Basic pizza dough
- Michele Pascarella
Save recipe
Makes 6 pizza bases
A little effort
Prep: 1 hr and 30 mins
plus resting, proving and overnight fermentation
0 reviews
loading...
Get 5 months for £5 when you subscribe today
Make your own Neapolitan pizza dough using just three ingredients. Expect a delicious risen crust from this classic recipe
Ad
Skip to ingredients
Alternatives
Complete the dish
Loading...
Showing items 1 to 3 of 3
Artichoke pizza
A star rating of 0 out of 5.0 ratings
Broccoli and spiced sausage pizza
A star rating of 0 out of 5.0 ratings
Cauliflower crust pizza
A star rating of 2.5 out of 5.2 ratings
Try our basic pizza dough, then try overnight pizza dough, no-knead pizza dough or vegan pizza dough, plus discover more pizza recipes.
This recipe makes sufficient dough to create six 32cm-diameter pizza bases. The dough balls can be frozen in a sealed container before the cold fermentation stage and then defrosted for a few hours before use.
Recipes extracted from Napoli on the Road by Michele Pascarella (£20, Ryland Peters & Small). Photographs: Steven Joyce. © Ryland Peters. Recipes are sent by the publisher and not retested by us.
Basic pizza dough recipe
Ingredients
- 1kg medium strength flour
- 2g fresh yeast or 1g dry yeast
- 5g extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
Ad
Method
-
step 1
INITIAL PREPARATION
Tip the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add 550g of water and mix for 3-4 mins or until the mixture is compact.
-
step 2
FIRST RESTING PHASE
Remove the dough from the mixer and put in a bowl. Cover and leave to rest at room temperature (18-20C) for 2 hrs.
-
step 3
SECOND MIXING PHASE
Put the dough back in the bowl of the stand mixer. Dissolve the yeast in 50g of water, then add to the dough and start mixing.
-
step 4
INCORPORATING THE REMAINING WATER
Gradually add 100g of water in a slow, thin stream, while continuing to mix. When about half of the remaining water has been added, fit the stand mixer with the dough hook and incorporate 25g of fine salt. Continue adding the rest of the water gradually, followed by the olive oil (if using) until the dough is well combined, smooth and homogeneous.
-
step 5
SHORT RESTING PHASE
Let the dough rest, loosely covered, on the counter for 20 mins.
-
step 6
FOLDING
Once rested, fold the dough, turning it onto itself to create a smooth and elastic texture.
-
step 7
BULK FERMENTATION
Put the dough in a bowl tightly covered with clingfilm. Leave it to rise for 3-4 hrs at room temperature.
-
step 8
FORMING DOUGH BALLS
The dough should have doubled in size. Remove the clingfilm and tip the dough onto the counter, using a spatula to ease it out. Use a dough scraper to divide into six equal pieces. Use your hands to stretch, fold and shape each piece into a ball.
-
step 9
RESTING THE DOUGH BALLS
Transfer the dough balls to a suitable lidded container and seal. Let the dough balls rest at room temperature for 1 hr-1 hr 30 mins.
-
step 10
COLD FERMENTATION
Put the sealed container in the fridge at 4-5C for a further 12-14 hrs.
-
step 11
PREPARATION FOR USE
Remove the container from the fridge and allow a further 30 mins-1 hr for the dough to come to room temperature – this will depend on the ambient temperature of the room. Next, use a dough scraper to carefully remove each ball from the container and put it on a floured counter. You can use wheat or semolina flour at this point but do use semolina flour sparingly as too much will taint the taste of the pizza dough once cooked.
-
step 12
SHAPING
To shape a dough ball, press it into a disc using your fingers, shaping it so the dough is a little thicker around the outside edge. Drape it over the back of your hand and stretch it over your knuckles. Lift the dough and, using both hands, use your fists to stretch and turn it until it’s about 32cm in diameter. If you are not confident to shape a base by hand as I do (it takes practice), you can roll the dough out on a flour-dusted counter using a rolling pin. Do however use a small rolling pin and roll out from the centre of the disc, leaving it thicker around the outside edge to create the delicious risen crust.
-
step 13
TOPPING AND BAKING YOUR PIZZA
Working quickly, add your chosen toppings and bake as directed by the individual recipes.
Our best pizza recipes.
Authors
Michele Pascarella
Ad
Comments, questions and tips
Rate this recipe
What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
CommentQuestionTip
Overall rating
0 reviews
Ad
Ad
Loading...
Ad
Loading...
Want to see this content?
This page contains olivemagazine content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.
Accept and continue