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
Thats right just 4 simple ingredients and your on your way to making delicious traditional pizza dough just like the Italians! Here's what you need! It's the same as the most basic bread dough. Water, flour, yeast, salt, maybe a tablespoon of oil.
What type of flour do most pizza chef's use in their pizza dough and why? ›
Chef Felice recommends a good bread flour for New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Sicilian pizzas, such as Gold Medal Unbleached Unbromated flour or Caputo Americana. For Pizza Napoletana and Neo Neapolitan, he recommends 00 flour made from finely ground Italian durum wheat.
What is the name given to the traditional Italian pizza and what ingredients does it include? ›
Originating from Naples, Neapolitan pizza is perhaps the most iconic style of Italian pizza. It has a thin, soft crust that's slightly charred on the edges and a simple topping of San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese (often buffalo mozzarella), fresh basil, salt, and olive oil.
What is an Italian baked by consisting of a thin bread like crust and covered with topping such as cheese tomato sauce vegetables and meat called? ›
pizza, dish of Italian origin consisting of a flattened disk of bread dough topped with some combination of olive oil, oregano, tomato, olives, mozzarella or other cheese, and many other ingredients, baked quickly—usually, in a commercial setting, using a wood-fired oven heated to a very high temperature—and served hot ...
What kind of flour do Italians use for pizza? ›
Italian Pizza Flour Produces the Best Pizza
Caputo 00 flour is renowned across Italy— and now, the world—for its purity, superior texture and quality wheat blends. Other exceptional brands of pizza flour come from Molino Grassi, Cinque Stagioni, and Molino Spadoni.
What is the 55 rule for pizza? ›
Vincenzo: “An important detail when making the preferment is the temperature of the water you add. For this, I use the rule of 55. You take the number 55 as a starting point and subtract the temperature of the flour and the room temperature. The number that remains is the desired water temperature.
What is true Italian pizza? ›
According to the TNPA (True Neapolitan Pizza Association), a governing body that upholds the original pizza standards, only Margherita and Marinara are acknowledged as authentic Italian pizzas (Neapolitan pizzas). The Marinara uses tomatoes oregano, extra virgin olive oil and if preferred, basil.
What do New Yorkers call pizza? ›
To this day, many New Yorkers still refer to pizza as pie without a second thought. So, the etymology of “pizza pie” is really history lesson on how this iconic Italian food was first introduced to (and interpreted by) hungry Americans over a century ago.
What is a pizza without cheese called? ›
The Marinara is a true pizza classic and comes from Naples like the Pizza Margherita. Unlike the vegetarian Margherita, the Marinara contains no cheese. The fresh tomato sauce, the garlic and the oregano combine with the pizza dough to a very delicious taste experience.
What do Italians call pizza? ›
The Italians use a variety of terms to describe their pizza. Crostata and torta are both used to describe savory and sweet pies, and pizza is a singular word that represents only one dish. There are other names for pizza, but these are the most common. There's nothing wrong with being confused.
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.
What kind of yeast do Italians use for pizza? ›
The Best Yeast Flour For Neapolitan Pizza Dough
When it comes to pizza dough, it's essential to choose the right type of natural Neapolitan yeast. Most dough recipes call for instant or dry yeast, but the best kind for Naples pizza is the Italian -00- flour.
What's the difference between pizza dough and Italian bread dough? ›
The water percentage in pizza is 60% in hydration, while some bread dough can be 80-90%. While higher hydration levels in pizza dough can make it fluffy and crispier, it'll be impossible to shape. It will burn faster as well. The hydration levels will also affect the baking time drastically.
Do Italians put oil in pizza dough? ›
All pizza styles are descended from the oil-free Italian Classical Neapolitan Pizza. Only flour, water, natural yeast, and salt are used in this recipe. 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.
