Today I am sharing my recipe for Italian Pizza Dough that I have been using for years. I started to make pizza and pizza dough many many moons ago. My earliest memories of making pizza go way back to my middle school days. I can still remember one of my first attempts being a disappointment because I put way too much cheese on the pizza. Seriously, the ratio was soooooo off and the cheese so thick. If it was cold and flipped upside down, the slice would not have flopped. Now that’s some serious cheesiness.
Since then my ratios and pizza making skills have improved tremendously. The Italian pizza dough recipe I am sharing today is one that I found all them years ago while in middle school. Since then I have made slight tweaks, here or there, based on years of experience. As well as trial and error. However, the recipe is virtually unchanged and been a staple in repertoire.
SCROLL DOWN FOR ADDITIONAL TIPS AND TRICKS
The Dough
The dough starts out pretty basic. Simply use water, yeast, sugar, salt, oil and flour. What makes this dough different from any other is not so much the ingredients. It’s the technique.
To start the dough you will need to bloom the yeast. To accomplish this, use warm water a packet of dry yeast and sugar. The yeast will bloom in about five minutes. You’ll see this happen when a layer of foam develops at the top of the water. No foam? Either your water was too cold and did not activate. Or the water was too hot and you killed the yeast, you monster!
Once the yeast has bloomed, move the liquid to a mixing bowl if by hand or your stand mixer bowl if by machine. Add one cup of the flour and begin to mix. Once the flour is incorporated, add your salt and oil here. You add the salt as this point and not before to protect the yeast. Salt kills yeast and adding it after some flour keeps them from fighting. Adding the oil now helps condition and soften the dough. The oil helps make an easy working dough that is terrific to handle.
The Feel
Now add the remaining flour until your create the proper feel. At this point it is not about the amount of flour listed in the recipe. It’s all about the dough telling you how much flour it needs today. The amount of flour needed is based off more than just the amount of water used. The type and brand of flour affects feel. Humidity, temp and time all play a part as well. To stay from getting too technical what you want to create is a dough that is nice and soft, slightly tacky, but not sticky. You should be able to press your fingers lightly into the dough and pull them back with the dough slightly sticking to your fingers, but releasing and not leaving tiny bits.
Once the right feel is achieved, knead the dough for roughly 5-8 minutes by machine and 10-12 minutes by hand. You should end up with a ball of dough that is nice and soft, but smooth like a baby’s bottom. At least that’s what my old professors used to say. Just knead the dough until it is nice and smooth.
Now, roll the dough into a nice ball and place in a covered bowl until the dough doubles in size. Approximately 45 minutes to an hour.
Professional Tips and Tricks For Italian Pizza Dough
- To develop flavor, start with cooler water. This will allow you to retard the dough in the fridge for a few days. Allowing the dough to rest and ferment (retard) in the fridge for an extended time develops a deeper flavor.
- The fermentation period will also allow the dough to develop added texture and chewiness when baked. Most popular pizzerias and bakeries allow their dough to ferment overnight, if not longer.
The Only Italian Pizza Dough Recipe You'll Need
Crispy, chewy and oh so tasty. This Italian Pizza Dough recipe is so good it's the only one I need. Once you try it, it will be the only one you need too.
Servings: 1 Recipe
Author: Nate
Ingredients
- 1 1/3cupfiltered water
- 1pktdry active yeast
- 1tbspsugar
- 2.5tbspoilive oil
- 1tbspkosher salt
- 3cupbread flour, high proteinapproximate amount
Instructions
Bloom yeast in warm water with dissolved sugar.
Allow yeast to bloom until a thick foam has developed on top of water.
Add liquid to mixing bowl and add 1 cup of flour and combine well.
Once the first cup of flour is incorporated, add the salt and oil. Combine.
Now add the remaining flour until that soft, slightly tacky dough is achieved. Focus on the feel.
Proof until dough has doubled in size. Approximately 45 minutes to an hour.
Related
FAQs
There are many tricks to achieving a tasty, homemade pizza dough that rises into a beautiful pizza crust, such as making sure your ingredients are at right temperature, using half bread flour for a stronger dough and half all-purpose flour for a nice rise, substituting honey for sugar to help caramelize the crust and ...
