspooninstant yeast
  • 1 teaspoongranulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoontable salt
  • Toppings for assembly (some ideas below)
  • The Mimi & The Papa Toppings
  • For The Mimi Pizza
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 2 Yukon Gold potatoes, pre-cooked and sliced thinly (you can also use 3 red potatoes or 1 russet, also pre-cooked and sliced thinly)
  • 1 cuppitted and quartered Castelvetrano olives
  • 2 tablespoonsminced fresh oregano
  • 8 ouncesfresh mozzarella cheese, diced into small cubes
  • 1 cupshredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cupcrumbled feta cheese
  • For The Papa Pizza
  • 3/4 cuptomato sauce of choice
  • 2 cupscooked sausage, crumbled or sliced
  • 1 cupmarinated mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 small sweet onion, sliced
  • 1 1/2 cupsshredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
  • 8 ouncesfresh mozzarella cheese, diced
  • 3/4 cupfinely grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
  1. Mimi's Pizza Dough
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix all ingredients to form a soft, smooth dough, 3 to 4 minutes.
  3. Transfer the dough to a large bowl or dough storage container that’s double the dough’s size. Let rise in the refrigerator overnight (though in a pinch you can also make it and let it rise for 1 hour at room temperature and then go!).
  4. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425°F. Drizzle olive oil over a baking sheet so it’s well coated. Add the dough to the baking sheet and turn over so both sides are lightly coated with oil. Use your fingers to stipple the dough to stretch it out to about ½-inch thick, filling most of the baking sheet.
  5. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then stipple again to stretch a bit more. Top with sauce, toppings, and cheese as desired.
  6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is deeply golden brown and the cheese is melted and browned in some spots, too.
  1. The Mimi & The Papa Toppings
  2. For The Mimi

    In a small pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil with the smashed garlic cloves Cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

    Once the dough is stippled in the pan, drizzle half of the cooled garlic oil over its surface.

    Layer the potatoes, olives, and oregano over the surface of the pizza. Drizzle the remaining garlic oil over the surface.

    Top with the fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, and feta.

    Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is deeply golden brown and the cheese is melted and browned in some spots, too.

  3. For The Papa

    Once the dough is stippled in the pan, spread the tomato sauce evenly over the surface of the dough.

    Layer the sausage, marinated mushrooms, and onion slices on top of the sauce.

    Top with the fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, and Pamesan.

    Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is deeply golden brown and the cheese is melted and browned in some spots, too.

Tags:

  • American
  • Dinner

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Recipe by: Erin Jeanne McDowell

I always have three kinds of hot sauce in my purse. I have a soft spot for making people their favorite dessert, especially if it's wrapped in a pastry crust. My newest cookbook, Savory Baking, came out in Fall of 2022 - is full of recipes to translate a love of baking into recipes for breakfast, dinner, and everything in between!

Popular on Food52

1 Review

Corinne March 7, 2021

These days I'm cooking for 2: Is it possible to make a half-recipe or freeze half the dough?

Mimi’s Pan Pizza Dough, Two Ways (The Mimi & The Papa) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What makes pizza dough taste better? ›

If you're keen to intensify its flavor even more, enhance the dough further – either with infused oil brushed over top, cheese woven into its edges or a combination of herbs and spices kneaded into it or sprinkled on it.

Why does my pizza dough taste like yeast? ›

So why does pizza crust sometimes have such a strong yeasty flavor? Well, it's not the yeast that you're tasting; it's a combination of the three main by-products of yeast fermentation—carbon dioxide, alcohol, and acids (acetic, lactic and propionic)—that you are smelling.

How to make pizza 4 steps? ›

  1. Step 1: Gather Ingredients. Heat the sauce while chopping up these ingredients.. ...
  2. Step 2: Prepare the Dough. This step takes some practice. ...
  3. Step 3: Add the Toppings... I like to layer the cheese then pepperoni last.. with all other ingredients underneath it. ...
  4. Step 4: Heat and Then Enjoy. ...
  5. 8 Comments.

Why does my pizza dough taste sour? ›

A properly fermented and balanced (in terms of yeast and bacteria) sourdough pizza dough isn't overly sour. The organic acids produced as a byproduct of natural fermentation increase the depth of flavor—sourness—due to the longer fermentation time.

What is the trick to good pizza dough? ›

There are many tricks to achieving a tasty, homemade pizza dough that rises into a beautiful pizza crust, such as making sure your ingredients are at right temperature, using half bread flour for a stronger dough and half all-purpose flour for a nice rise, substituting honey for sugar to help caramelize the crust and ...

Does baking soda help pizza dough rise? ›

Baking soda is useless in these applications, because it reacts with acid and there is no acid in pizza dough, only flour, water, salt, and yeast. Some recipes also include olive oil. The yeast provides all the rise needed to make the dough.

How long to leave pizza dough to rise? ›

If you're planning to make pizza today, then give the dough a rise. Clean out the mixing bowl, coat it with a little oil, and transfer the dough back inside. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Option 3 — Store the dough in the fridge.

What sauce to use for pizza? ›

You can't go wrong with a traditional tomato-based sauce. Flavored with ingredients like minced garlic, onion, oregano, basil, and other herbs and spices, red pizza sauce is the go-to choice for many people.

What temperature to cook homemade pizza? ›

Generally, the hotter the oven, the better the pizza will be. The best oven temperature for pizza is between 450 and 500 degrees F (250 to 260 degrees C). Pizza ovens cook at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees F. You can't get that hot in your home oven, but the higher you can go, the better.

How to tell if store-bought pizza dough is bad? ›

The color of the pizza dough will be darker or may turn greyish than its usual shade. You can also notice visible spots appeared on the pizza dough, which indicates the presence of mold. The mold can be identified as green, black, or off-white, depending on the duration of the pizza dough kept in the refrigerator.

How do you know if pizza dough is Overproofed? ›

Step 1: Perform the fingertip test to make sure your dough is overproofed. The test involves gently pressing your finger into the surface of the dough for 2 seconds and then seeing how quickly it springs back. The dent you make will be permanent if the dough is overproofed.

What can you add to pizza dough to make it better? ›

My favorite thing to add is lemon zest. You can also add herbs like thyme or oregano - fresh or dried. You might add chopped olives, or chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

How can I make my pizza taste better? ›

Baldwin suggests making your toppings yourself for the best homemade pizza. "Slice your own pepperoni for a thicker cut, roast red peppers and garlic, crumble and sauté some sausage," she says. "Doing all these things from scratch makes the pizza truly great."

What adds flavor to pizza? ›

Popular Seasonings and Herbs to Add to Pizza
  1. Parmesan Cheese. Parmesan cheese is a hard cheese that can be grated, shredded or shaved over the top of pizza after it has finished baking. ...
  2. Italian Seasoning. ...
  3. Oregano. ...
  4. Garlic. ...
  5. Red Pepper Flakes. ...
  6. Parsley. ...
  7. Basil. ...
  8. Thyme.
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