Making cheese leaves you with a lot of whey, and this is an easy way to use it: swap it for the water in a simple pizza dough. It makes one 12-inch pizza with a light, chewy crust.
Ingredients
- 295 g (2½ cups) bread flour
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl and the top
- 175 mL (¾ cup) whey, warmed
Method
- Mix about 125 g (1 cup) of the flour with the yeast, sugar, salt, and the garlic powder and basil if you are using them.
- Stir in the olive oil and warm whey until smooth.
- Add the rest of the flour a little at a time, stirring until the dough comes together in a ball and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. It should still be a little sticky; add a bit more flour if it is too wet.
- Oil a clean bowl, roll the dough ball around in it to coat, cover tightly, and leave it somewhere warm for about 30 minutes, until doubled.
- Heat the oven to 425°F (215°C) while the dough rises.
- Gently press the air out, knead a few times on a floured surface until smooth, then shape it into a 12-inch circle.
- Put it on a parchment-lined pizza pan, pinch or fold the edge into a crust, brush the whole top with olive oil, and prick the middle all over with a fork.
- Add your toppings and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden.
Sweet whey, from a rennet cheese like mozzarella, is the milder choice. Acid whey also works.