What makes Italian pizza dough different? ›
Italians take extra care and time to create their pizza dough. They allow the dough to sit and rise for three days to make it light and fluffy. They're also very particular about using high-quality ingredients to create a mouthwatering dish.
What's the difference between pizza dough and Italian bread dough? ›
Bread dough has a higher moisture content than pizza dough. This is because bread dough uses more water-to-flour ratio. The oil in pizza dough is not included in the hydration calculation.
What is the most important ingredient in pizza dough? ›
Flour is the main ingredient in pizza dough, and the type you use can have a big effect on the end result. All-purpose flour will work fine, but if you want a chewier crumb and a better hole structure, you should consider buying yourself some high protein bread flour.
What makes Italian pizza dough so good? ›
Because of the extreme fineness of the Italian 00 flour, it doesn't require as much water to begin kneading. And because of the decent amount of protein it doesn't take long to create the gluten structure required for that characteristic Italian crust.
Why does pizza in Italy taste better? ›
The combination of tomatoes, spices, and cheese on the dough gives it a unique flavour that sets it apart from other types of pizzas around the world. Italian Pizza can be eaten as an appetizer, main dish, and even dessert! And, has many variations to suit different tastes.
Why is Italian pizza dough so good? ›
Italian pizza dough is only kneaded as much as necessary. The dough is also rested for a long time, 16-24 hours to give it a nice and light airy texture. The long resting time ensures that the crust burns a bit during cooking and provides an amazing burnt flavor.
What kind of yeast do Italians use for pizza? ›
Most dough recipes call for instant or dry yeast, but the best kind for Naples pizza is the Italian -00- flour. This flour is highly elastic and should be used with suitable flour, like whole wheat. The right flour is crucial to the success of the pizza. A blend of fresh and dry yeast will produce the perfect result.
Do Italians put olive oil in pizza dough? ›
Almost all other pizza styles established by Italian ancestors and others call for the use of oil or fat. Olive oil is used in all Italian dishes to add taste. Other oil kinds, on the other hand, are swapped or substituted to change the flavor of olive oil. This could otherwise destroy a certain pizza style.
What kind of flour do Italians use for pizza dough? ›
The best flour for making Neapolitan Pizza Dough is 00 Pizza Flour. This type of pizza dough is thin and crispy with a slightly chewy texture. 00 Pizza Flour is an Italian-milled, finely ground wheat flour. It is perfect for Neapolitan Pizza Dough because it produces a light and airy crust with a slightly chewy centre.
Pizza Napoletana
The dough is comprised of wheat flour, yeast, salt, and water and is left to rise for up to 24 hours. It's shaped by hand into a flat, round disk, about 3 millimeters thick. After that, it's topped with ingredients and baked for 90 seconds in a blisteringly hot (around 900°F) wood-burning oven.
Is pizza dough better with bread flour or all-purpose flour? ›
For Chewy Pizza Crust, Use Bread Flour
Higher protein content means higher gluten content, as we now know, so using bread flour in your pizza dough will result in a stretchy dough that's less likely to tear. You get a very chewier, more bread-like pizza crust when you make your dough with bread flour.
What is the name of the Italian pizza bread? ›
Focaccia is sometimes considered to be a variant of pizza in publications outside Italy, although focaccia is left to rise after being flattened, while pizza is baked immediately.
What makes pizza dough taste better? ›
If you're keen to intensify its flavor even more, enhance the dough further – either with infused oil brushed over top, cheese woven into its edges or a combination of herbs and spices kneaded into it or sprinkled on it.
What not to do when making pizza dough? ›
Not Letting the Dough Rest
Proofing – which is the process of putting the dough aside and allowing it to rise – enables the yeast to leaven through fermentation, making the dough rise. Not allowing your dough to proof for long enough will result in a hard, dense and just plain gross pizza base.
What makes pizza dough rise more? ›
You can use a few methods to help pizza dough rise faster. One is to use baking soda and a warm water mixture. Another is to use a warm environment, such as an oven with a light or microwave. Finally, adding yeast and sugar can help the dough rise.
