Rustic Italian Pizza Dough Recipe Video (2024)

FAQs

What flour is best for pizza dough? ›

The best flour for making Deep-Dish Pizza Dough is all-purpose flour. In bakeries and pizzerias, Pizza Flour is often used because it is a high-protein flour that produces a light and airy crust. However, all-purpose flour will also work well for Deep-Dish Pizza Dough.

Italian pizza dough is flattened out thinly to form a thin crust. American pizza dough is made with all-purpose flour or bread flour which are high in gluten. Resting time for the dough is typically a few hours. The dough is kneaded for a longer time than Italian pizza to give it a more bready texture.

Yeast: The Essential Component

Yeast is a critical ingredient in pizza dough. It is a living organism that ferments sugar and releases carbon dioxide gas, making the dough rise. The yeast's activity creates a light, airy texture and adds flavor to the dough.

The five key ingredients for making the best pizza dough are flour, yeast, salt, water, and olive oil. These ingredients work together to create a dough that is perfectly textured, flavorful, and easy to work with. When making pizza dough, it's important to use high-quality ingredients and not overwork the dough.

Pizza flour, sometimes referred to as tipo 00 flour, is high quality, finely milled wheat. Its fluffy, light texture is baby-powder soft and has a low absorption rate, meaning it requires less water than regular all-purpose flour.

If you are a total beginner, we would recommend you to use either the instant dry yeast or the active dried yeast. They are both fairly easy to find and use, guaranteeing a great pizza dough.

So if you're looking for a light and airy crust with lots of air pockets, then you should go with Tipo 00 flour. If you're after a crust with a little less crunch and more chewiness, opt for bread flour.

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.

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.

Pizza dough that has been left to rise for too long, or has been over-proofed, can potentially collapse. The gluten becomes overly relaxed, and the end product will be gummy or crumbly instead of crisp and fluffy.

Can I leave pizza dough to rise all day? ›

The last step is to proof the dough balls. This is usually the longest step in the process. You can do the final proofing either at room temperature or at a lower temperature to slow it down. Pizza dough should proof in room temperature anywhere from 1 to 24-hours or even more.

The Secret to the Best Pizza Crust

The pizza bosses of the world know the secret to an incredible dough is to let it rest and give it time to rise in the slow/ cold fermentation step. This process makes the dough much easier to work with and forms the coveted texture, rise, and bubbles at the edges.

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.