My husband and I love pizza–so much so that there are weeks that we’ve eaten it several nights in a row. It is one of our favorite things to make together, and we’ve spent most of our relationship trying to perfect the recipe. Many times we got really close, but there was always something off. When we traveled to Italy this past April, we learned that a lot of American recipes for pizza dough include way more yeast in them than actually needed. It is one of the reasons that you can feel extremely thirsty after eating certain pizza.
Anyways, enter this pizza & accompanying dough recipe. This was the result of lots of playing around with the ratios of ingredients. Thankfully, the dough recipe itself is very simple: all you need are 5 ingredients.
- Unbleached 00 or bread flour (you don’t want to use all purpose flour for this or your dough won’t stretch as easily)
- Yeast
- Sea Salt
- Cold Water
- Olive oil (I use Trader Joe’s olive oil, which are surprisingly impressive when it comes to taste, while also being inexpensive)
That’s it!
To put it together, you will first combine the dry ingredients with the paddle attachment of your KitchenAid mixer. Not using a KitchenAid? You can just as easily mix the ingredients yourself a wooden spoon and your hands, it’ll just take a little more work when it comes to kneading. I will add the directions for hand mixing in the recipe at the bottom of the post.
After combining the dry ingredients, switch to the dough hook attachment and add the water at this point.
Knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes. Pay attention to how the dough looks during this process – if it is too sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour; if it is too dry, pour in a tiny bit more water. The dough should be smooth and spring back easily if you place a thumb on the outside of it when it is done.
Once the dough is kneaded, roll it out into a somewhat evenly shaped loaf.
At this point, you will slice the dough into 6 equal pieces.
Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the bottom of a large cookie sheet (you want this to be big enough to fit all 6 pieces of dough with a few inches to spare on either side.)
After spreading the olive oil on the sheet, you will space the dough equally apart and brush olive oil on the tops and sides of the dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours in an area free from drafts (I use my oven–NOT TURNED ON.)
Once your dough has risen for two hours, bring out your pizza stone and preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Leave the pizza stone inside the oven while preheating. While the oven is preheating, lay out parchment paper and sprinkle some flour over it. Lay one of the dough balls in the center and use a rolling pin to flatten it out to about a 10-inch diameter.
Gather your ingredients for the pizza. We decided on a fig & prosciutto with arugula pizza tonight, but we have also made many variations when it comes to the toppings. For this particular pizza you will need:
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Fig butter or fig jam
- Prosciutto
- Arugula
Once your oven is preheated, remove the pizza stone and put the dough on it. Brush with a light layer of olive oil before putting in the oven for about 2-3 minutes. You don’t want to cook it completely at this point, but I have found the “pre-baking” the crust before putting the toppings on prevents it from getting too soggy. After taking it out of the oven again, you will begin to assemble your pizza. First, spread the fig butter in a layer on the dough. After that, you will sprinkle the mozzarella cheese down and then top with prosciutto and arugula.
Put it back in the oven for about another 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust looks golden brown.
Simple as that! Let me know what topping combinations you come up with in the comments.
Italian Style Pizza Dough
Equipment
- KitchenAid
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Scraper/Cutter
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 5 cups unbleached 00 or bread flour
- ½ tsp active dry yeast
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus a little more for the cookie sheet
- 2 ¼ cups cold water
Instructions
- Use the paddle attachment of your KitchenAid to mix together the flour, yeast, and salt.
- Switch out the paddle attachment for the dough hook and add the water.
- Knead the dough together for 8-10 minutes. If the dough seems too sticky, add a little more flour; if it seems too dry, add a small amount of water. When finished, the dough should be smooth and spring back when you push your thumb into it.
- Lay out the dough on a clean countertop or cutting board and slice it into six equal pieces.
- Brush olive oil over the bottom of a large cookie sheet and put the six pieces of dough on it, leaving a few inches in between them. Let rise in an area that is free from drafts for 2 hours (I use my oven, just make sure it is turned off!)
- Once the dough has risen, at this point you can either freeze the remaining dough balls to use for later or put them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Put your pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to 475°F. While the oven is preheating, roll out pizza dough on a floured surface.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the pizza stone and place the dough on top of the stone. Lightly brush with more olive oil and bake for about 5 minutes. You don't want to fully cook the crust yet during this step.
- Once you have baked the dough for 5 minutes, remove it from the oven and place your sauce & toppings on. Cook for another 7-10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.
Notes
- Fig jam, mozzarella cheese, prosciutto & arugula
- Marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, salami & kalamata olives
- Alfredo sauce, mozzarella cheese, shredded chicken, red onion, and bacon