The unknown person who first hit upon the secret of mixing flour and water to create dough did a big favor for the human race. Dough is one of the most versatile foodstuffs in the world, the basis of everything from flatbreads and dumplings to biscuits, cookies, pastries, pasta and, of course, pizza. Regrettably, most pizzeria operators don’t take full advantage of their dough. In fact, you can use your dough to create a multitude of nonpizza dishes and specialty items, from classical savory offerings to sweet dessert items, all with a minimum of additional labor on your part.

Without changing your basic dough formulation, you can manipulate your pizza dough to make unique breads and breadsticks, whip up great-tasting pastry crusts, and put a new twist on old standards such as calzones and stromboli that will leave your customers begging for more. We’’ll let you choose your own meat and vegetable toppings for many of these dishes, but here are some general instructions for creating a variety of new dough-based items that could become signature favorites on your menu!

Note: Times and temperatures listed below refer to suggested settings for impingement ovens. Your oven time may vary.

Appetizers

1. Pepperoni & Cheese Rolls
Sheet/roll 10 oz. dough ball to desired thickness (about 1/8”).
Arrange desired ingredients over dough sheet, leaving a ½” strip of bare dough exposed at one side of the dough circle. Lightly moisten the exposed dough strip with water.
Roll up cinnamon-roll style, pinch end seam well, and turn seam to bottom.
Even up and size dough string to 12” in length
Using a French knife or bench scraper, cut string into 3 even pieces, about 4” long
Place cut dough pieces seam-side down in a greased deep-dish pizza pan. Brush with liquid milk.
Cover pan and allow to rest/proof for 20-30 minutes.
Bake in an impingement oven for 5 minutes at 465 degrees F.

2. Focaccia
Grease a 10” deep-dish pizza pan with nonhydrogenated shortening.
Press a 10-oz. dough ball into the greased pan, cover and proof in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours.
After proofing, brush the dough with olive oil and dress as desired (possible ingredients include ground rosemary, very thinly sliced Roma tomatoes, onions, etc.).
Dimple the dough with your fingertips.
Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake for 4½ minutes at 465°F.
After baking, cut into wedge-shape pieces to serve as dipping bread. Serve with seasoned dipping oils if desired. (Or cut wedge-shape pieces horizontally to make sandwiches.)

3. Tomato Pie
Grease a 10” deep-dish pizza pan with nonhydrogenated shortening.
Press a 10-oz. dough ball into the greased pan, cover and proof in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours.
After proofing, dress with well-drained tomato filets and fresh basil.
Bake for 7 minutes at 465°F.
After baking, top lightly with shredded Parmigiano cheese. Return to oven and reheat until cheese is barely melted.

4. Fougasse
Grease a 10” deep-dish pizza pan with nonhydrogenated shortening.
Press a 10-oz. dough ball into the greased pan, cover and proof in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours.
After proofing, invert proofed dough circle onto a greased 12” pan.
Elongate dough circle into a rectangle by pulling at the ends.
Using a pair of scissors, cut as desired.
Dress with your favorite toppings (such as bacon, onions, black olives, etc.) and bake for 5 to 6 minutes at 465°F.
Serve with seasoned dipping oils if desired.

5. Cheese Pockets
Sheet/roll a 10-oz. dough ball to desired diameter (about 13”).
Cut dough circle into six wedge-shaped pieces.
Lightly moisten all edges of dough wedges with water.
Place 1 oz. of desired cheese (cubed or shredded cheese compressed together) in the center of each dough wedge.
Pull the rounded-heel edge of the dough over centered cheese ball.
Pull one of the side edges over the top and tuck one of the side edges to the bottom. Pinch tightly.
Pull the point edge of the dough over the cheese ball and tuck underneath the dough ball.
Place the final product in a greased deep-dish pizza pan, seam-side down.
Brush it with liquid milk and cut a vent hole in the top or on the side.
Bake for 5 minutes at 465°F.

