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The secret to good pizza is the dough. An authentic Neapolitan-style pizza dough is pretty simple: water, flour, a little salt, and yeast. This is a fast and easy recipe for creating delicious thin-crust pizzas. Watch my how-to video HERE.
An important part of baking is accurately measuring the ingredients. It's best to do these measurements by weight as the volume of dry ingredients, like flour, can vary.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED (scroll to full ingredient list)
Instant dry yeast
Sea salt, fine
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1: HYDRATE
Add water to a large mixing Bowl. The water will cool a bit and should be no hotter than about 110°F max, but 90-95F is usually sufficient. The goal is for the dough temperature to be around 80F when everything is mixed together.
Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
STEP 2: BUFFER
Mix a handful of flour with the water in the mixing bowl. This helps limit the yeast's contact with the salt.
In the flour bowl, mix in the salt.
STEP 3: MIX
Add the remaining flour and salt mixture to the mixing bowl and combine.
The ideal dough temperature at this stage should be about 80°F.
Once most of the flour is incorporated, transfer the dough to your work surface.
STEP 4: KNEAD
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
STEP 5: FIRST RISE
Transfer the dough ball to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.
For the best flavor, transfer the dough to the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
STEP 6: DOUGH BALLS
After the first rise, punch down the dough to release excess air.
Separate the dough into 6, 270g-ish dough balls.
Place the dough balls in the Proofing Box with an inch or two of space in between to give them room to rise.
STEP 7: SECOND RISE
Cover the dough balls and let them sit at room temperature for 6 hours.
For the best flavor, transfer the dough balls to the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
Note that the dough will need to sit at room temperature for about 2-3 hours before stretching.
NOTES
OVEN: Ideally, this style of dough should be cooked in a Pizza oven (800-900F) for about 1-2 mins. In a traditional oven, about 550F for about 8 mins with a preheated pizza stone helps get a similar texture.
SALT & YEAST: In Naples, salt is usually added to the water first to slow down the fermentation process. In this recipe, we want the yeast to get started quickly.
BIGA: This recipe is an accelerated version so it does not use a biga. At home, I will typically make a biga and allow for a 72 hr fermentation.
PUNCH: Not required, but only done after the first rise in Step 6.
FREEZING: 1-2 weeks. Thaw 24 hrs in the fridge and then 2-4 hr at room temp before use.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 6 medium pizzas
1000g of ’00 flour (fine-ground flour or substitute with bread flour)
650g warm water (600g if using a Pizza oven)
1g Instant dry yeast
28g sea salt, fine
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