Thinner-crust pan pizza

I made pan pizza last weekend but wasn’t happy with the thickness. I thought it was too spongey, too doughy, too much. What would happen if I halved the dough amount?

Well, even at 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick (as opposed to more than an inch), I’m still not that into it. Don’t get me wrong, the recipe I used makes a great-tasting pizza and is successful in its mission of re-creating Pizza Hut pan pizza. It’s just that I’m still unsure it’s a style I’m wild about.

Anyway, here’s a process montage:

I skipped the candied jalapeños this time. I used too many last week, to the point where the whole thing was too sweet. I could have just backed off the amount this week, but frankly I think I ruined my taste for them for a while. (I’ll have to use them in another application.)

About the pepperoni: The Vermont Smoke & Cure smoked pepperoni I’ve been using, well, I think I prefer it as a snacking pepperoni. The smokiness and spiciness is just too much on a pizza. Or maybe I just don’t like pepperoni. I think the latter may actually be the case.

In fact, I think I’m trying to hard with this pizza. I’m trying too hard to love pan pizza and too hard to love pepperoni. The fact is, I turned my back on both that style and that topping ages ago. I’ll give the style another go next week—it’s just too easy a recipe to abandon completely—but I might try tweaking it once again.

After I’ve explored pan pizza to my satisfaction, I think I’m going to move on to either bar pies or Chicago thin crust—topped with Italian fennel sausage.

Without further ado, the particulars:

Dough (69% hydration)

100 grams bread flour
2 grams sea salt
1 gram IDY (instant dry yeast)
69 grams water
(Note: I omitted the oil)

Sauce di Cavanagh

1 twenty-eight-ounce can crushed Italian-style tomatoes (I used Sclafani)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
A pinch of garlic powder
A pinch of salt