Pizza dough

[Cook du jour]

Sunday I popped some pizza dough out of the freezer and let it defrost so I could have a custom pizza that night. After rolling it out, I popped it into the oven to bake before adding toppings and the middle of the dough raised WAAAAY into the air. It was a beautiful effect, but lousy to adding toppings. Any ideas on how I can avoid this? Like pie dough, should I be putting weights on the crust?

[Greg]

I worked in a "California style" pizza place once where we used frozen dough. Our MOP was to thaw it, re-shape it into a doughball, then let it proof again before use. Alternatively, try docking the dough after you roll it (much easier).

[Cook du jour]

Sounds good. I'll give it a try!