Description
This recipe guides you through making authentic homemade pizza dough and assembling delicious, fresh pizzas with your favorite toppings. The dough is perfectly chewy with a crispy crust, and you can customize toppings to create your ideal pizza. Whether using a pizza stone or pan, these pizzas bake up beautifully in about 30 minutes, making it ideal for a family meal or gathering.
Ingredients
For the Pizza Dough
- 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) warm water (105°F-115°F)
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 3 3/4 cups (490g) bread flour
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (omit if cooking pizza in a wood-fired pizza oven)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
For the Pizza and Toppings
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Cornmeal (to help slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)
- Tomato sauce (smooth or pureed)
- Firm mozzarella cheese, grated
- Fresh soft mozzarella cheese, separated into small clumps
- Fontina cheese, grated
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- Feta cheese, crumbled
- Mushrooms, very thinly sliced if raw, otherwise first sautéed
- Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, very thinly sliced
- Italian pepperoncini, thinly sliced
- Italian sausage, cooked ahead and crumbled
- Sliced black olives
- Chopped fresh basil
- Baby arugula, tossed in a little olive oil, added as pizza comes out of the oven
- Pesto
- Pepperoni, thinly sliced
- Onions, thinly sliced raw or caramelized
- Ham, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Proof the yeast: Place the warm water in the large bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir if the yeast hasn’t dissolved completely. The yeast should foam or bloom, showing it is active.
- Make and knead the pizza dough: Add the flour, salt, sugar, and olive oil to the yeast water. Mix on low speed for a minute using the mixing paddle attachment. Swap to the dough hook and knead on low to medium speed for 7 to 10 minutes until the dough is slightly sticky but smooth. If no mixer, mix and knead by hand.
- Let the dough rise: Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough inside, turning to coat with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap. For a quick rise, leave in a warm place (75°F to 85°F) for 1 1/2 hours. For a medium rise, leave at room temperature for 8 hours. For best flavor, refrigerate for 24 hours but no more than 48 hours.
- Preheat the pizza stone or pan: Place a pizza stone on the lower third rack of your oven and preheat to 475°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour. Alternatively, use a pizza pan or baking sheet that can withstand high heat.
- Divide and rest the dough: Remove plastic, dust hands with flour, deflate the dough, and divide it into two equal balls. Place each in its own bowl, cover, and let rest 15 minutes to 2 hours.
- Prepare toppings: Prepare your desired toppings, keeping them moderate to avoid soggy crust. Use about a third of a cup of tomato sauce and cheese per pizza, and thinly slice vegetables like mushrooms and peppers.
- Shape and stretch the dough: Flatten one dough ball on a floured surface. Press out from center to edges with fingertips until ½-inch thick. Let rest 5 minutes, then stretch to 10–12 inches diameter. Repair holes if any and gently pinch edges to form a lip.
- Brush dough with olive oil: Press fingertips to create small dents to prevent bubbling. Lightly brush top with olive oil to protect crust from moisture. Rest 10 to 15 minutes. Repeat for second dough ball.
- Prepare for baking: Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel or flat baking sheet. Transfer shaped dough onto it. Adjust shape as needed.
- Add sauce and toppings: Spread tomato sauce over the dough, then sprinkle with cheeses and desired toppings. Do not overload to maintain crispness.
- Bake the pizza: Sprinkle cornmeal on pizza stone in oven. Gently shake the peel to ensure pizza slides easily; add more cornmeal if sticky. Slide pizza from peel onto stone. Bake at 475°F for 10 to 15 minutes until crust is browned and cheese is golden. Optionally add more cheese near the end.
Notes
- For best flavor, allow dough to ferment slow in the fridge for 24 hours.
- If you use instant yeast, you can skip the proofing step and add yeast directly to flour.
- Do not overload pizzas with toppings; this prevents soggy crust.
- Use cornmeal on the peel to easily transfer pizzas to the hot oven surface.
- Olive oil brushed on dough helps keep toppings from soaking the crust.
- If holes form while stretching dough, pinch them closed gently to avoid leaks.
- The recipe yields two 10-inch pizzas, sufficient for 4 to 6 servings.
- If desired, top finished pizza with fresh baby arugula tossed in olive oil for a peppery finish.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Family Dinners, Comfort Food, Pizzas
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/8 of 10-inch pizza)
- Calories: 322
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 520mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 61g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 10g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