Entrees

6. The House Calzone
Sheet/roll a 10-oz. dough ball to desired diameter (about 12”) and place dough sheet on pan.
Place two 9” strips (about 2 oz. each) of ricotta cheese 3” from each side (left and right) of the dough sheet.
Sprinkle 1 oz. mozzarella cheese evenly over ricotta cheese strips.
Place desired amount of meats and vegetables separately over cheese on each side.
Lightly moisten edges and middle of dough circle with water.
Pull left or right edge of the dough circle over the top of one strip of filling and seal in the middle. Repeat procedure on opposite side.
Pinch the top and bottom edges and middle seam well, keeping good separation between the meat and vegetable sides.
Trim top and bottom edges if necessary.
Brush with liquid milk.
Using a pair of scissors, cut vent holes in the top of each side.
Bake for 5½ minutes at 465°F.
Serve with dipping sauce if desired.
(For added taste and eye appeal, smother with sauce and cheese after baking, then return to the oven to heat the sauce and melt the cheese.)

7. The House Stromboli
Sheet/roll a 10-oz. dough ball to desired diameter (about 10”).
Arrange toppings/fillings evenly over dough sheet, leaving a 1” strip of bare dough on the left, right and bottom of the dough circle.
Lightly moisten the bare dough strips with water.
Roll up in cinnamon-roll style, pinching the bottom, left and right end seams well, and turn the bottom seam to the bottom.
Placed on a greased 12” pan. Size to the desired length.
Brush with liquid milk.
Using a pair of scissors, cut vent holes in the top.
Bake for 6½ minutes at 465°F.
Serve with dipping sauce if desired.
(For added taste and eye appeal, smother with sauce and cheese after baking, then return to the oven to heat the sauce and melt the cheese.)

Desserts

8. Dessert Pizza
Sheet/roll a 10-oz. dough ball to desired diameter (about 12”).
Brush top of dough with melted butter, margarine or liquid margarine.
Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture over the entire dough sheet.
Drain 1 small can of fruit cocktail, 1 small jar of Maraschino cherries and 1 small can of mandarin oranges. Gently stir them all together. This will create enough fruit to cover several 12” pizzas.
Arrange fruit evenly over the top of the pizza, leaving a 1” rim around the edge.
Sprinkle Streusel Topping mixture evenly over the pie (see recipe below).
Bake for 5 to 6 minutes at 465°F.
Allow to cool slightly and drizzle the pizza with a powdered sugar-water icing mixture or sweetened condensed milk. Drained fruit juice from the fruit cocktail can be mixed with powdered sugar to make a simple icing. Transfer icing mixture to a squeeze-bottle dispenser and place in a metal container with warm water on top of oven for later use.
For added taste and eye appeal, top with whipped cream or ice cream.

9. Streusel Topping
1.75 lb. granulated sugar or brown sugar
1.5 lb. 50/50 blend of shortening and margarine or butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla
2 lb. flour
(Optional: Add cinnamon to taste for cinnamon streusel.)
Combine sugar, shortening, margarine or butter, salt and vanilla and mix well.
Add flour and mix until desired amount of clumpiness is achieved. Do not over-mix or it will become one big clump.
Add fat if the mixture is too dry. Add flour if it’s too clumpy.

10. S’mores Pizza
Par-bake 12” crust with weight on crust for 2½ minutes at 465°F. Crusts can be made ahead of time and stored in the cooler.
Top par-baked crust with liquid margarine, avoiding the edges.
Add an even coverage of milk, semisweet chocolate (chips, disks or pieces), Golden Grahams cereal, min-marshmallows and graham cracker streusel (see recipe below).
Bake for 2 minutes (at the most) at 465°F.
Allow pizza to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

11. Graham Cracker Streusel Topping
1 lb. streusel or cinnamon streusel mixture (see above recipe)
1.5 lb. Graham Cracker crumbs
0.5 lb. 50/50 blend of shortening and margarine or butter
Mix well. Add fat if the mixture is too dry. Add flour if it’s too clumpy.

A condensed version of this article by bakery specialist Jeff Zeak originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of PMQ.