The Perfect Pizza Dough: Neapolitan Pizza Dough + Pizza Margherita
It's National Pizza Week and all week we're providing new recipes for you to make pizza at home from the new book, Pizza: Authentic, Rustic, Artisanal. Since exceptional pizza is the result of painstakingly refined processes, continual practice, and considerable attention to detail, it is accessible to everyone, everywhere.
While the road from here to the pizzas produced by legends such as Chris Bianco or Mark Iacono is long, we are hopeful that there is enough inspiration and instruction in these recipes to get you started upon it.
To start, you'll need the perfect dough.
This dough is inspired by the classic Neapolitan pizza dough as described by the collective Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. The original Neapolitan pizza includes neither fats nor sugar and uses only a pinch of yeast, letting time do all the work. The fundamentals are a good flour and proper technique when working the dough. This dough can be started in the morning and baked the evening of the same day.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1¼ teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 14.8 oz. water
- 23.9 oz. bread flour or “00” flour, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. If using active dry yeast, warm 3½ tablespoons of the water until it is 105°F. Add the water and yeast to a bowl and gently stir. Let it sit until it starts to foam, 5 to 10 minutes. Instant yeast does not need to be proofed.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and water and work the mixture until it just holds together. If kneading by hand, transfer the dough to a flour-dusted work surface. Work the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
3. Add the salt and knead until the dough is very developed, elastic, and extensible. A Neapolitan-style pizza dough needs to be very well-developed, which means the gluten in the dough should be at maximum strength. The resulting dough needs to be both extensible and elastic, meaning it needs to be easy to spread out thin but it also needs to spring back quite energetically, in order not to lose its shape.
4. Coat an airtight container that allows the dough to get at least three times bigger with olive oil. Form the dough into a ball, place it in the container, and cover the container. Let it rest in a naturally warm spot (in the oven with the light on is a good option) until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. For a classic Neapolitan dough, the room temperature should be 73°F. If your kitchen is colder, let the dough rest for longer before shaping it into balls.
5. Transfer the dough to a flour-dusted work surface, divide it into four pieces, and shape them into very tight balls. Coat a baking dish with high sides with olive oil and place the balls in it, leaving enough space between them so that they won’t touch when fully risen. Coat plastic wrap with olive oil, cover the baking dish with it, and let the dough rest for 6 to 8 hours before using it to make pizza.
MAKE THE PIZZA:
1. Place a baking stone or steel on the middle rack of the oven and preheat the oven to the maximum temperature.
2. Dust a work surface with semolina flour, place the dough on the work surface, and gently stretch it into a round. Cover the dough with the sauce and top it with the mozzarella and basil. Season with salt and drizzle olive oil over the pizza.
3. Using a peel or a flat baking sheet, transfer the pizza to the heated baking implement in the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and starting to char. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it cool slightly before slicing and serving.
For this and more than 100 more recipes, pick up the new book, Pizza: Authentic, Rustic, Artisanal. Craft exquisite pizzas with this elegantly bound cloth-covered book featuring the best recipes from around the globe, expert techniques, and stunning photography.