Columbus ‘MasterChef’ contestant Wayne T. Lewis serves up his recipe for flatbread

I consider myself a true pizza fan. Being from New York originally, I’m partial to the classic thin crust NY style even if you insist on cutting it into squares the Columbus way.

But if you’ve ever tried your hand at making pizza from scratch in your home kitchen it can be an adventure. A great dough needs to be proofed at room temp, ideally rested overnight in the fridge to develop the flavor and continued gentle rise. Then brought back to room temp to work the dough. You’ll fire up the oven which won’t get anywhere near as hot as a real pizza oven and maybe, just maybe, if you have a pizza stone or steel, get a crust that might approach a decent pizza shop.

But there is a cheat code. Flatbreads! You can buy premade breads but this easy dough recipe is so much better and you impress your friends and family with some real at-home, scratch cooking. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, it’s a breeze.

Flatbread dough

Makes 2 football sized flatbreads

500g (4 cups) AP flour

2 tsp Active dry or instant yeast

2 tsp granulated sugar

2 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

2 TBSP Olive oil

1.5C warm water

Instructions

1. In stand mixer bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Whisk well. Cover with towel, let sit 15 minutes until it gets a bit foamy. This lets you know your yeast is active.

2. In another bowl, mix together your flour, salt and garlic powder. Mix well.

3. Add dry ingredient to mixing bowl along with olive oil. Using paddle attachment, let mixer run on speed (2) for two minutes and you should have a nice sticky dough that slightly pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You can add another TBSP of flour here if it’s too sticky.

4. Now put your dough hook on and let it run on speed (2) for 8 minutes

5. Lightly oil a large bowl and place your dough in it, covered with a towel at room temp for one hour.

6. Preheat your oven to 475F.

7. Put your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch it with your fingers to get any trapped air bubbles out. Now cut into 4 equal pieces.

7. Using a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, work a piece into an oblong shape and using a floured rolling pin, get your dough to ¼ inch thick.

8. Sauce your dough leaving a ½ inch border, cover sauce with cheese and then toppings. If using uncooked meats, be sure to cook them prior to topping your pizza.

9. Bake at 475F for 15 minutes or until browned nicely. Slice and enjoy!

Chef Wayne Lewis has been in the kitchen for more than 25 years cooking up elevated comfort food and earned a semi-final finish on season 13 of MasterChef on Fox. For recipes and catering opportunities, visit chefwaynecooks.com

If you want local food content, recipes and more, chekcheck out the latest issue of Stock & Barrel below, which dives into the complex history of Columbus-style pizza.