Pizza dough
There are numerous ways to make great pizza. This is just a basic recipe which doesn’t take too much time and effort. All variables can be adjusted: rising time, water/flour ratio, type of yeast and adding in other ingredients.
The most important is that you find an oven that can get to very high temperatures. The hotter, the better. Avoid the grill, don’t overload the pizza with toppings and don’t make the pizza too wet.
- 260 ml warm water (38-43°C) (1 cup)
- 6 g instant dry yeast powder (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
- 10 g granulated sugar (1 tablespoon)
- 15 ml olive oil (2 tablespoons)
- 10 g salt (3/4 teaspoon)
- 450 g all-purpose flour (3 and 1/2 cups)
- gently mix the yeast and sugar in the warm water in a small bowl
- let it rest for 5 minutes
- put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl, stir gently
- add the yeast water and olive oil
- mix/knead to combine (hands or spoon)
- when the dough has come together, flour your hands and tabletop
- put the dough on the tabletop and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is springy
- split into two equal parts
- tuck the dough into a ball (pull edges, tuck under)
- grease the two bowls with some oil
- put the dough in the centre and swirl it around to coat it in oil
- cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel
- let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes at room temperature
- if it’s a cold day, heat the oven to ~60°C, put the dough inside with the door ajar
Optional: add herbs and spices (oregano, basil, garlic, pepper …) to the dough.
- to spread the dough, flour the countertop and stretch from the center out
- the oven should be as hot as possible, cover vents as necessary but monitor!
- baking the pizza on a rack with baking paper works great! A silicone mat on the rack definitely helps, but make sure to protect the mat with a layer of baking paper, as it is not designed to withstand the intense heat.
- if you are adventurous, try increasing the moisture content of the dough (I have tried up to 320 ml with reasonable success)